Web Summit 2025: Unpacking Innovation, Connections, and the Future of Tech

I had the privilege to attend the Web Summit 2025 in Lisbon, Portugal this week. It was my first visit to the city of Lisbon, and I was immediately captured by its tropical charm. It is impossible not to be mesmerised by the city's hilly landscape, cobblestone stairs, candlelit cafes, historic trams and ornate wrought-iron balconies. My excitement was sky high. I am here, in this beautiful city - attending the Glastonbury for geeks, the global Web Summit Conference. What could possibly go wrong?

The event is huge. No, wait, let me rephrase. It is HUGE - not only by sheer size of the halls and number of booths but also the number of attendances. As one exhibitor described it, it gets a bit crazy. After finally reaching our booth in Hall 4(!), we set the scene: open laptops, display the website, center the presentations, set up the demo and take a proud selfie. Yet an essential element is missing...of course, a Bica (Portuguese expresso). So, after nonchalantly voting to stay at the booth for the duration of the coffee hunt, it happens to be that I am suddenly alone with the backdrop of shining laptop screens, confronted with the now-what moment. What if I am approached by an attendee, a potential client or investor? Surely this should not be hard.

I've been here since the very first line of code, in every discussion, every idea crafted, every backend, security, networking, backup, performance, testing and schema design decision. I've got this, right? My glasses started steaming up and I am wondering if the air conditioner is working. I enviously look at the staff walking around in short sleeve Web Summit T-shirts. Perhaps they sell it somewhere, hopefully close by? I started haplessly scrolling up and down our website's pages, like a nervous candidate going to a job interview. Stop. Deep breaths. Just go over the elevator pitch. But hold one, what?! One sentence! I need to reduce all the hard work, late night coding, testing, bug fixing, design and strategy sessions...and endless nightmares (yes, I dream code) summarised into a small sentence? I felt completely displaced until it dawned on me: this is Microservices Architecture. Only give what is asked for. DO NOT babble (Alert - colour danger). If they need more info, they will make another call (authenticated - token is verified and valid).

The first test case (manual testing - user story) was conversing with the exhibitors within our close vicinity. Elated at the first encounter, I find myself over emphasising that, from the very start, we were focused on helping businesses overcome actual real-world challenges - it is part of our solution's DNA, driven with the authentic need to make an actual impact. My test case was nodding out of pure politeness - I could almost see the failed test log in the terminal. The intensity of the moment was almost comparable to the launch of a major new release - a 2.0.0, for sure. Phew! Selling and marketing is hard work! By lunch time I managed to recite it in my head: We are a SaaS Enterprise company specialising in data gathering, automation and predictive analytics across three different areas, Supply Chain, Contract and Talent Management. A digital twin for your….no no, stop. Stop. 200 OK response already sent. Sigh. I find myself longing for my desk and waiting for a NPM package to install or going through Sentry logs.

Tips on delivering an effective elevator pitch (for developers):

• Keep it concise: Aim for 30 seconds to 1 minute (this will take practice)
• Use your own words. The salesperson will make it sound very easy, but that is what they do every day...
• Avoid the urge to dive into technical details. It is a humble experience where all your hard work boils down to a sales pitch.

If the audience is not interested, it's part of the game. Congratulate yourself on having the courage to share your pitch. It's an opportunity to create a 'ticket', debug, fix, test and deploy.

Some tips on attending the Web Summit or similar tech conferences:

• Wear comfortable shoes: You'll be on your feet a lot, so comfort is key (I'm thinking high end marathon level running shoes).
• Take an umbrella or raincoat: Lisbon weather can be unpredictable, and you don't want to be caught in the rain without protection.
• Bring a colleague or friend to help support you throughout the day. At least one person can meet with potential clients or investors at the meeting points and network with others without missing out on important interactions at your booth.
• A demonstration of your product may not be necessary at first contact. Have a short presentation ready to introduce your product and its benefits. Focus on building rapport and understanding the needs of your audience before diving into technical details.
• Prepare information for your investors. Investors want to see numbers, so have that at hand when you meet with them.
• Food stands are busy during peak times. Pack a snack or two to keep your energy levels up during the day.

In closing, at the end of the day, I had the opportunity to attend a delicious dinner and a Fado performance in a beautiful cozy restaurant, served by friendly staff.

Would I do it again? Of course.