ACM-IEEE Twin Cities | OpenClaw, AI Agents & Open Source Roundtable

Tech is moving fast — and the best way to keep up is together.
Join the ACM-IEEE WIE Twin Cities community for an evening of expert-led talks, lively debate, and genuine connection. This session is part of our ongoing Track 08 — Current: Signal Through the Noise series, designed to cut through the hype and get to what actually matters in tech today.
On the agenda: a beginner-friendly deep dive into OpenClaw — one of the most talked-about open-source AI agent frameworks of 2026 — followed by a community roundtable on one of the hottest debates in AI right now: Open Source vs. Cloud AI — who really wins?
Whether you're an engineer, researcher, student, or tech enthusiast, this is your space to learn, challenge ideas, and meet people building the future of tech.

What's Happening

• 👋 Welcome & KeyNote — ACM-IEEE Twin Cities by Lakshmi Priya Gopalsamy, Senior Engineering Manager-Target
• 🎤 Introduction to OpenClaw — What It Is & How to Build Your First AI Agent? by Sowmya Podila, Senior AI Scientist and Andrew Yang, Senior Applied
  AI scientist-Target
• 🎤 Community Roundtable: Open Source vs. Closed AI — Who Wins? - Moderate by Sai Vineela Ganti, Senior Engineer-Target
• 🤝 Networking & Community MixerI

We recommend bringing your laptop for note taking, follow along for hands-on.

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Learn more about this group here
Join our LinkedIn Group ACM-IEEE TwinCities TechHub

Parking:
The parking garage is located underground. The entrance is on 4th St.
Pricing (if entering before 5pm):
0-1 hour - $4
1-2 hours - $5
2-3 hours - $6
3-4 hours - $9
In after 5pm and out by 10pm - $5
There are pay stations in the lobby as well as in the parking garage outside the elevators. The pay station in the lobby takes cash, the pay stations outside the elevators take credit cards.
You’ll need to keep your parking ticket with you to the exit.
There is some metered street parking on 3rd street.

Navigation to the Doty Boardroom:
For those using the parking garage, take the elevator up to the 2nd floor. Once exiting the elevator, take a left and then another left, and the boardroom will be on the right across from the art gallery.
For those coming from outside, once you enter the lobby take the escalator up to the second floor. Walk across the bridge and the boardroom will be on the right across from the art gallery.