LTX Fest breaks the myth that Latinx in tech talent is hard to find by showcasing technical excellence across generations
By Lili Gangas & Carla P. Vera
We know the last 5 years of diversity reports show very little progress on Latinx talent in tech (under 10% at the top 4 tech companies), however, if today’s lineup at LTX Fest is an indicator of the future, we should all be excited and optimistic.
LTX Fest kicked off its second day under the theme “Transform” which looked to show that Latinx are innovators on many different levels through many different paths. Speakers represented non-traditional talent who became software engineers through apprenticeships to directors at the cutting edge of Artificial Intelligence technology to founders of multi-million dollar tech companies.
“We have to have the courage to be ambitious” said Elias Torres, founder and CTO of Drift in conversation with Maxeme Tuchman, Founder and CEO of Caribu. Torres, born in Nicaragua, partnered with David Cancel, a proud Dominican, and together they co-founded Drift, a $360 Million AI-powered sales startup that was last featured in Forbes.
This conversation was followed by an afternoon of technology tracks that focused on important topics such as what it means to redefine the future of AI, training for tech interviews, developing products that resonate culturally or the traditional and non traditional paths into tech.
Well known entrepreneurs and technologists such as Jack Hidary, Director of Artificial Intelligence & Physics at Alphabet’s X and Steven Wolfe-Pereira and Susie Jaramillo, co-founders of Encantos were next in our virtual stage to share their moonshot story.
And to end the day, a much needed conversation around building the path to engineering leadership from an inclusive lens with Ester Pena, VP of Engineering at Travelers, Michael Montano, VP of Engineering at Twitter and Joshua Encarnacion, Tech Consultant and entrepreneur.
Today tee’d perfectly the foundation for tomorrow’s theme of “Elevate.” LTX Fest will focus on demystifying entrepreneurship and venture capital with leading Latinx entrepreneurs and investors who join 7,000 registered attendees on how to best navigate the process of raising capital.
And speaking of capital, we’ll be hosting the second edition of El Poder del Pitch announcing 25K in prizes for the winners! See you tomorrow at LTX Fest!
