Build With AI - Session 2: AI In Industry

We're just getting started!🚀
After an incredible kickoff, we are diving straight into Session 2 of our Build With AI series: AI in Industry. ⚙️

If you've ever wondered how AI is actually moving the needle in the professional world, this is the session for you. We're stripping away the hype to look at the foundational tools and real-world shifts transforming global industries.

Explore the Session

Bridging the Gap: Strategy, Culture, and the AI-Driven Future (Moving from Hype to Operational Excellence)
While AI capabilities are accelerating at pace, most organisations remain stuck in pilot mode, unable to translate experimentation into real business value.

This session cuts through the noise

Rachel Nixon explores how organisations can move beyond proof-of-concept thinking to embed AI as a core part of their operating model. Through practical frameworks and real-world insight she shows how to identify the right opportunities, avoid common pitfalls and navigate the cultural shift required for successful adoption.

Rachel Nixon

Sr Director Product Manager - CME Group

Enterprise GenAI: Transforming the Developer Experience at CME Group
As Generative AI shifts from experimentation to enterprise-scale adoption, successfully rolling out tools like Gemini Code Assist (GCA) to accelerate development while actively securing the software supply chain has never been more critical especially for a leading global derivatives marketplace like CME Group.

In this talk, we explore an insight into CME Group’s transformation and their strategic adoption of Generative AI across their engineering organization. We touch on the adoption of Gemini Code Assist and how it adds value to scale solutions more quickly to deliver client needs. We also explore how CME Group is going beyond basic code generation to build a smarter, more resilient secure software supply chain with autonomous capabilities.

Gerry Maguire

Senior Staff Platform Engineer - CME Group

Offense and Defense: The Reality of AI in Modern Cybersecurity
As AI transitions from a curiosity to a core architectural component, it is fundamentally changing the security landscape. This session moves past the hype to examine the practical impact of AI on both offensive and defensive operations. We will discuss how AI facilitates automated attack surface discovery and exploitability, while also exploring how defensive teams are using it to move from reactive remediation toward more autonomous, proactive operations.

Conor McLaughlin

Cyber Defence Center Manager - CME Group

Leo McCavana

Sr Staff Security Engineer - CME Group

Donal Campbell

Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst - CME Group

Fortran and the end of assembly programming (Yes, that is the correct title)
Fortran is regarded by many as the first high-level programming language. Introduced in the 1950s, it was influenced by “Speedcoding” and was designed so that programmers would not have to write their solutions in assembly code. Productivity gains would be in the region of 1000%. Sound familiar? In the decades since, no one, except in specialist domains, writes in assembly language – it ended. And now, will LLMs eventually herald the end of programming as we have known it for the last 60 years? Taking this long view, we will explore future scenarios for software engineering. For the mainstream software engineer, requirements specification and verification will be paramount, informed by a deep understanding of technology capability and constraints. What skills will software graduates need? How will software engineering education change? How will universities adapt?

Dr Ian McChesney

Sr Lecturer: School Of Computing - Ulster University

Keep an eye out for other events in this Build With AI series! 👀

Agenda

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Hosted By

Rachel Connor, GDG Organizer

Imogen Greene, GDG Organizer

As a first-class honours graduate in BSc (Hons) Computer Science with a distinction in professional practice, I am motivated to use technology to make a lasting impact. I am driven by a passion for collaboration, mentorship, and inclusivity—working to help others succeed, improve team dynamics, and contribute to a more open and supportive tech community.

Over my years in university and also my internship and graduate programme with CME Group I have gained strong full-stack application development experience and skills in JavaScript, the Google Cloud Platform, Python, C#, and industry-standard development cycle tools.

I am equally invested in leadership and interpersonal development. During my four years at university, I led two student societies, including founding the Women in STEM Society. I was an active member of Ulster University’s Google Developer Student Club, serving on the committee for three years and as its lead for one year. I also represented my peers as a course representative for four years, where I acted as a liaison between students and faculty. In this role, I presented evidence on academic concerns, advocated for fair treatment, and negotiated solutions such as resits—developing strong communication, problem-solving, and negotiation skills while ensuring that student voices were heard.

Beyond university, I continue to give back as a STEM Ambassador, delivering presentations in classrooms, mentoring students, judging coding competitions, and supporting the organisation of large-scale events such as DevFest Ireland. In 2025, I was accepted into Ulster University’s Go Global: Experience China programme, broadening my cultural and professional perspective through international opportunities.

Currently, I am proud to serve as an organiser of GDG Belfast, helping to bring the local developer community together through events, collaboration, and knowledge sharing. Alongside this, I work as a software engineer at CME Group, where I continue to grow as both a technologist and a community contributor.

Caitlin Hanna, Associate Software Engineer

Yuan Zhang, GDG Organizer

Complete your event RSVP here: https://gdg.community.dev/events/details/google-gdg-belfast-presents-build-with-ai-session-2-ai-in-industry/.