Architecture
The sociotechnical side of architecture. Trade-offs and communication, decentralized decision-making, platform engineering, AI architecture decisions.
Download SyllabusDate: June 10, 2026
Time: Wednesday, 09:30AM BST
As you get more senior, you get siloed inside your company and your industry. In these cohorts, senior engineers from different industries apply frameworks from QCon talks to the decisions they're working on, and share what worked and what didn't, in confidence.
Leave with new approaches, or validation that the calls you're already making are the right ones.
Live online sessions. 4 hours a week, for 5 weeks.
USD1,470 per cohort.
Most companies reimburse for professional development.
Download our
"Convince your boss"
template.
Architecture Cohort Facilitator
AI Engineering Cohort Facilitator
Facilitated by senior practitioners
Confidential peer group
Apply QCon frameworks
Access 100+ QCon videos
Get published on InfoQ.com
Earn an InfoQ certification
The single most valuable outcome has been improving how I write and think. I can now articulate trade-offs in a way that improves my proposals at work.
Chinmay Sawaji,
Senior Software Engineer @Klaviyo
This cohort gave me structured time each week to step back and think about what it really means to be an architect.
David Holliday,
Product manager / Product Owner @Munich Re
The Architecture Canvas was a game changer. We've made different decisions because of how we're structuring conversations. It wasn't just theory.
Ian Hockett,
Staff Software Engineer @Exact Sciences
The sociotechnical side of architecture. Trade-offs and communication, decentralized decision-making, platform engineering, AI architecture decisions.
Download SyllabusDate: June 10, 2026
Time: Wednesday, 09:30AM BST
The non-technical complexities of architecture. Leadership and communication, value stream architecture, architecting for flow, platformization, data and AI.
Date: Dates to be announced
Building AI systems that hold up in production. AI-native engineering, RAG and context pipelines, AI agents, platform and infrastructure, evals and reliability.
Download SyllabusDate: July 25, 2026
Time: Saturday, 09:00AM PDT
We're adding more cohorts over the coming weeks.
Sign up for email notifications to know when they open.
Get email updatesPrincipal solutions architect
Over the past 20 years, Luca has worked across software architectures from frontend to the cloud. Facilitator for the Architecture cohort.
Sr. Engineering Manager at Zoox
Hien leads the Machine Learning Platform team at Zoox, powering real production applications. Facilitator for the AI Engineering cohort.
Co-author of Team Topologies
Manuel has worked with Fortune 500 companies on team and organizational design for fast flow of value. Facilitator for the Organizational Architect cohort.
Each week, you apply a framework from a QCon talk to an organizational decision from
your own work, alongside senior engineers and architects from different companies.
Watch a QCon talk on your own time before the session.
Join a 4-hour live session with your facilitator and your cohort.
Apply the framework to a decision from your own work, sharing what worked and what didn't with the group.
Take away something you can use at work that week.
4 hours of live sessions per week, plus time-boxed homework (max 2 hours). Designed to fit around your work.
Throughout the cohort, you'll draft a technical article. In week 5, you present your article to the cohort. The best get published on InfoQ.com.
Apply frameworks from QCon talks to real problems in group exercises. Sessions are 4 hours per week.
Work through challenges with architects and engineers from different companies, industries, and contexts.
Earn an InfoQ certification as proof of your strategic technical leadership skills.
Most companies reimburse for professional development.
Download our
"Convince your boss"
template.
These online cohorts are for senior engineers and architects who want to make better decisions, publish on a platform senior technical people read, and build a peer group that outlasts the 5 weeks.
Because the real work happens when you have to defend the trade-offs in your own context. This cohort gives you the confidential peer group and an experienced facilitator to do that work, and you'll earn the InfoQ certification as a result.
Participants who registered for the online cohorts will receive an email with detailed instructions on how to join the sessions. This email will be sent out during the week prior to the start of the cohort, so be sure to check your inbox (and spam folder, just in case!) for the access information.
This is for senior software practitioners with at least 5 years of experience who are involved in setting technical strategy.
Certification is awarded based on two factors: consistent attendance and active participation in the live sessions, and the successful completion of the group Capstone project.
Because the real work happens when you have to defend the trade-offs in your own context.
This cohort gives you the confidential peer group and expert mentorship to do that work, and you'll earn an InfoQ certification as a result.
This programme assumes you already have deep technical expertise. Each week is structured around a real decision you are working on, not a case study. The focus is the skills that senior engineers find hardest to get from inside their own organisation: pressure-testing decisions with peers, articulating tradeoffs to stakeholders, and making the kind of decisions that are difficult to reverse.
Each weekly session is a 4-hour deep-dive workshop. This is a significant time investment because we are not just watching talks.
We are undertaking the challenging, practical work of applying these frameworks to real-world challenges alongside your senior peer group.
To ensure an optimal experience, you will need:
The program consists of five live sessions held over five weeks. Each weekly session lasts four hours. In addition to weekly practical assignments (2–3 hours/week), participants join a private Slack workspace for peer discussion and collaborate in small groups to produce a Capstone article for publication on InfoQ.com.
We accept PayPal and major credit cards. A payment charged to your credit card or Paypal account is processed directly by us in the funds stated on the website. Please note that QCon and InfoQ are trademarked and wholly-owned brand of C4Media Inc., which is located in Canada. Customers outside Canada or cards denominated in other currencies may incur foreign transaction or exchange fees from their issuing bank. C4Media does not control nor collect these fees.
You can contact us for any payment questions at payments@qconferences.com.
Yes, in-person cohorts are offered at select QCon conferences, such as QCon London and QCon San Francisco.
We've developed a template you can use to explain to your boss how you can benefit from the cohort participation.
Registration fees are not refundable.
The Terms of Participation can be found at https://certification.qconferences.com/terms-conditions.
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For full details, see our Policy Notice.
Yes. The program is open to freelancers and the self-employed. When registering, simply enter your trading name or "Independent" in the Company Details section.
We are dedicated to providing a safe and inclusive experience for everyone. Our Code of Conduct can be found at https://certification.qconferences.com/code-conduct.
InfoQ is a practitioner-driven community news site focused on facilitating the spread of knowledge and innovation in professional software development.
We do not offer scholarships or complimentary seats for the InfoQ Certification at this time. Should this change for future cohorts, we will announce it via our official channels.
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