The Wave Approaching 

In March 2021 the Waylay team embarked on two journeys with the launch of Waylay IO, our low code automation platform and to host our own killer event!  We made an observation, critical components of the new wave automation, low code and open-source development and founder communities were often not connected! All working towards similar shared goals but often not in the same conversation. We decided to be a connector! Creating the environment where common goals, debate and disagreement could be discussed which resulted in Unicon becoming a reality! 

Are we connected ?


From the outset of our journey to make UNICON a reality, we made a conscious decision. This event is not all about Waylay, we needed to be more than just a company hosting an event. We needed to be a community builder with a focus on putting creators in the centre of the debate with tangible insights and actions. Connecting entrepreneurs, makers, developers, investors, government, companies big and small would be the first step. This event would need to walk a balancing act, blending the best of a development conference and a top class entrepreneur/business conference, as in the real world the best results come from a diversity of views, backgrounds and perspectives.  Identifying the audience was key, and we worked with our supporters to craft questions that instilled debate. We asked questions like...


  • ‘What will the companies of 2025 look like? 
  • Are we moving to a world of Total Automation?
  • How will this impact our society? 
  • Is Low Code/No Code tech the future of automation? 
  • Where do we draw the line between simplicity and eventual complexity with this new cloud paradigm? 
  • Is open source the saviour of multi-cloud strategy?’

It’s not a Wave! It’s a Tsunami!

In asking these questions we quickly realised we didn't have all the answers! So why not open the discussion to the community. If you think you have found a solution to every problem quickly, the chances are you have probably missed something critical. So share the questions and problems, insights and opportunities with the community :). As the saying goes ‘a rising tide floats all boats’. However this rising tide is the prerequisite to the incoming tsunami of change and opportunity in the automation space. All businesses will and are adopting new technologies, strategies to remain and become real players. This line of thinking was a key component of the messaging of UNICON. 


From multinationals to emergent startups, companies are developing and deploying digital services at an unmatched pace. Low Code Automation is redefining the digital innovation process to such an extent that the companies of the future will be built almost exclusively on the principles of Enterprise application automation everywhere. Globally, we are at the beginning of a radical shift to a Serverless automation centric world which will be a boon for everyone that jumps on board early.


The topics for each panel discussion hosted at UNICON came from us asking questions, bringing our network, engaging experts in the field. 


Our Panel discussions were as follows, and all debates can be viewed via linked titles below:

Who Spoke at UNICON 21

Attracting world class speakers with a deep understanding of multi-layered topics was a top priority. As a team we leveraged our networks and the results spoke for themselves. It was a ‘Rock Star’ event of the automation, low-code, open-source, serverless, entrepreneur and VC/Investor community. Some of the most influential voices, driving and supporting the creator and entrepreneurial community agreed to speak. 



The Big Day - UNICON 2021


We wanted our event to be unique and memorable! The virtual conference market has exploded since the rise of Covid19, however we found that the usual go to platforms were in essence a bit dull. We really wanted a platform that would offer attendees and speakers a fully interactive and immersive experience. We decided to use Goldcast as our platform provider to achieve this and in doing so brought a dynamism to the overall conference!


We were blown away by the uptake and interest in the event and the registrations grew and grew. In the space of three weeks we had achieved 300+ registrations on goldcast and a whopping 600+ on our Linkedin event!! We had registrations from over 30 countries with a diverse range of backgrounds from large corporations to emergent startups. Developers, makers, government, automation specialists, entrepreneurs to educators, we achieved our blended audience, we had brought a community together in one location - UNICON. 


The live event was streamed on Linkedin, Twitter and Youtube to allow for maximum reach. 

The response we have received from attendees and speakers is very positive and it has spurred us on to keep on driving debate, and continuing to develop the low-code automation community going forward!