Software for Humanity 2026

About this event

Tuesday, November 10, 2026 | 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM EST

MathWorks | Natick, Massachusetts

In-Person and Virtual Participation

Register for Software for Humanity 2026

Sponsored by

There’s IT in “humanity” — but is there humanity in IT?

Join CMG for Software for Humanity 2026 , a day dedicated to exploring the intersection of technology, people, and the world around us.

Software continues to transform how we work, communicate, build, and solve problems. This event brings together technologists, engineers, developers, researchers, and industry leaders to examine not only what technology can do, but how we can use it thoughtfully and responsibly.

This year’s program places a particular emphasis on Artificial Intelligence, accessibility, inclusive technology, and human-centered software design , exploring how we can build more responsible, effective, and accessible technology.

What You’ll Explore

• Artificial Intelligence and its practical applications

• Accessibility and inclusive technology

• Human-centered software design and development

• AI-assisted software testing and quality engineering

• Open source in enterprise environments

• Responsible AI and human oversight

• Technology’s impact on people and society

The program features technical presentations, real-world case studies, an interactive accessibility workshop, an AI panel discussion, and opportunities to connect with others across the technology community.

Register for Software for Humanity 2026

Conference Agenda

All times Eastern Standard Time (EST). Program subject to change.

Morning Program

8:30 – 9:00 AM | Breakfast & Kickoff

Join us for breakfast, networking, and an introduction to the day’s program.

9:00 – 9:40 AM | Who Is Your Software For? How Inclusive Teams and Diverse User Feedback Shape What You Build

Nicole Nwakalor, Broadcom

Software can work well for some people and still leave others struggling. This presentation explores how inclusive teams and feedback from users with different backgrounds, abilities and experiences shape who our software works for. Through everyday examples and practical lessons, we’ll look at how to question our assumptions, reach beyond the people we usually test with, and turn what we learn into better products.

9:45 – 10:40 AM | Empowering AI Experiences with Zowe Foundations

Daniel Kelosky and Rosemarie Sakach, Broadcom

Discover the Open Mainframe Project Zowe MCP Server, an innovative adapter that uses the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to bridge the gap between mainframe resources and the contemporary AI landscape.

This session examines how the framework enables AI agents to securely interact with data and services managed by Zowe. By integrating the mainframe as a primary component in generative AI workflows, organizations can unlock new levels of efficiency.

The presentation concludes with a live demonstration of an AI assistant communicating directly with z/OS through Zowe foundations, showcasing these advanced concepts in a real-world scenario.

10:45 – 11:25 AM | DEI, Open Source Software & Mainframe (MF) Transformation, Illustrated via a MF Database Performance Example

Thomas Halinski, Broadcom

This session explores diversity in open-source software and its positive impact on the IT industry, followed by an introduction to REST APIs and the Zowe open-source project.

Using an IDMS database performance monitoring example, Tom will demonstrate how sophisticated open-source visualization tools can transform traditional performance reports into more accessible and insightful representations of system metrics.

The techniques demonstrated can be applied to any mainframe database that exposes performance metrics through a REST API.

11:30 AM – 12:10 PM | Testing Through the User’s Eyes: Accessibility-First, Self-Hosted AI for Quality Engineering

Martin Croft, Select Red Ltd

What if accessibility became a foundation of automated software testing rather than a separate checklist?

Martin explores how accessibility-tree-first testing, locally hosted AI models, and human-reviewed test automation can improve software quality while protecting sensitive organizational data.

Learn approaches for identifying accessibility defects, creating more resilient automated tests, and using AI without removing human oversight.

Lunch & Networking

12:15 – 1:00 PM

Take time to connect with speakers and fellow attendees. Lunch will be available for purchase at the MathWorks cafeteria.

Afternoon Program

1:00 – 1:55 PM | Mission Accessible- Accessibility is Everyone’s Business: A hands-on workshop with an Accessibility Helper skill

Sindhuja Parimalarangan, Anoush Najarian, Helen Chigirinskaya, Shanmukh Srinivas, and Vinod Tiwari — MathWorks | Interactive Workshop

Accessibility is everyone’s business, and AI-assisted tools can make it easier to identify and address accessibility challenges throughout the development lifecycle.

In this interactive workshop, the MathWorks team will demonstrate how AI coding agents can support accessibility auditing, WCAG-guided analysis, and remediation.

Participants will explore real-world interface challenges, identify accessibility barriers, prioritize improvements, and discover how human expertise and AI assistance can work together to create more inclusive software.

2:00 – 2:40 PM | Protecting a Learner’s Work: Human Acceptance Criteria for AI-Assisted Development

Arina Shabalina, Infokly

As AI coding agents become part of software development workflows, how do we ensure that automation protects the people using our applications?

Through a collaborative coding environment case study, Arina explores how to translate human consequences into explicit software requirements, establish boundaries for AI-assisted changes, and ensure that automated tests reflect what really matters to users.

2:45 – 3:25 PM | What Is Normal, and When Has Normal Changed? ANF for Human-Centered and AI-Assisted Systems

Igor Trubin, TTD

Modern systems produce vast amounts of data reflecting both technology performance and human activity. But how do we distinguish a temporary anomaly from a meaningful change in normal behavior?

Igor introduces the Area of Normal Functioning (ANF), an interpretable framework for understanding dynamic behavior, recognizing anomalies, and identifying changes over time.

Discover how interpretable models and AI-assisted analysis can work together while maintaining responsible human judgment.

3:30 – 4:25 PM | AI Panel Discussion

Moderated by Mohit Verma

Panelists: Nicole Nwakalor, Thomas Halinski, Arina Shabalina, and Igor Trubin

Join technology professionals for a discussion about AI, its practical applications, and the human considerations that should guide its development and adoption.

4:25 – 4:30 PM | Closing Remarks

Join Us November 10!

Whether you work in software development, IT operations, accessibility, quality engineering, or technology leadership, Software for Humanity offers practical insights and a chance to connect with people who believe technology should serve humanity.

Date: Tuesday, November 10, 2026

Time: 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM EST

Location: MathWorks, Natick, Massachusetts

Format: In-Person and Virtual Participation

Register for Software for Humanity 2026

Program and speaker participation details are subject to change.