John Halberstadt

John Halberstadt is an executive consultant and thought leader in Product and Project leadership, Lean Portfolio Management, and enterprise strategy. With nearly three decades of leadership experience—including roles as CIO, CTO, and VP of Technology—he specializes in helping organizations transition to product-centric operating models that foster innovation, customer value, and business agility.

As Vice President of Consulting at LitheSpeed, John collaborates with Fortune 500 companies, international non-profits, and government agencies to drive meaningful change. He focuses on aligning strategy with execution across industries such as finance, healthcare, insurance, retail, utilities, and AI-driven enterprises. His expertise includes scaling Agile beyond IT, integrating AI into Agile workflows, and establishing Agile Value Management Offices (VMOs) to maximize business outcomes.

John’s leadership philosophy centers on people. He believes that while frameworks and technology support transformation, lasting change happens when leaders, teams, and individuals embrace new ways of thinking and working. His approach emphasizes empowerment, adaptability, and creating environments where teams can innovate and thrive.

A frequent speaker at PMI events and industry conferences, John shares practical insights on Agile, Project and Product leadership, the product operating model, and leveraging AI to drive business agility. His sessions combine executive-level strategy with actionable takeaways, making complex transformations approachable and achievable.

Outside of work, John enjoys exploring the outdoors, hiking with his rescue pitbull, Elliott, and taking in the rugged landscapes of Nevada, from the Sierras to Red Rocks.

DERMOT CANNIFFE

Dermot Canniffe, a Solutions Engineer and QA Automation Engineer at Inflectra brings over 20 years of software industry experience. A University of Galway graduate, Dermot's career spans roles in technical support, software development, testing, and automation. At Inflectra, he excels in helping customers integrate software quality and management tools and advises on quality engineering strategy and Agile practices. Dermot, a passionate advocate for Agile methodologies and Behavior-Driven Development, has shared his insights at international conferences like Agile Testing Days in Potsdam and EuroSTAR. Known for using Star Trek and Star Wars metaphors to simplify complex concepts, Dermot is a creative thinker and a valuable asset to Inflectra.

Dermot lives in Galway, Ireland, with his family.

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CHRIS TODD

Chris Todd is the VP of Architecture & Engineering at Taphere! Technology. He co-founded TapHere! in 2008 with the goal of offering innovative solutions that exceed customer expectations and focus on technical expertise, efficiency, and value. As TapHere’s VP of Engineering, Chris has worked with a diverse array of customers over the past 16 years – from universities and healthcare systems to the CIA and United States Space Force. 

Chris and his team focus on sound solutions that champion best practices but also break new ground and challenge conventional thinking to find new approaches to technical problems.

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STEPHANIE (HICKMAN) LAINGEN

As the Director of Innovation, Stephanie Laingen has a passion for questioning the status quo and finding new and creative solutions to problems. After completing her Computer Science degree at Yale, she joined TapHere! Technology, a small team of highly skilled engineers that serves in the federal sector. As a computer scientist and consultant, Stephanie architects custom solutions develops workflows and provides bespoke education to meet the personalized needs of each customer, enabling agile and sustainable practices throughout.

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MELISSA DALEY

With 20 years of experience in Information Technology, Melissa Daley created Orca Intelligence in 2014. Her purpose was to offer a unique methodology to decrease the time it takes to capture, analyze, and manage software requirements. She believes software, though not tangible, is very similar to building design and architecture and requires the same governance and best practices. Her method encompasses features such as cataloging and maintaining requirements for reuse on other projects. This methodology saves requirements analysis and management time. Across Agile teams, her methods have proven to keep stakeholders and software engineers organized throughout the entire software development life cycle. In addition, her Agile project management skills produce incremental success that keep teams on schedule and within budget. 

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DR. SRIRAM RAJAGOPALAN

Dr. Sriram Rajagopalan is the Global Lead on Training and Agile Transformation at Inflectra. Dr. Rajagopalan has extensive software development and project management experience in many industries. He won prestigious recognition from PMI with the Eric Jennet Project Management Excellence Award in 2017.

He holds a BE in Electronics and Communication Engineering from the University of Madras in India, an MS in Computer Engineering from Wayne State University, and an MBA in Management from Concordia University. His Ph.D. was in Organization and Management from Capella University.

Dr. Rajagopalan possesses many professional certifications in PfMP, PgMP, PMP, PMI-ACP, PMI-SP, PMI-RMP, CSP, CSPO, CSD, CSM, ACC, IT Project+, Six Sigma, SCM, SCPO, SCD, SAMC, SCT, and CSOXP.

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PAUL MERRILL

Paul is recognized as a thought leader in the test automation community, having been invited to speak at numerous software conferences since 2014.

Paul is sought after to train teams, consult with technical leaders, and speak on testing and test automation across the US and beyond.

After more than two decades as a software engineer, SDET, and leader in the software development space, he recruits, consults, and trains from the perspective of someone who has worked in the field.

Paul has been trusted by major companies across the US, including Kohl’s, Blue Cross Blue Shield, IBM, Becton Dickinson, and more than 40 others. The trust large companies have placed in him is great, but he and his team prefer working with established small to mid-size businesses.

Paul and his team are based in Cary, NC.