SOAR Symposium 2025
KeyNote Speakers
Dr. David Lo
Professor
Singapore Management University
David Lo is OUB Chair Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Center for Research in Intelligent Software Engineering (RISE) at Singapore Management University. A pioneer in AI for Software Engineering (AI4SE) since the mid-2000s, he has shown how techniques from machine learning, data mining, natural language processing, information retrieval, and search-based optimization can turn software engineering data into actionable insights and practical automation. His empirical work has also revealed developers’ pain points, the limitations of existing AI4SE solutions, and the conditions under which practitioners are willing to adopt AI-driven tools.
His research has earned more than 35,000 citations and over 20 major awards, including two Test-of-Time awards and eleven ACM SIGSOFT / IEEE TCSE Distinguished Paper Awards. He is an ACM Fellow, IEEE Fellow, ASE Fellow, and National Research Foundation Investigator (Senior Fellow), and has served as Program Co-Chair for ASE 2020, FSE 2024, and ICSE 2025.
Keynote: Efficient and Green Code LLMs: Happier Software Engineers, Happier Plant
Many are excited about the potential of code Large Language models (Code, LLMs). However, code LLMs are large, slow, and energy-hungry compared to traditional automated software engineering solutions, which raises usability and sustainability concerns. This is especially true when we want to deploy them in IDEs on local devices, which is often the preferred setting. This talk will highlight several strategies to improve the efficiency and energy consumption of code LLMs. It will also present a vision of what the future can be with efficient and green LLM and a call for action for more research in this direction to make both software engineers and our planet happier.
Dr. Thomas Zimmermann
Chancellor’s Professor and Bren Chair
University of California, Irvine
Thomas Zimmermann is a Chancellor’s Professor and Bren Chair at the University of California, Irvine. He works on cutting-edge research and innovation in software engineering, machine learning, artificial intelligence, data science, and digital games. He has over 15 years of experience in the field, with more than 100 publications that have been cited over 30,000 times. His research mission is to empower software developers and organizations to build better software and services with AI. He is best known for his pioneering work on systematic mining of software repositories and his empirical studies of software development in industry. He has contributed to several Microsoft products and tools, such as Visual Studio, GitHub, and Xbox. He is an ACM Fellow, IEEE Fellow, AAAS Fellow, and recipient of the IEEE TCSE Edward J. McCluskey Technical Achievement award. He received his PhD in 2008 from Saarland University in Germany. From 2007 to 2008 he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Calgary and from 2008 to 2024 he worked at Microsoft Research as a Sr. Principal Researcher.
Keynote: Trust No Machine? Forging Confidence in AI for Software Engineering
The truth is out there… and so is the AI revolution. Foundation models and AI-driven tools are transforming software engineering, offering unprecedented efficiencies while introducing new uncertainties. As developers, we find ourselves in uncharted territory: these tools promise to accelerate productivity and reshape our workflows, but can we really trust them? Like any good investigator, we must question the systems we rely on. Are AI-based tools reliable, transparent, and aligned with developer needs? Or are they inscrutable black boxes with hidden risks? Trust isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s the key factor determining whether AI integration succeeds or spirals into skepticism. In this keynote, I will uncover the evolving role of AI in software engineering and explore how we can build, measure, and foster trust in these tools. I will also reveal why the FORGE community is uniquely positioned to lead this charge, ensuring that AI becomes a trusted partner—not an unsolved mystery. After all, when it comes to AI in software development… should we trust no bot? (This abstract came to life with a little help from ChatGPT and a lot of love for The X-Files.)
Dr. Shane McIntosh
Associate Professor
University of Waterloo
Shane McIntosh is an Associate Professor and the Ross & Muriel Cheriton Faculty Fellow at the University of Waterloo. He leads the Software Repository Excavation and Build Engineering Labs (Software REBELs). In his research, he uses empirical methods to study and improve software build systems, DevOps pipelines, developer experience platforms, and software quality.
Keynote: CI/CD Pipelines Without the Mess
Continuous Integration and Delivery (CI/CD) pipelines process change sets that modify system behaviour by (1) invoking build and test routines, providing timely feedback to team members about whether changes integrate cleanly; (2) updating deployment environments with new system content; and (3) exposing new system content to (samples of) a user population while monitoring and responding to changes in operational metrics. CI/CD pipelines are composed of software artifacts, and as such, are prone to imperfections, such as noise (e.g., misleading signals from CI/CD) and waste (e.g., invocations of the pipeline that do not provide value). In this talk, I will present research that characterizes and mitigates noise and waste in CI/CD pipelines, and discuss avenues for future work.