After the Vibe Code: How AI-built software becomes production software
Hosted by Chapter2 + Ray Zambroski [Chapter2]
Register with organizer
What to look forward to
Engineering leaders will explore what it takes to turn AI prototypes into secure, reliable, scalable systems, from AI-generated code and autonomous agents to architecture, testing, and infrastructure. The panel will feature Ward Vuillemot, AI startup CTO and former engineering leader at Microsoft, Amazon, RealSelf, and Varsity Tutors, and Heather Gearreald, Hertect founder and former infrastructure, automation, and quality engineering executive at Wizards of the Coast, Hasbro, Take-Two, 2K, and Microsoft.
Inside the event
A Seattle AI Week community event, hosted by Chapter2 Consulting
AI has made it astonishingly easy to build something. But what does it take to make that ‘something’ secure, tested, integrated, observable, scalable, and trusted at scale?
Join engineering and technology leaders who have led and worked in both startups and enterprise-class engineering teams. This will be a candid conversation about what happens after the prototype, by startup engineering leaders who have also worked in extreme scale and complexity. From AI-generated code and autonomous agents to architecture, verification, infrastructure, and reliability, we'll explore how software engineering is changing—and what it takes to build systems with AI tooling that businesses can actually trust.
Agenda
- 9:00 AM — Panel discussion
- Audience Q&A
- Networking with panelists and Seattle's engineering community
Who should attend: Software engineers, engineering managers, CTOs, technical founders, product leaders, and anyone building or operating AI-powered software.
Featuring
Ward Vuillemot — CTO & Founding Engineer at numerous AI startups
AI startup technology leader and hands-on engineer, consulting with multiple non-technical founders on AI & vibe-coded codebases along with contracting on numerous stealth AI startups through his company Monsterorange.com. Former CTO, current technical advisor at & Shifthealth.ai; former CTO at RealSelf and Varsity Tutors, earlier engineering and product roles at Microsoft (Xbox) and Amazon. https://www.linkedin.com/in/wwvuillemot/
Heather Gearreald — Founder, Hertect
Engineering executive and founder of Hertect: https://hertect.com/, a Seattle technology consultancy working on platform architecture, infrastructure, and AI systems in production. Former Head of Infrastructure Engineering at Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro, Senior Director of Automation at Take Two Interactive and 2K, and Director of Quality Engineering at Microsoft. https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-gearreald-4b47377b/
Hatem Ayad — CTO, Clarvos
AI startup engineering leader and technology exec. CTO of Clarvos: https://www.clarvos.com/. Former SVP of AI Engineering & Data Science at WebMD, SVP of Data Science & Engineering at Verizon Media, VP of Engineering at GoDaddy, and engineering leader at Microsoft. https://www.linkedin.com/in/hatimaiad/
Robert Neer — Co-founder, Goods Ventures (Moderator)
Product and technology leader, co-founder of Goods Ventures: https://goodscompany.io/, and committed to transforming the way organizations approach product innovation and customer experience. Current EIR at UW’s Product Management Leadership Accelerator. Former VP of Product at Walgreens, VP of Product & Engineering at Best Buy, and Principal Product Manager at Amazon https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertneer/
Details
Wednesday, October 28, 2026 · 9:00 AM PDT
SURF Incubator
999 3rd Ave, Suite 700
Seattle, WA 98104
Generating code is getting increasingly easier. Trust is increasingly valuable.
A Seattle AI Week community event, hosted by Chapter2 Consulting
SURF Incubator
SURF Incubator, 999 3rd Ave Ste 700, Seattle, WA 98104, USA. Confirm the venue with the organizer before traveling.
Open in Google Maps ↗Discovered through Cerebral Valley. Details come from the event listing and the organizer page; registration is managed by the organizer.
Last checked: Oct 27, 2026. Confirm current availability before making plans.
Organizer page checked: Oct 27, 2026. Check registration for the latest details.