Smarter Apps: Copilot Studio + REST APIs & Functional Programming
Details
We’re back at Haylofts in Newcastle for another .NET Meetup!
We have a fairly relaxed agenda, but will follow:
5:30 - Doors Open
5:45 - Pizza arrival
6:00 - Introduction / Housekeeping
6:10 - Talks begin
8:00 - Closing
Who should attend:
Beginners and experienced .NET developers, architects, cloud engineers, and anyone curious about building smarter, AI-enhanced applications with Microsoft technologies.
Speaker 1: Davis Olurunfemi
Title: Who Is Really the Main Pilot? Building Smarter Apps with Microsoft Copilot Studio and .NET
Description:
Are you steering your software development, or is AI taking the controls? In this thought-provoking session, we explore how Microsoft is reshaping the developer experience with intelligent tools and AI-powered integrations.
This talk will challenge your assumptions and equip you with practical insights into:
Microsoft Copilot Everywhere: Discover how Copilot is transforming productivity across GitHub, Microsoft 365, and Azure, and how developers can extend its capabilities.
Semantic Kernel and AI Integration: Learn to embed reasoning and contextual intelligence into your .NET applications using Semantic Kernel and the latest AI building blocks.
The AI-First Strategy Behind .NET 9: Explore how Microsoft is aligning .NET with its broader AI vision, including new abstractions for language models, vector data, and generative workflows.
Through live demonstrations, you'll see how to integrate Semantic Kernel into a C# backend, use GitHub Copilot to accelerate .NET development, and build a cloud-native .NET 9 app with AI-enhanced features.
Key Takeaways:
"AI won’t replace developers, but developers who embrace AI will lead the future."
"The AI-first strategy behind .NET 9 will align your career with future growth."
Speaker Bio:
Davis is a Senior Platform Engineer who brings a unique blend of passion for computing, mathematics, and research to the developer community. With over eight years of experience, he specializes in architecting and optimizing secure, high-performance backend systems and cloud-powered applications across various industries. A dedicated chess player, he has honed his strategic thinking in both his hobbies and his professional career.
His work reflects a deep expertise in enterprise-ready AI solutions across multiple cloud platforms, demonstrating how to responsibly apply generative AI, cognitive services, and cloud-native innovation to solve complex business challenges. Davis thrives at the intersection of .NET, C#, and Azure with AI-first technologies such as Semantic Kernel, Model Context Protocol (MCP), and Cognitive Services. His dual-platform perspective, which includes leveraging Google Cloud’s AI offerings, enables him to bridge ecosystems and help businesses adopt AI in a way that is secure, scalable, and ethically grounded.
Beyond his technical expertise, he is passionate about mentoring and knowledge-sharing, having spoken at both .NET community events and Google developer conferences. His foundation in AI ethics, cloud computing, and strategic business analysis ensures that every project he leads is innovative, impactful, and future-ready.
Speaker 2: Akshay Kumar
Title: Mastering RESTful APIs and Functional Programming in C#
Description:
In this session I will cover the best practices for designing RESTful APIs, with an emphasis on avoiding typical mistakes that undermine REST's fundamental ideas, such as disorganised logic and inadequate state management.
We’ll also look at how C# combines functional and object-oriented programming, demonstrating how this combination can result in code that is easier to read, scale, and maintain.
Speaker Bio:
Akshay Kumar - I have been a software engineer for more than four years. I started out as a self-taught penetration tester and freelance developer, working with.NET technologies like ASP.NET .NET 8.
My current areas of expertise are developing secure, scalable RESTful APIs and using.NET functional programming to create reliable, cloud-native systems.