RVA Software Development User Group

In good engineering practice, designing a solution is both an art and a science. We can store passwords in plain text or hard-code credentials into a repository—but experience tells us those shortcuts create far more problems than they solve. As our industry pushes rapidly into new technologies, it’s easy to forget the engineering principles that got us here in the first place. Even with AI, the quality of our software craft still matters.

Small AI is a design philosophy: solve problems with the minimum effective AI, not the maximum possible AI. Use domain expertise to guide models, not replace human judgment. Build surgical tools, not Swiss Army knives. In this talk, we’ll explore how applying this mindset to incident response leads to AI systems that are more reliable, more trustworthy, and far more useful to engineers on call.

Agenda:
05:30 - 05:55 Welcome & Networking
05:55 - 06:00 Announcements
06:00 - 07:00 Main presentation
07:00 - 07:15 Q&A
07:15 - 07:30 Wrap-up

Speaker: Tony Kemp
Tony is a Product Engineer at Ippon Technologies, specializing in backend systems that demand careful edge-case handling and precise, reliable algorithms. He’s passionate about improving system design and challenging engineering mindsets to raise the overall quality of the software we build. Tony enjoys learning from others, sharing knowledge, and experimenting with new approaches to familiar problems.
Outside of work, he spends his time reading, tackling personal projects—often involving 3D printing or robotics—and learning how to cook.

Sponsor: Ippon Technologies

Parking available on both sides of the building and on the street.