About us
Chicago's premiere AWS community! User-run, user-focused.
The Chicago AWS user group is a user-run, user-focused community in Chicago. We hold monthly, free evening events in the Loop. We rotate host offices and topics (anything but a sales pitch). Events include pizza and drinks up front, introductions, 2 to 3 quality non-sales presentations, then wrap with q&a. See our website: www.awschicago.com
Stay connected!
- Join the AWS Chicago slack
- Watch videos of past presentations on our YouTube page
- Connect on LinkedIn in the AWS Chicago user group Group
Read the CoC and FAQs on our website: [AWSchicago.com](https://www.awschicago.com)
* We are not run by or sponsored by Amazon.com or Amazon AWS. We do frequently work with Amazon SAs and account reps. As a local community group we respect our members' privacy and will never distribute personal details. *
Upcoming events
5
Kiro in Real Life
Pianoforte Chicago, 1335 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL, USAWS Real-World AI: From Disaster Recovery to Innovation
## Event Description
Join us for an evening exploring how AWS and AI are solving real-world problems—without the hype.
We'll hear from two practitioners who've put AI to work in meaningful ways: disaster recovery and healthcare innovation.### Featured Talks
Talk 1: "Kiro and the Storm"
Dave Stauffacher, Chief Platform Engineer, UTurn Data + AWS Hero
In August 2025, a severe storm caused widespread flooding in Milwaukee. Amongst the casualties was a large portion of a local library's collection. Thousands of titles had to be discarded and replaced.
In this talk, Dave will show how Kiro was used to help evaluate the losses, get replacement values for insurance claims, and prepare the library to restock their shelves. A practical case study in using AI for good.***
Talk 2: "Let's Review Your AI Roadmap—From Eye Rolls to Execution"
Bob Lee III, Co-founder & CTO, CareCareConnect
AI hype is everywhere—and for engineers, it often earns an eye roll. But ignoring it isn't an option. This talk shares how our healthtech startup pushed past the noise, resisted building "AI for AI's sake," and ultimately found meaningful ways to put it to work. Learn how to cut through the hype and build an AI roadmap that actually matters.***
## Agenda
5:00 PM — Doors open, networking
5:15 PM — Welcome & introductions
5:25 PM — Dave Stauffacher: "Kiro and the Storm"
6:00 PM — Bob Lee III: "Let's Review Your AI Roadmap"
6:40 PM — Q&A & open discussion
7:00 PM — Networking & wrap-up***
## About the Speakers
Dave Stauffacher
Chief Platform Engineer at UTurn Data | AWS Hero
Dave brings deep expertise in AWS and has been recognized as an AWS Hero for his contributions to the community. He's passionate about solving real-world problems with cloud technology.
Bob Lee III
Co-founder & CTO, CareCareConnect
Bob is building healthtech solutions that leverage AI responsibly. He's focused on practical, meaningful applications of machine learning in healthcare—not AI for its own sake.***
## Date & Time
Wednesday, May 13
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM CDT
Chicago AWS User Group is a community for AWS users, builders, and learners in the Chicago area. Learn more and join our Slack at awschicago.com52 attendees
Building an AI Agent with AWS & Elasticsearch
10 S Riverside Plaza, Chicago, IL 60606, Chicago, Il, US### Featured Talk
Aashana Shanu - Sr. Software Engineer at Elastic
This talk explores how Amazon Web Services and Elasticsearch can be combined to build real-time, intelligent systems.
Using Elastic Agent for continuous data ingestion and AWS Lambda as an MCP (Model Context Protocol) tool, the architecture enables AI agents to interact directly with live data and decision logic. Paired with AWS’s event-driven stack, this creates a system where actions are triggered, evaluated, and executed in near real time.
The innovation is in turning search into a decision engine and serverless functions into AI-integrated tools, enabling adaptive, context-aware workflows instead of static automation.***
## Agenda
5:00 PM — Doors open, networking
5:30 PM — Welcome & introductions
6:00 PM — Talk 1
7:00 PM — Networking & wrap-up***
## About the Speakers
Aashana Shanu (Sr. Software Engineer): Software engineer focused on cloud-native systems and AI-driven applications, with experience building real-time, event-driven architectures.
***
## Date & Time
Wednesday, June 3
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM CDTChicago AWS User Group is a community for AWS users, builders, and learners in the Chicago area. Learn more and join our Slack at awschicago.com
41 attendees
Join MongoDB at Talk to Your Data: Bridging AI and MongoDB with MCP Server
MongoDB Chicago Office, 227 West Monroe, 21st Floor, Chicago, IL, USThis is a MongoDB user group event. To [RSVP, join their event here](This is a MongoDB user group event. To RSVP, join their event here: https://www.meetup.com/mongodb-usergroup-chicago/events/314533274).
# Talk to Your Data: Bridging AI and MongoDB with MCP
Are you tired of manually writing complex aggregation pipelines or switching back and forth between your IDE and Compass just to understand a schema? Join us for an exciting deep dive into the MongoDB MCP (Model Context Protocol) Server, the official tool that lets you interact with your MongoDB deployments using natural language.
Whether you're using Claude Desktop, VS Code, Cursor, or GitHub Copilot, the MCP server acts as a powerful plugin that gives your AI assistants direct, secure access to your MongoDB data and Atlas management tools.
### What We’ll Cover:
In this session, we will explore how to turn your AI assistant into a MongoDB expert. We’ll cover:- Natural Language Data Exploration: See how to ask questions like "What’s the schema of my 'orders' collection?" or "Show me the top 5 customers by revenue" and get instant, accurate results.
- AI-Powered Database Operations: Perform CRUD operations and build complex aggregation pipelines without writing a single line of boilerplate code.
- Atlas Management from your CLI: Learn how to manage clusters, projects, and organizations directly through AI-driven commands.
- Context-Aware Code Generation: Discover how giving your AI "database context" helps it write more accurate, production-ready application code.
### What You’ll Learn:
- How to install and configure the MongoDB MCP Server in minutes.
- Best practices for security, including Read-Only mode and Atlas Service Accounts.
- How to integrate the server with popular AI clients like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code.
- Real-world use cases for streamlining developer workflows and debugging slow queries.
### Who Should Attend?
- Developers looking to speed up their coding workflows with AI.
- Data Architects interested in how LLMs can interact with document databases.
- AI Enthusiasts building autonomous agents that need a reliable data source.
- DBAs curious about the future of AI-driven database management.
***
### Agenda:- 4:40 PM: Networking, Complementary Food & Drinks
- 5:30 PM: Introduction to the Model Context Protocol (MCP)
- 6:00 PM: Live Demo: Exploring a MongoDB Cluster with Natural Language with MCP Server
- 6:30 PM: Q&A and Open Discussion
- 7:30 PM: Wrap-up & Networking
Prerequisites: No prior AI experience is required! A basic understanding of MongoDB is helpful.
***
### Want to follow along?
Check out the official documentation or GitHub repository before the event: https://www.mongodb.com/products/tools/mcp-server1 attendee
Past events
170
Group links
Members
5,124
