18-21 May 2027
Virtual & In-Person*
Deepika Prabhakara
Senior Customer Solutions Manager at Amazon Web Services
"Influence Without Authority: How to Lead When it's Not in Your Job Description"
Thu May 14 - 12:20 PM EDT/New York (See in local time)
Add to Calendar 05/14/2026 12:20 PM 05/14/2026 12:40 PM America/New_York #WTGC2026
"Influence Without Authority: How to Lead When it's Not in Your Job Description"
#WTGC2026
"Influence Without Authority: How to Lead When it's Not in Your Job Description"
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Session: Influence Without Authority: How to Lead When it's Not in Your Job Description
In today's complex tech organizations, the most impactful leaders aren't always the ones with "Manager" or "Director" in their titles. As a Customer Solutions Manager leading enterprise-scale initiatives, I've learned that true leadership is about influence, not authority. A skill that can accelerate your career trajectory whether you're aspiring to your first leadership role or already leading at scale.
This session will equip you with practical strategies to lead cross-functional teams, drive results through stakeholders who don't report to you, and navigate organizational ambiguity with confidence. You'll learn how to leverage your expertise, build trust across teams, and create the kind of influence that gets projects over the finish line, even when you're not the boss.
Attendees will walk away with a practical toolkit of nine actionable strategies they can implement immediately, plus real-world examples of how influential leadership drives both project success and career growth in tech.
Key Takeaways
- A Practical 9-Strategy Framework for Influential Leadership – actionable techniques including how to leverage expertise without appearing arrogant, build genuine cross-organizational relationships, create transparent communication environments.
- Strategies for Leading Cross-Functional Teams Without Direct Authority – Navigate project leadership when team members don't report to you by gaining buy-in, managing resistance, and delivering results through influence.
- Accelerate Career Growth – Document influential leadership experiences strategically and position them to strengthen candidacy for formal leadership roles.
- Master Emotional Intelligence in Practice – Apply confidence, expertise, and emotional intelligence to navigate organizational ambiguity and complex stakeholder dynamics.
- Influence Through Real-World Techniques – Understand stakeholder motivations, simplify complex proposals, and build trust that makes people want to collaborate with you.
Bio
Deepika Prabhakara is a Senior Customer Solutions Manager at AWS, serving as a trusted advisor to Financial Services organizations in their cloud transformation journeys. With 25 years of technology leadership experience, she specializes in helping enterprises leverage cloud capabilities to accelerate innovation, optimize costs, and enhance operational excellence.
Throughout her career, Deepika has successfully led numerous large-scale digital transformation initiatives across engineering, technical sales, and program management roles. She brings a powerful combination of technical depth and business acumen, with particular expertise in driving enterprise-scale innovation.
Deepika holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Madras, India, and completed the Executive Digital Leadership program at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
As a dedicated advocate for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity, Deepika serves as President of the Women at Amazon board for the DFW Chapter, where she empowers women across tech and non-tech backgrounds to advance their careers and develop leadership capabilities. She is a public speaker and champions the AWS She Builds Tech Program, where I regularly present on leadership and technical topics to women in tech. Guided by the principle that true growth comes from lifting others up, Deepika's impact extends beyond her professional role.
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