Lightning Talk Night!

We will have a series of lightning talks from our community members

Title: How Do I Build a Lightning Talk?

Bio: Nerando Johnson - Current Atlanta free Code Camp Organizer | Software Developer

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Title: Spring AI vs Langchain4j

Abstract:
As AI capabilities continue to integrate into modern enterprise applications, developers are seeking robust frameworks to streamline the interaction between large language models and Java-based systems. This talk offers some brief juxtaposition of Langchain4j and Spring AI, two emerging frameworks designed to simplify LLM integration in Java applications. This talk serves as an introduction to their core architectures, design philosophies, ease of use, extensibility, and integration with external services. It also aims to provide some insights into selecting the right tool for specific use cases. Whether you are building conversational agents, semantic search systems, or AI-driven automation, this session will help provide some clarity as to which framework best aligns with your technical needs and development workflow.

Bio
Malavika Balamurali is a longtime Java fan who has been working with it since Java 8 released. She is a Junior at Kennesaw State University pursuing a Bachelor's in Computer Science with a focus in Data Science. She's also a member of SWE, GWC and NCWIT. She likes working with Java in all of its glory. Even Applets, which she makes fun of on a daily basis.

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Title: Going for the Goal with Spring AI Agents

Abstract:
Modern “reasoning” models can plan, act, and iterate—allowing developers to describe goals and let agents execute them instead of scripting brittle, multi-step workflows. Spring AI Agents brings this capability to Java through a familiar, Spring Boot–friendly API (`AgentClient`), enabling developers to declaratively define outcomes, configure working directories, and attach advisors and judges for measurable evaluation. In this lightning talk, we’ll provide a quick primer on Spring AI Agents and demonstrate a simple agent that creates a `hello.txt` file and uses a judge to verify that all requirements have been met.

Bio
Glenn Renfro is a core committer for Spring Cloud Task, Spring Batch, and Spring Integration and a Java Champion. He has 15 years of experience in designing, building, and delivering enterprise-level applications in Java and 21 years total of software development experience.

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Title: Isolation Isn't All Bad, For Your Database

Abstract
Let's review a fundamental of our databases: Isolation levels. Choosing transaction settings is something we've all done a few times then can forget about them until next time. Going back over the basics, tradeoffs of concurrency and integrity, keeps understanding sharp and minimizes time searching for the answer next time starting something new. A refresher for the experienced dev who likes to talk about the details or maybe even an eye opening introduction to the unfamiliar.

Bio
Sean McNealy has been a software developer for 18 years in the Atlanta area at several companies, including Internet Security Systems, Secureworks, and NCR. Sometimes generalist, sometimes specializing in reporting and event driven architectures. Sean has worked on software security products, business software, and briefly on autonomous vehicles, all using Java in some way.

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MARCH 4-6, 2026
DEVNEXUS, ATLANTA
Enterprise Java, AI, and Developer Tools Conference devnexus.com
Tracks:

• AI Engineering & Infra
• AI Generative
• AI in Practice
• Architecture
• Core Java
• Java Frameworks
• Leadership
• Security & Dev Tools