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Meet your Hosts

Ford Prior is a Principal Engineer at Capital One, a Fortune 500 Company and one of the largest banks in the U.S. His engineering career is mainly focused in DevOps and he has a passion for open-source, cloud architecture and CI/CD. Ford also leads the local AWS User Group where he showcases his passion. You could consider him a “multi-disciplinary code ninja.”

Outside of work, Ford is a Richmond native and loves to spend time with his wife and kids. His hobbies include martial arts, kombucha making and watercolor art. He has also had a technology podcast in the past and has a strong passion for talking about technology and getting to know the tech community here in RVA.

Julia Barnhart is the Technology Manager, Data Science and Machine Learning at CarMax, a Fortune 500 company and the largest used-car retailer in the U.S. In her current role, she focuses on leveraging machine learning and AI to drive exceptional customer experiences and operational efficiencies across the organization. She is fascinated by complex topics such as the physiology between technological automation and human creativity in society. She is also working to inspire and encourage the next generation of female STEM leaders.

Julia grew up in the greater metropolitan area of Boston to Polish immigrants, and moved to Germany after High School to pursue her undergraduate studies. She met her husband, a U.S. Army officer, while living in Heidelberg. Since then, she has lived in Bavaria, Kansas, Hawaii, and now, Richmond. One of her favorite pastimes is having open-ended conversations with people from interesting and diverse backgrounds over a pot of hot, delicious coffee or a glass of good wine. She also enjoys doing cross-fit in her garage, watching Star Trek with her son, or hiding in a nook on Sunday afternoon while devouring novels from Leo Tolstoy, John Fowles, or Haruki Murakami.