Convince your boss, manager, or team

QCon AI New York 2026 / convince your manager

Need approval to attend QCon AI New York?

Use the manager email template or AI prompt to turn the QCon AI sessions most relevant to your work into a clear request for your manager.

QCon AI New York 2026 December 15-16, 2026 · The Westin Jersey City Newport

I want a ready-to-edit request

Use the manager email template as a starting point. Add the production AI work you're responsible for, the sessions most relevant to it, and the costs you need approved.

Use the manager email template

I want help building my case

Use the AI prompt to connect your current work, relevant QCon AI sessions, and expected costs into a personalized approval request.

Build my case with AI

The request

Give your manager the context they need

A useful request connects the conference to work already underway.

1

What you're working on

Name a production AI decision, system, or initiative that makes the conference relevant.

2

Which sessions matter

Choose published sessions that connect directly to that work.

The 2026 program includes production experience around agent runtimes, context, evals, tool access, security, inference infrastructure, AI-assisted engineering, and organizational adoption.

Explore QCon AI New York sessions
3

What you'll bring back

Explain what would be useful to your team after the conference, such as production examples, alternative approaches, trade-offs, implementation details, or questions to take into an architecture or engineering discussion.

4

What it will cost

Include the ticket price, travel, accommodation, and time away from work.

Current pricing: $1,620 through October 13th.

See current pricing

Sessions

Choose sessions that strengthen your case

Look for sessions that connect directly to a decision or system you're working on.

For example, the current program includes sessions on identity and authorization for production agents, securing production AI agents, agent evals, AI code review at scale, Kubernetes operations agents, context compression and caching, and ML/GenAI inference infrastructure.

The strongest choices will give you something specific to bring back: how another team approached the decision, what alternatives they considered, what constraints shaped the architecture, or what changed once the system was running.

Explore the 2026 program

QCon AI New York 2026

Dates
December 15-16, 2026
Venue
The Westin Jersey City Newport
Jersey City, New Jersey
Current pricing
$1,620 through October 13th
See pricing and register

Manager template

Manager email template

Copy this email and replace the bracketed sections with details from your work and the published QCon AI New York program.

manager_email.txt 
Subject: Request to attend QCon AI New York 2026

Hi [Manager name],

I'd like approval to attend QCon AI New York on December 15-16, 2026 in Jersey City.

The conference is relevant to [production AI decision / system / initiative]. I'm particularly interested in [exact session or program area] because [brief connection to the work].

QCon AI brings together senior practitioners who have run the systems they discuss in production. The program covers the decisions behind those systems, including the alternatives considered, the trade-offs involved, what happened in production, and what the practitioner would approach differently now.

I plan to use the conference to gather production examples relevant to [decision/project], compare approaches used by other engineering teams, and bring the most useful reference points back through [architecture review / written summary / team discussion / recommendation].

The conference runs December 15-16 at The Westin Jersey City Newport. The current ticket price is [current ticket price], with approximately [travel and accommodation estimate] in additional costs.

If approved, I'll prioritize the sessions most relevant to [initiative] and share a concise summary of what is applicable to our work afterward.

Thanks,
[Name]

AI prompt

Build your case with AI

Copy the prompt below into ChatGPT or another AI assistant, then replace the bracketed fields.

manager_case_prompt.md 
I want to ask my manager for approval to attend QCon AI New York 2026, taking place December 15-16, 2026 at The Westin Jersey City Newport in Jersey City, New Jersey.

My role is: [ROLE]

The production AI system, initiative, or decision I'm currently working on is: [WORK / DECISION]

These QCon AI New York sessions are relevant: [PASTE EXACT SESSION TITLES, ABSTRACTS, OR LINKS]

I plan to use what I bring back for: [ARCHITECTURE REVIEW / TECHNICAL RECOMMENDATION / TEAM DISCUSSION / INTERNAL WRITE-UP / OTHER]

The current ticket price is: [PRICE]

Estimated travel and accommodation: [COST / NOT YET KNOWN]

Write a concise manager approval request. Start with the production AI work or decision that makes the conference relevant, then connect it to the QCon AI content I supplied.

Explain the value as additional production experience from other engineering teams: the alternatives they considered, the trade-offs they made, what changed in production, and what they would do differently.

Do not invent company problems, ROI, business priorities, speakers, sessions, statistics, or program details. If the information is not enough to make a credible request, ask me up to five short questions first.

If I provide session links or abstracts, use their actual technical details rather than replacing them with generic AI language.

Use US English and no em dashes.

Produce:

1. Two subject line options
2. A manager approval email of about 180-250 words
3. A shorter version under 120 words
4. A four-part business case covering current work, relevant QCon AI content, what I will bring back, and cost/time away

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Which option should I use?

Use the manager email template if you already know what you want to say and need a structure.

Use the AI prompt if you want help connecting your role, current work, relevant sessions, and expected costs into a first draft.

Where should I start when choosing sessions?

Start with the production AI decision or system you're working on, then look for published sessions covering a comparable architecture, constraint, or operating problem.

Use the published session abstract rather than choosing a session based only on the speaker's company or title.

Can I edit the AI-generated request?

Yes. Treat it as a starting point. Check that the final version reflects your work, your company's approval process, the sessions you plan to attend, and the actual costs.

What if I don't know my travel costs yet?

Use an estimate or mark them as to be confirmed, then update the request once travel is booked.

Ready to make your case?

Choose the format that works for you and start with the work already in front of you.

Use the manager email template Build my case with AI