DevFest Extended: Android for the Agentic Era
Details
Three speakers from Melbourne, one special night in Sydney!
GDG Sydney is back with a special DevFest Extended event: Android for the Agentic Era!
DevFest Extended brings the DevFest spirit to a special evening of three exciting technical talks, community connections, and knowledge sharing at Google Sydney.
This event is in-person only. There are no plans to stream the event.
Builds & Blockers
Before the main talks kick off, we’re opening the floor for four rapid-fire, 3-minute community slots.
Step up to either share a build (a weekend project, a clever Gemini/Android prompt, or a weird bug you squashed) or bring a blocker (a tricky Compose migration, Android XR hurdle, or agentic workflow issue) for live ideas from the room.
No slides required, grab a slot at check-in!
Talks
Talk 1: Android Dev Summit 2026 - Insights on XR, Android CLI, Compose and everything in between (Jonathon Reid)
The Android development landscape is undergoing a major shift toward AI engineering and supporting richer mediums like Android XR.
In this ADS conference overview, I will share:
Key trends - The pivot toward agentic workflows, Android CLI, and dynamic SDUI patterns
Tooling updates - Hands-on first impressions of Android XR, and performance leaps in new dev tooling
Takeaways - How Google is standardising AI-generated code with Android Skills, and what this means for mobile teams in their day-to-day work
Whether you are an engineer or technical leader, this high-level session gives you a concise snapshot of where the Android platform is heading and what to watch for next.
Talk 2: Merge Ready - The soft skills that make you a professional software engineer (Katie Barnett)
Technical skills get you through the door, but soft skills are what make a professional software engineer truly effective. In this talk, I will share my experience on what I see as the essential pillars of professional engineering.
I'll be covering:
How you show up and communicate on a team
Write pull requests your team actually wants to review
Give and receive code review feedback gracefully
Estimate and communicate progress realistically
Approach debugging with a systematic mindset
Whether you are stepping into your first engineering role or sharpening your professional practice, this session provides practical habits to build trust, collaborate seamlessly, and ship with confidence.
Talk 3: Architecting Android for the Era of Autonomous Systems (Kartik Arora)
Technical skills got us through the mobile era, but the agentic shift requires an entirely new architectural mindset. In this talk, I will share hands-on insights on what it takes to build Android apps that autonomous agents and human users can collaborate on seamlessly.
I'll be covering:
Exposing Kotlin logic directly to AI agents using on-device MCP and Android App Functions
Streaming native, secure generative UI in Jetpack Compose via A2UI without WebViews
Slashing dev loops with the new Android CLI, headless Compose previews, and fast simulator snapshots
Scaffolding and assembling fast, declarative projects with Lightbuild
Decoupling state by running the Compose runtime outside the UI with Jetpack AppState
Securing background agent capabilities with user confirmation gates and Play Integrity attestation
Adapting apps for spatial computing and world-anchored panels in Android XR
Whether you are building everyday mobile experiences or leading technical architecture, this session provides practical blueprints to make your Android apps agent-ready today.
Event Schedule
5:30pm - Event doors open
6:00pm - Event starts: introduction and hiring connect
6:15pm - Talk 1: Android Dev Summit 2026 - Jonathon Reid
6:40pm - Talk 2: Merge Ready - Katie Barnett
7:20pm - Break
7:50pm - Talk 3: Architecting Android for the Era of Autonomous Systems - Kartik Arora
8:30pm - Event ends
Disclaimer
A ticket does not guarantee entry; entry is first come, first served.
Gates close at 6:30pm, no one will be allowed in after that.
We're here to help: If you have physical, learning, or accessibility requirements, please reach out via mranocchiari@google.com or hello@gdgsydney.com
Agenda
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Speakers
Kartik Arora - Bilue (Lead Engineer)
Kartik Arora is a polyglot Lead Engineer at Bilue and a recognised Google Developer Expert specialising in Android technology. With extensive experience across diverse industries, he focuses on design system architecture, modern UI frameworks, and elevating engineering practices. He is passionate about fostering vibrant developer communities and regularly shares knowledge on build tools and mo…
Katie Barnett - Bilue (Engineering Manager)
Katie is passionate about all things Android. She has taken on a wide variety of challenging projects including in the live event, media and travel space. Her favourite thing is to see someone having a delightful experience using something she has worked on. Katie is very active in the development community, she is one of the organisers of GDG Melbourne and is a Women Techmakers Ambassador. Sh…
Jonathon Reid - Mantel (Principal Engineer)
Jonathon Reid is a Principal Engineer at Mantel, based in Melbourne. A software developer who has been building software since 2014, he follows the Android platform closely. At this meetup he shares his key takeaways from Android Dev Summit 2026, from agentic workflows and the Android CLI to Android XR.
Host
Russal Arya - GDG Sydney (Organiser)
Complete your event RSVP here: https://gdg.community.dev/events/details/google-gdg-sydney-presents-devfest-extended-android-for-the-agentic-era/.