Local AI with Ollama: Understanding LLMs, Privacy, and Specialized Models

Artificial Intelligence is reshaping how we work, learn, and build—and Large Language Models (LLMs) are at the center of it all. While cloud-based AI tools are common, advances in open-source tech now allow you to run powerful AI models directly on your own hardware.
Join us for this hands-on workshop as we dive into the fundamentals of local AI and demonstrate how to deploy and manage open-source models on your machine using Ollama. This event is collaborated with SWOCTS.

Event Details

Date & Time: July 25th | 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Location: Fanshawe College, Rooms F2063 / F2067 (Collaboration Space)

What You’ll Learn:

How LLMs Work: Understand tokens, parameters, and key model architectures (Decoder-Only, Encoder-Decoder, and Mixture-of-Experts).

The Power of Local AI: Learn why running models locally improves data privacy, security, control, and offline accessibility.

Specialized vs. General Models: Discover why smaller, domain-specific models (for code, legal, healthcare, cybersecurity, or education) often outperform massive general-purpose models.

Live Ollama Demonstration: Get up and running fast with practical commands like ollama pull and ollama run.

Responsible AI Use: Learn to navigate common pitfalls such as hallucinations, hardware limits, and bias, keeping human expertise at the center.

Whether you're looking to protect sensitive data or simply explore running AI on your own computer, this beginner-friendly session provides a solid foundation for your local AI journey.

Ready to take control of your AI? Bring your curiosity and join us in the collaboration space!

Agenda

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Speaker

Rob Chaykoski - Ontario Health (Lead Security Engineer)

Who am I?
An Information Security professional that is currently employed at Ontario Health as a Lead Security Engineer in the Platform Engineering team, leading Zero-Trust initiatives, compliance, and governance.With 25 years of experience in Health Care, Oil and Gas, Insurance, Finance, and other verticals, helping with Information Security programs, operations, and industrial s…

Hosted By

Florid Maclean, GDG Organizer

Florid Maclean is a visionary builder at the forefront of software development and technology education. As a Professor at Fanshawe College, he doesn't just teach theory; he brings real-world experience from his career as a Software Consultant and as the Founder of PORT24 Technologies Inc. His mission is to empower the next generation of innovators by sharing the practical lessons of turning ideas into reality.

An entrepreneur at heart, Florid also founded "Catch The Event," a leading ticketing partner and a testament to his knack for building and scaling. This hands-on experience allows him to mentor with a founder's perspective. As a lead organizer for Google Developer Groups London, he actively shapes the local tech ecosystem, proving his commitment extends from the classroom to the broader community.

Sneha Maclean, GDG Co-organizer

Kiran Puthan, GDG Co-organizer

Kiran blends a background in engineering with sales leadership, helping organizations evaluate and implement solutions that align with both technical needs and strategic objectives. He is also a leadership expert who delivers high-energy talks and presentations on Technology, Design, and Sales.

Complete your event RSVP here: https://gdg.community.dev/events/details/google-gdg-london-presents-local-ai-with-ollama-understanding-llms-privacy-and-specialized-models/.