PresentationsCharles is an experienced speaker at conferences and events, who is available to give talks on:
Green Software, Tech
- Writing Greener Software, Even When You are Stuck On-Prem
- Green AI: Making Machine Learning Environmentally Sustainable
Career Development
- Keynote: Remote Working Approaches that Worked (and Some that Didn’t)
- Writing for Nerds – Blogging for Fun and (Not Much) Profit
For Students
- An Introduction to Green Software
- Beyond the Code, Across the Globe – International Expertise for a Sustainable Tech Career through Communication, Systems Thinking and Human Connection
Bio
Charles Humble is a freelance consultant, author and podcaster, and an internationally recognised conference speaker with more than three decades of IT experience. A former software engineer, architect and CTO, he has worked as a senior leader and executive of both technology and content groups.
Charles was InfoQ’s editor-in-chief from 2014 to 2020, and chief editor for Container Solutions from 2020 to 2023.
He is the author of Kubernetes at the Edge and The Developer’s Guide to Cloud Infrastructure, Efficiency, and Sustainability for The New Stack, and Professional Skills for Software Engineers for O’Reilly. He writes regularly for The New Stack and other publications, and hosts a series of podcasts for GOTO on Engineering Leadership. Charles is a highly experienced content strategist, and he has spoken at multiple international conferences including Devoxx, GOTO and QCon. He is also a keyboard player and half of the ambient techno band, Twofish.
Charles’s primary areas of interest are how we build software better, including sustainability and ethics; cloud computing; remote working; diversity and inclusion; and inspiring the next generation of developers.
Short version: Charles Humble is a freelance consultant, author and podcaster, and an internationally recognised conference speaker with more than three decades of IT experience. His primary areas of interest are how we build software better, including sustainability and ethics; cloud computing; remote working; diversity and inclusion; and inspiring the next generation of developers.
One liner: Charles Humble is a freelance consultant, author, podcaster and speaker, who is interested in how we build software better, including sustainability and ethics, and inspiring the next generation of developers.
Abstracts
Writing Greener Software, Even When You are Stuck On-Prem
There is a real efficiency advantage in high compute density via managed cloud services. Such services, which can share resources between thousands or millions of users, can achieve extremely high hardware and energy utilisation. Because of this, most writing on developing sustainable software emphasises shifting to cloud services. But what happens if you can’t?
In this session, Charles will explain why we need to focus on green software. He will suggest practical ways to assess and improve your systems, and the role played by code and language efficiency. He will offer advice on how to persuade your leadership of the benefits of green software, and explore some of the resources available to help you get to grips with this rapidly evolving area of computing.
Green AI: Making Machine Learning Environmentally Sustainable
After discussing the significant carbon footprint of AI, Charles will offer practical strategies to reduce environmental impact at each stage of the AI lifecycle. These strategies include using smaller datasets, transfer learning, model compression techniques and edge computing.
For students: An Introduction to Green Software
This talk explores the critical role software engineers play in addressing climate change through sustainable development practices. Beginning with historical environmental successes like acid rain reduction and ozone layer protection, the presentation establishes that meaningful progress is possible when we take collective action.
The session examines the IT industry’s substantial carbon footprint, with global data centres consuming 240 to 340 terawatt hours annually (approximately 1 to 1.3% of global electricity demand), rising to around 700 terawatt hours when transmission networks are included. This places the industry’s energy consumption on a par with countries like Brazil, or the entire global aviation sector.
Students will learn practical strategies for reducing software’s environmental impact, including:
- Understanding Scope 1, 2, and 3 carbon emissions in IT contexts
- Optimising server utilisation (targeting >50%) and eliminating ‘zombie’ machines
- Implementing ‘LightSwitchOps’ for non-production environments
- Applying carbon-aware computing through demand shifting
- Leveraging measurement tools like Kepler, cloud provider dashboards and Carbon Aware SDKK
- Reducing AI/ML training emissions
This talk has been delivered to third-year students at Imperial College London in 2024 and 2025.
Remote Working Approaches that Worked (and Some that Didn’t)
During the pandemic many people experienced remote working for the first time, but they experienced it in a way that was, inevitably, rushed and forced.
As organisations, governments and individuals continue to deal with the aftershocks and establish what the future of ‘office’ work looks like, I want to share practical tips drawing from nearly two decades of working remotely for multiple organisations.
We’ll look at topics including:
- How to decide if remote working is right for you
- Common pitfalls of remote working and how to mitigate against them
- Specific techniques for managing remote teams
- How companies can create a shared sense of purpose with an all-remote workforce
Whilst primarily aimed at remote workers and managers, the talk will offer advice for anyone in a leadership role.
Writing for Nerds - Blogging for Fun and (Not Much) Profit
I’m increasingly convinced that as an industry we need to get much better at sharing our knowledge. Unfortunately many of us engineers suffer from a common affliction: fear of writing. It often starts at school where we were told we didn’t have a “gift for words”.
This is nonsense. Writing is a craft, and the principles of it can be learnt.
Over the last decade, at InfoQ, Container Solutions and as a freelancer, I’ve helped hundreds of developers become better writers. With this talk I want to show you some of the parallels between programming and writing. I’ll also explain the processes I use, explore some techniques to help you communicate your ideas, share some tips and tricks you can use to write well, and discuss how to get published.
By doing so I hope to inspire more engineers to get excited about sharing their knowledge.
For students: Beyond the Code, Across the Globe: International Expertise for a Sustainable Tech Career through Communication, Systems Thinking and Human Connection
In this talk Charles Humble, a senior technology professional with an atypical background in English literature, shares hard-won insights about building a successful career in software engineering.
Drawing from over 30 years’ experience shifting from publishing to technology leadership, he will consider the role played by three cornerstone skills: effective communication, empathy and systems thinking. The presentation advocates professional growth through active participation in tech communities and open source projects, while stressing the fundamental importance of kindness and teaching others.
Charles argues that the most successful technologists are those who combine technical competence with strong interpersonal skills, viewing their role not as isolated individual contributors but as collaborative team members who elevate those around them.
This talk was delivered to graduating students at Misr International University (MIU), Egypt in 2024. A recording can be shared on request.
