PyData Cornwall - Meetup #3: The AI Edition

🤖 Let's dive into the AI revolution at our third PyData Cornwall meetup on Thursday 12 March! It's here to stay and we won't be able to talk tech or data without hearing about it (regardless of if it's the right thing or not!). We'd like to hear about how you're navigating the change in your skillset, building teams and solving practical problems. Tell us your story in 30 minutes, or 5 minutes. First time speakers are very welcome and we're happy to help you prepare or practice a talk.

This meetup's inaugural AI-themed edition features:

• State of the GenAI ecosystem, by new member & AI solution architect, Savio Rozario.
• Turning a Goldfish into an Elephant: Building Agentic AI memory in AWS, by founding member & data engineer in AI, Fei Phoon.
• Plus 2 lightning talks! What is an MCP Server by Lead software engineer, Ed Kent-Hazledine, and From Vibes to Agents: 3 Ways to Code with AI, by Staff AI engineer, Tun Shwe.

Still time yet to turn in a lightning talk, folks!

We're back at Flowmoco's Fin Room at their office in stunning Newquay, where you can join us to learn and talk about Python, data and AI by the seaside. Whether you're a seasoned data professional or just starting your journey, this is your chance to connect with fellow enthusiasts and hear real world stories with practical takeaways to expand your knowledge.

📯 Want to speak? 👉 Submit a talk here. If you have questions, best thing to do is jump on our Discord and say hi!

Venue
Flowmoco, 11 Trevena Terrace, Newquay TR7 1LJ

Agenda
🍕 Doors open at 6.30pm with drinks, talks start at 7:00pm, pizza arrives at some point and when talks finish we can move to a nearby pub for drinks.

🎙️ Main Talks (25 min + 5 min Q&A)

1️⃣ State of the GenAI ecosystem — Savio Rozario, AI Solution Architect.

A practical talk around how people build agents, things to think about along the way, when they should/shouldn't, how we expect this field to grow. What's possible now and an opined view on what is coming next.

🍹 Break (10 min)

2️⃣ Turning a Goldfish into an Elephant: Building Agentic AI memory in AWS — Fei Phoon, Data Engineer in AI.

If goldfish and elephants could talk, which animal would be a better conversation partner? Memory is a foundational component of perceived intelligence - it lets an AI agent retain context, reason over past interactions, adapt, and, ideally, be less infuriating to talk to. In this session, we'll cover key agentic AI memory concepts through a practical lens - explaining how I’ve planned and implemented them for production use cases using the Strands framework and AWS Bedrock AgentCore.

🍹 Break (10 min)

⚡ Lightning Talks (5 mins)

1️⃣ What is an MCP Server? — Ed Kent-Hazledine, Lead Software Engineer.

2️⃣ From Vibes to Agents: 3 Ways to Code with AI — Tun Shwe, Staff AI Engineer.

🤙 We look forward to seeing you for another fantastic evening!

Notes

☑️ Please update your RSVP if you can no longer make it so we can estimate food and drinks. We have limited space, so be a pard and free up your place for other fellow community members. If you have any allergies or dietary requirements, please message us and we'll see what we can do.

👩‍🏫 We're a humble chapter of the global PyData community, and as such we are governed by the PyData Code of Conduct. To discuss any issues or concerns relating to the code of conduct or the behaviour of anyone at a PyData meetup, please get in touch with the organisers, or contact NumFOCUS Executive Director Leah Silen (+1 512-222-5449; leah@numfocus.org).

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💸 As always, we welcome sponsors so please get in touch if you can introduce someone that would like to sponsor pizza or drinks for the community or host a future meetup (for a dedicated pitch and speaker slot).

🪩 Please join our Discord server here to make friends, meet speakers, get help with your talks, and be the first to hear about opportunities. We are not-for-profit run by tech professional volunteers, so our space is ad- and marketing-free - come help make the free learning and networking community you want to enjoy!

🏴‍☠️ Follow PyData Cornwall on LinkedIn and Bluesky for updates and to share your thoughts and photos.