Johannesburg Tech Meetup

Dustyn Lightfoot: With most enterprises gravitating towards highly distributed architectures like Microservices, dealing with the complexities of workflows that span multiple services and systems has become essential. Examine the challenges of distributed workflows, the various architectural patterns that are used to meet these challenges, how Azure Logic Apps can be used as an implementation platform, and delve into how we can make workflows flexible and “intelligent” using agentic concepts and patterns.

Chris Kieser: Generative AI is rapidly reshaping how we build, deliver, and operate software—but where does it truly add value in platform engineering, and where does it fall short? Explore practical applications of Gen AI in platform engineering, highlighting good-fit and bad-fit scenarios, how AI can accelerate developer productivity while maintaining consistent quality and reliability, including its role in scaling these benefits across large organisations with diverse teams and complex delivery pipelines.

Agenda
Wednesday, October 15, 2025 | 15:00 – 17:30
15:00 - 15:30 | Welcome and registration
15:30 – 16:00 | Chris Kieser, Abstract: Gen AI in Platform Engineering: What Works, What Doesn’t, and Why It Matters
16:00 – 16:30 | Dustyn Lightfoot, Abstract: Industrial Strength Intelligent Integration with Azure Logic Apps
16:30 – 17:30 | More socializing & networking

About our speakers
Dustyn Lightfoot is an experienced architect and developer who’s views and skills been shaped by a number of “previous lives”. He started writing code at the age of 8 on a Sinclair ZX 81 and never stopped. Over the last 2 decades, he’s worked as an integration specialist, ran a small mobile dev shop, built a SaaS for a startup and assisted various organisations in designing and implementing application, system and enterprise architectures. Currently he runs a one-man consulting firm that specialises in Azure based cloud solution architecture. He is active in the local tech community and speaks at user groups and conferences from time to time.

Chris Kieser is a Staff Engineer at Capitec Bank, where he works in the Platform and Cloud department. Since 2017, he has specialized in building and evolving internal developer platforms across two major banks, helping teams deliver faster, more reliably, and at scale.

Sponsors
Capitec Bank – offering light snacks and drinks

Venue
142 West St, Sandown, Sandton
Limited capacity—please RSVP.
Requirements
In-person only (old-school, pre-COVID style)
Recruiting is discouraged; this event focuses on community, collaboration, and shared tech passion

Hope to see you there!