Past Talks

March 2026 @ AND Digital

In this session, we’ll discover David’s journey from starting out as a music teacher in Doncaster and how thinking differently about education caught the imagination of Apple. He’ll tell the story of the key decisions and fundamental changes he implemented that resulted in touring Europe for the lunch of iTunes U, regularly speaking on the worlds biggest education stages, and developing one of the first 1:1 device strategies that helped to kickstart a global movement. David is now moving into the world of app development, creating an app that can be used in schools throughout the world.

David Kirtlan brings over 25 years experience as a senior leader in education, as an Academy Director at Doncaster College and then as Education Director for Backstage Academy (now Academy of Live Technology at Production Park). At both institutions he drove innovation supporting Apple to develop the world’s first Apple Authorised Training Centre for Logic (music production software), including creating the Education framework for this to role out across EMEIA. He also developed the first UK 1:1 device programme in education, which became the featured model for Apple during the European tour of iTunes U.

Following these successes, David took on the role of an education consultant, working with schools and multi-academy trusts throughout the UK to support the technology developments through leadership support and curriculum development. He has presented both independently and on behalf of Apple at the world’s largest education conferences including BETT in London, and delivered keynote speeches at GESS in Dubai and Mexico, BES Asia in Malaysia and Vietnam, as well as supporting the UAE and Turkish governments in technology-led curriculum design.

David has also developed the digital strategies for both Guide Dogs UK and Family Fund, as well as support numerous SEND organisations to better support their users.

February 2026 @ Lloyds Banking Group

User interfaces have traditionally been static and predefined. Generative UI introduces a new approach where interfaces are created or adapted at runtime based on context, data, and user intent.

This talk breaks down GenUI in simple terms and shows how Flutter’s declarative UI model makes it well-suited for building generative interfaces.

We will walk through how it works, how to integrate it into Flutter applications, practical use cases, a live demo, and the common challenges involved.

Finally, we will explore why GenUI represents a fundamental shift in UI development and why it is likely to become a core part of how future applications are built.

Manu is a Flutter developer currently working at BrightHR. He has nearly five years of experience building mobile applications using Flutter and Android, delivering scalable, high-quality user interfaces used by hundreds of thousands of users. He is also actively exploring futuristic technologies such as AI, blockchain, and quantum computing.