- September 21-25, 2026
- Hydro at CSU Spur | Denver, CO
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Deepen your software design practice at an immersive event for the people who shape software for complex domains.
Explore is not your typical conference. Two days of pre-conference workshops (Sept 21-22), then three days of expert talks alongside hands-on workshops across up to five parallel tracks, capped by the Design Storm: a multi-cohort modeling challenge using real water-management data.
Denver, Colorado. September 23-25, 2026, with optional pre-conference workshops September 21-22. Group rates available for teams of 5+.
Pre-conference workshops Monday and Tuesday. Conference Wednesday through Friday. Click any day for the full schedule.
Two days at the end of the conference, modeling a real, contested domain (water management) alongside a cohort of peers at your level, working with agentic coding tools. A domain expert opens the challenge at Thursday's kickoff. Water touches every American, and right now it's one of the most actively contested domains in the country, with real stakes for tens of millions of people. A chance to work on something that genuinely matters.
Civil engineers use the term "design storm" for a calibrated event, something like the 100-year, 24-hour rainfall. Real enough that what you build works in the wild. Bounded enough that you can actually build for it. The slice of water management we've picked works the same way: tractable enough for two days, rich enough that the modeling pressure is real.
Water management is deliberately unfamiliar so nobody short-circuits with their own expertise; it has real complexity, real ambiguity, and real stakeholders with competing needs. You and your cohort discover, model, and bring a slice of the domain to working code together. Friday afternoon, every cohort surfaces what they built, science-fair style. The deepest learning comes from both halves: working the problem with your cohort, then seeing how others worked it differently.
The venue, Hydro at CSU Spur, is built around water stewardship; the breakout rooms are named for Colorado rivers.
You'll join one of four cohorts, calibrated to where you are with modeling and agentic coding today.
Where the river starts. For attendees newer to both modeling and agentic coding, looking for a gentle entry into the Design Storm.
Where streams converge. For attendees comfortable with modeling OR agentic coding (not both yet), looking to bring their strengths and stretch into the other.
Fast-moving water. For attendees confident in both modeling and agentic coding, ready to move fast on harder challenges.
Beyond the map. For experts in both modeling and agentic coding, ready to invent new patterns alongside other experts.
Each cohort is self-directed and decides its own approach. Most will bring agents into the loop, that's part of why the format is interesting now. A cohort can also stay in discovery and modeling, or write a minimal code probe to express the model. The goal is the modeling, not a mandated output.
You leave with sustained practice in modeling under genuine ambiguity with agents in the loop, and a cohort of peers you'll keep talking to long after the conference closes.
Kickoff Thursday 9am · Working sessions Thursday 3pm + Friday morning · Surfacing & demos Friday 1:45pm
Eric Evans
Author of Domain-Driven Design
Opening Keynote
Indu Alagarsamy
Principal Engineer, CircleCI
Pre-Conference Workshop
Paul Rayner
Consultant, Virtual Genius
Javiera Laso
Lead Engineer Consultant at Thoughtworks
Sonya Natanzon
Architect, team leader, decomplexifier
Joseph Yoder
The Refactory - MetaYoda
Tina Thomas
Senior Software Developer at Thoughtworks
Kyle Brown
IBM Fellow
Registration is open. Register early for the best price.
Attendance is limited to 225 to keep the experience intimate and interactive.
Expert talks, experiential workshops, and a dedicated open space day.
| Tier | Price | Availability |
|---|---|---|
| Early Bird | $1,295 | Sold Out |
| Regular | $1,495 | April 1 through August 1 |
| Procrastinator | $1,795 | August 7 through September 14 |
| Eternal Postponer | $1,995 | September 14 through event |
Hands-on workshops with expert instructors. Workshop lineup announced soon.
| Tier | Price | Availability |
|---|---|---|
| Early Bird | $1,895 | Sold Out |
| Regular | $2,095 | Until sold out |
Bring your team and save on every ticket. Discounts apply to all ticket types.
| Total Tickets | Discount | |
|---|---|---|
| 5-9 tickets | $100 off | per ticket |
| 10-19 tickets | $150 off | per ticket |
| 20+ tickets | $200 off | per ticket |
How it works: Email contact@exploreddd.com with your company name and the number of tickets you expect to purchase. We'll send you a discount code that automatically applies the discount at checkout.
Conference and workshop tickets combine toward your group total. Tickets can be purchased in a single bulk order or individually using the same code, as long as your group meets the minimum ticket count. For example, 5 conference tickets plus 5 workshop tickets qualifies as 10 tickets for the $150 off tier.
Anyone whose work shapes software for complex domains: software architects, engineers, technical leaders, product managers, designers, testers, domain experts, and platform engineers. You'll find people new to DDD looking for foundations, seasoned practitioners pushing strategic design, and folks exploring what AI-assisted development changes about how we model.
No. AI-assisted development has changed who can build software, and our programming meets people across that spectrum. Whether you're shipping production code or shaping the design and product strategy behind it, you'll find sessions and Design Storm cohorts built for you.
Yes. Plenty of talks and hands-on sessions across all three days are not AI-focused. You can build a path through the conference that emphasizes DDD fundamentals, strategic design, and team practices.
Yes. Keynotes and select talks from past Explore DDD conferences are available free on our YouTube channel. Workshops and Design Storm working sessions are reserved for in-person attendees, the value of those sessions comes from doing the work alongside others, which doesn't translate to video.
Explore DDD isn't a vendor showcase, there are no sales pitches, and our programming is built for practitioners. That said, if your company is interested in supporting the work as a sponsor or partner, we'd love to talk. See the partnership page or reach out at contact@exploreddd.com.