For the JavaLand x Women in Tech series, Ixchel Ruiz has interviewed female speakers of the upcoming JavaLand 2026 at Europa-Park. These speaker spotlights give you the opportunity to get to know the speaker better and get their valuable input and insight on current topics. You can find more background information regarding the Women in Tech movement as well as Ixchel’s motivation behind it in our previous article.
Session Title: Die OpenAPI-Werkzeugkiste: Qualität und Automatisierung durch Open Source Tools
Time: Wednesday, March 11, 2026 | 10:00 – 10:40
Room: Salle Petit Paris
Language: German
Focus: APIs, Automation, Developer Experience
OpenAPI documents exist in many projects, but too often they are outdated, incomplete, or hard to use. In everyday practice, they tend to drift away from the actual implementation and slowly lose their value as a reliable reference.
It doesn’t have to be this way. There is a rich ecosystem of open source tools that can significantly improve both API quality and the usefulness of OpenAPI documentation. This session starts right there and shows how OpenAPI can become a real asset instead of a maintenance burden.
Meet the Speaker: Miriam Greis
Miriam Greis is a seasoned API expert with extensive experience in API design, development, and operations. Over the years, she has become a passionate advocate for practical, developer-friendly approaches to API quality and automation. Miriam’s work focuses on empowering teams to adopt effective API design and operational practices that integrate seamlessly into real-world workflows and CI/CD pipelines.
Beyond her technical expertise, Miriam is recognized for her commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion in technology. She actively mentored women and girls interested in tech careers and organized workshops aimed at breaking down barriers that often discourage young women from pursuing STEM fields. Miriam believes that increasing the representation of women in tech is not only a matter of fairness but a critical driver of innovation and better technology outcomes.
Her approach combines deep technical knowledge with a genuine passion for community building, making her a respected voice in both the API and women-in-tech ecosystems.
Why Miriam Brought This Conversation to JavaLand
APIs are the backbone of modern software systems, yet API design is still often treated as an afterthought. From Miriam’s perspective, this is largely a mindset problem. To support the mindset shift, clear processes and a golden path including suitable tooling are required.
In this session, she shows how OpenAPI tools can be integrated into CI/CD pipelines to automate quality checks and API operations from the very beginning. Through live demonstrations, she introduces tools that are part of her personal OpenAPI toolbox, including:
- Mocking with Prism
- Linting with Spectral and Vacuum
- Formatting with openapi-format
- Contract testing with portman and newman
To make it easy to continue experimenting after the talk, Miriam also provides a GitHub playground that attendees can use as a starting point for their own APIs.
The One Idea She Wants You to Take Home
The central idea of this session is simple and encouraging: API design first is not difficult.
By automating API operations with open source tools, design-first approaches can be brought into everyday practice without adding unnecessary overhead. Miriam hopes that attendees leave the session inspired to try at least one of the tools themselves and experience how small changes can make a big difference in API quality.
Her Perspective: Encouraging the Next Generation of Women in Tech
Miriam is deeply committed to changing the narrative around women in technology. She often observes the confidence gap that many girls and young women face, which is reinforced by societal stereotypes suggesting that tech, math, or science are not fields for them.
Through mentoring, workshops, and public speaking, Miriam actively works to inspire curiosity and resilience among young women. She emphasizes that fostering diversity in tech is not just a social imperative but a catalyst for richer ideas and stronger technological solutions.
Her message to the community is clear: everyone has a role to play in creating an inclusive environment where women can thrive. Encouraging curiosity, building confidence, and challenging stereotypes are essential steps toward a more diverse and innovative tech world.
Why JavaLand Is the Right Place for This Talk
For Miriam, JavaLand is more than a conference — it’s a vibrant community hub where ideas flow freely and connections spark collaboration. She values the opportunity to meet fellow experts, share insights, and engage in meaningful conversations about the challenges and opportunities in API design and automation.
JavaLand’s open atmosphere and strong developer community provide the perfect environment for discussing practical tooling, shared challenges, and better ways of working with APIs. It’s also a place where the spotlight on women in tech can shine brightly, inspiring the next generation of developers.
Join the Conversation
This session invites you to rethink how you work with OpenAPI definitions and how much value good tooling and automation can unlock.
If you design, build, or operate APIs, this talk will give you concrete ideas you can apply right away. Bring your questions, try out new tools, and exchange experiences with others at JavaLand 2026.
This article’s grammar and syntax were refined using ChatGPT and DeepL. The content reflects the speaker’s ideas, hopes, and statements.
