Cloud Infrastructure

**Join us on January 20th for the Stripe London meetup. This is an in-person event for anyone building with Stripe. An evening focused on Stripe developer experiences, product insights, best practices, and community.** 🍕🍺🎁 **Perks** Food, drink, and SWAG provided! **🎫 Tickets** There is a hard limit for RSVP :) Wait list will be operating on Meetup. **📍Location** The event is hosted at Stripe's London offices near Liverpool St station. **🕚 Rough timings** * 6:30 pm - 7:00 pm: Doors open with refreshments * 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm: Talks and Q&A * 8:00 pm - 8:30 pm: Drinks, food, and networking **📣 Talks** 1\. Building a multi\-seller SaaS with Stripe Connect: Journey and Lessons Learnt \- **Marina Kim, Techincal lead Experience at Vidatec** 2\. The $/£/€100 Problem: Why Global Pricing Breaks — and How to Fix It with Adaptive Pricing **-** **Andrew Robinson , Solutions Architect at Stripe** Don't miss this opportunity to connect with the Stripe community. [Stripe developer code of conduct.](https://stripe.com/legal/developer-code-of-conduct)

**[ProductTank London](https://www.meetup.com/producttank/) and [One Knight in Product](https://www.oneknightinproduct.com/) are excited to host [Nesrine Changuel](https://nesrine-changuel.com/) for the launch of her new book Product Delight!** **We'll meet IN-PERSON at The Stepstone Group’s [office](https://www.thestepstonegroup.com/english/careers/our-offices/london/) in Southwark, London. At our event, each in-person attendee will receive a free copy of Nesrine's new book [Product Delight](http://www.productdelightbook.com/). And Nesrine will sign your book for you!** **Too many products compete only on features and functionality. But customers don’t just buy and use products; they form emotional connections with them.** **In her talk, Nesrine will share advice from her book on:** **⭐ Why delight is the secret ingredient that separates good products from great ones** **🎯 How emotional connection drives customer loyalty and advocacy** **🛠️ Practical techniques to design experiences that delight** **📈 Real-world examples of companies that win by standing out emotionally** **💡 How to apply these lessons to your own product strategy and roadmap** **You can learn more about her book at [productdelightbook.com](https://productdelightbook.com/) .** **Join us for an informative and engaging session! There will be drinks, nibbles and networking after the talk.** **SCHEDULE** * **6:00 to 7:00 pm: Nesrine signs books, plus networking and drinks / nibbles** * **7:00 pm: to 8pm: Talk + Q&A** * **8:00 to 9:00 pm: Networking and drinks / nibbles** # ABOUT The SPONSORS Miro We are grateful to [Miro](https://miro.com/page/product-leaders/?utm_campaign=amer-26-us-se-hi-c3_dsp-lean_product_meetup&utm_source=eventexternal&utm_medium=event&src=-event_amer) for sponsoring books for in-person attendees! [Miro](https://miro.com/page/product-leaders/?utm_campaign=amer-26-us-se-hi-c3_dsp-lean_product_meetup&utm_source=eventexternal&utm_medium=event&src=-event_amer) helps your teams break free from work silos, repetitive meetings, endless feedback cycles, and missed launch deadlines. Streamline ways of working at every stage of product development, from strategy to outcome, with time-saving AI at every step. Miro's unified workspace helps you find alignment that sticks, build what customers really want, and ship it faster. [Learn more about Miro](https://miro.com/page/product-leaders/?utm_campaign=amer-26-us-se-hi-c3_dsp-lean_product_meetup&utm_source=eventexternal&utm_medium=event&src=-event_amer) Jira product discovery We are grateful to Atlassian's [Jira Product Discovery](https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/product-discovery?utm_source=&utm_medium=comarketing&utm_campaign=P:atlassian%7CO:%7CI:lean-product%7C) for sponsoring books for in-person attendees! Product teams aren’t short on ideas—they’re missing a system. Ideas are everywhere—in spreadsheets, messages, and docs. Prioritization is inconsistent, and product managers lack confidence they’re building the right thing. [Jira Product Discovery](https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/dan-olsen/delight) puts feedback, priori tization, and roadmapping into one place. Capture insights, prioritize with context, and build roadmaps connected to delivery in Jira. No scattered tools. No endless updates. The result: product managers prioritize based on outcomes, stakeholders see the why behind the roadmap, and teams get time back and the confidence to build the right thing. Learn more about [Jira Product Discovery](https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/product-discovery?utm_source=&utm_medium=comarketing&utm_campaign=P:atlassian%7CO:%7CI:lean-product%7C) Alloy Prototype with your real product using [Alloy](https://alloy.app/). Just capture your product from the browser, make changes with AI chat, and see results that instantly match your design system. Say goodbye to App Builders, and try the first AI Prototyping tool purpose-built for Product Managers. The Stepstone Group We’re delighted to be hosted by The Stepstone Group’s Product team in their 9th-floor office at the Blue Fin Building, just steps from the Tate Modern and boasting panoramic views of the River Thames. The Stepstone Group is a leading global recruitment and job technology company, dedicated to connecting people with the right opportunities. With a presence in over 30 countries and a portfolio of 20+ brands, Stepstone leverages innovative technology and AI-driven solutions to help employers find top talent and job seekers discover the perfect role. Committed to making hiring more efficient, fair, and impactful, Stepstone is driven by the mission of “the right job for everyone” and a focus on innovation, integrity, and long-term success in the world of work.

Register: https://luma.com/aiengineerlondon9 Join London’s coolest AI crowd for an evening of demos, drinks, and great conversations. ​Speakers ​​Vasilije Markovic - Founder @ Cognee ​"Implementing shareable, domain-specific Agentic memory" ​Matt Boyle - Head of Product & Engineering @ Ona ​"Automating the boring (but necessary) parts of software engineering with Ona" ​Alex Booker - Head of Developer Education @ Mastra ​"Real-world, multi-agent systems with Mastra"

Hi new friends and old! We're baaack! As a smaller group, we make meaningful connections with like-minded data professionals. Lifelong friendships are forged along the way! Whether you're new in town, want to expand your social circle, get into the data and AI space, or see a friend you know, this is the place to be! No guest speakers nor rigid agenda, just a casual meetup and lots of fun conversation! 🥳 See you soon! NOTE: Please remember to bring your ID with you, as all guests must be of legal age to enter the venue. \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **💼 Looking for Work?** If you're a data professional looking for work, check out Datalytes. Building your profile there helps potential employers find you based on your skills. There's also a cash reward if you have a friend you could refer. Check out [https://datalytes.com](https://datalytes.com) **🤝 Code of Conduct:** The Friendly Data Meetup welcomes all genders, nationalities, ethnicities, backgrounds, identities etc. There is a strict no discrimination policy in adherence to our code of conduct and our guiding principles. We maintain a zero-tolerance policy for hateful or antisocial behaviour. In short, be kind to others. Do not insult or put down others. Behave professionally, don't make others feel uncomfortable. Remember that harassment and sexist, racist, or exclusionary jokes are not appropriate for The Friendly Data Meetup. **🌱 Donations, Volunteers and Patrons Welcome:** The Friendly Data Meetup is completely volunteer run and not for profit. Donations and ideas are very welcome to fund some more exciting activities as summer is coming up! Buy us a coffee or come and chat with us. Support us: https://bit.ly/support-friendly-data-meetup \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **About Us** 🤗 Welcome data professionals and friends! Sometimes, it can be difficult to make friends within the field, and that's what we're all about! We're a group of like minded individuals who understand the highs and lows of working in data and tech. ✅ Our primary goal is to have **higher quality conversations** that are more meaningful, with smaller groups so that we get to spend more attention on each individual. 💯 If you're already reading this, you're definitely welcome! **We welcome everyone**, whether you're already in the data field, looking to get started or just curious! 🗨️ **Bring your friends**, bring your plus ones, we're all just here to have a good laugh and a good chat about the world, even if it isn't always about our work. **Our values:** 📖 **Openness** \- We welcome everyone 🤝 **Trust** \- Build long\-lasting friendships together 💝 **Care** \- Be kind to others and help each other out **Who it's for** \- Data Scientists \- Data Engineers \- Data Analysts \- AI Engineers \- ML Engineers \- Software Engineers \- Data Product Managers \- Financial and Quantitative Modellers \- Entrepreneurs\, Contractors \- Anyone who works with Data \- Anyone looking to get into the space \- Friends **How to Make the Most of the Meetup** The Friendly Data Meetup has one simple purpose - meaningful connections. We're not just a community of people, **we're friends** who get invested in each others lives. We check in on our friends regularly, and personally. So come and join us, **more than just once or twice!**

**About Session** **Advanced** **4 courts for first 2 hours** **2 courts for remaining 2 hours** **High grade tournament shuttles (speed 77-78)** **£14 (bank transfer)** Please sign up to **ONLY ONE** of the 2 concurrent Tuesday sessions (this is the 4-hour Tuesday session). Courts will be reduced to two from 8 to 10 PM Non-members should message the organizers their full-name via WhatsApp (Adrian Rabe, +447410463483) to arrange tryouts. Guests allowed but members will be prioritized over guests. Please message Committee members if you would like to add on a guest. Break the strings on 2 racquets, or break a racquet during the session and your session is *free*. Take a photo of the broken strings or racquet **DURING** the session, upload, and tag Broken Strings on Instagram to get the fee waiver. Cancellations < 24 hours before the event will be penalized the full fee. Please message organizer via WhatsApp for late cancellations or for potential slots. We will be discreetly speaking to players who may be struggling with the level of the session. **Free parking available within the school**. Note that the School will be opening and closing the gate **10 minutes before** and **10 minutes after** the beginning and end of the session. If you are locked out, please contact the organizers or other members to help let you in. Photographs and video recordings may be made during the session. Signing up to the session would **include consent for these recordings to be made and used by the club on its social media and other platforms**. **DO NOT PLAY** if you have fever, cough, colds, or other symptoms

Join us for discussions about what’s happening in the world of XP, UX and software engineering in general. **What to expect:** Lively discussion amongst a diverse group of members within a friendly and safe space. New members welcome, the only thing we ask is that you care about software engineering and are happy to offer an opinion or two. **When and where:** Expect people to start arriving from 5.30pm UK. The meetup will officially run until \~8.30pm UK (but you won't be kicked out!) Upstairs at The City Pride, 28 Farringdon Ln, London EC1R 3AN (5 min walk from Farringdon station) This venue is not wheel-chair accessible, sadly. **Agenda:** 5.30pm Soft start - everyone mingling 6.00pm 15 mins for lightning talks 6.15pm Topic Proposals 6.25pm Voting on topics 6.30pm First session - break out into groups, discussions happen 7.00pm Come back together, summarise any a-has 7.15pm Second session - break out into groups, discuss more 7.45pm Come back together again, share a-has 8.00pm Wrap up, then either farewell, or carry on talking If you have been to XTC at the City Pride before, you may be familiar with the excellent pizzas there. We no longer have a budget to buy them for the group, but participants should feel very free to order for themselves. *** About XTC The eXtreme Tuesday Club (XTC) is London's oldest agile meetup, and has been meeting since 1999. Initially the meetup was focused on discussing Extreme Programming (XP), but it has expanded to include anything XP, agile, lean, or the larger context in which we do software development activities. We welcome all software development newbies, practitioners, and experts to discuss topics of interest over drinks. Follow @extremetuesday (https://twitter.com/extremetuesday) on Twitter for announcements and updates, or use the hashtag #XTCLondon (https://twitter.com/hashtag/XTCLondon) to find and share insights.

Please Note: This event is advertised on multiple platforms. Please RSVP and get a ticket on Mindstone (https://community.mindstone.com/events/mindstone-london-january-ai-meetup) to view the agenda and guarantee a spot. Welcome to the most electrifying and ground-breaking AI Meetup in London! Join us once a month as we delve into the world of artificial intelligence, explore its cutting-edge practical applications, and marvel at the astonishing projects that are shaping our future. Why should you attend? • Get up close and personal with the AI projects that are redefining the boundaries of technology and human potential. • Learn from the brightest minds in the field and gain valuable insights into the ever-evolving AI landscape. • Unleash your curiosity, fuel your creativity, and expand your network as you connect with fellow AI aficionados and pioneers. What you can expect? Mindstone events consist of three talks covering different aspects: • What I Learned Building With LLMs: A technical demo breaking down the process for building a product using AI with real-life learnings and insights. • How To Be More Productive Using AI: A practical demo and step-by-step guide on how to use AI to speed up and improve tasks. • What Does The Future Look Like With AI?: A theoretical talk on the impact of AI on work, life and society. After the talks we'll have pizza, drinks, and networking. Don't miss out on this extraordinary opportunity to witness the AI revolution in action. It's time to embark on a thrilling journey into the future and discover the endless possibilities that lie within the realm of artificial intelligence. Reserve your spot today for the ultimate AI experience! 💡✨ (https://community.mindstone.com/events/mindstone-london-january-ai-meetup) Please Note: This event is advertised on multiple platforms. Please RSVP and get a ticket on Mindstone (https://community.mindstone.com/events/mindstone-london-january-ai-meetup) to view the agenda and guarantee a spot.

Hello and welcome to our next **Data & AI Leaders** event. This session brings together Heads of Data, AI, and Analytics; senior technology and engineering leaders; Principal and Staff Data/ML Engineers; Platform and Capability Leads; and strategic decision-makers responsible for shaping data and AI strategy, governance, and value delivery within their organisations. Our meetups are friendly, thoughtful, and discussion-driven, designed to create a space where leaders can share real-world experience, reflect on complex challenges, and learn from peers who are building and scaling Data and AI capabilities in the real world. This session will include leadership talks, guided discussion, Q&A, and time for networking with fellow data and AI leaders. **We run:** • Bi-monthly in-person leadership meetups and roundtables in London • Bi-monthly online sessions for our wider leadership community Please keep an eye on our Meetup page for future events. Food and refreshments will be provided for in-person events where a host venue is supporting. We are delighted to host this security-focused meetup in London on the **22nd of January,** in partnership with [Incident.io](https://incident.io/). **Speakers and Sessions:** Speaker: [Dylan Ratcliffe,](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanratcliffe/) Founder at Overmind Session Title: How We Detected Toil among 36,000 Changes Description: How much precious engineering time are you spending on changes that don’t really need it? In this talk, we’ll reveal how we analysed nearly 37,000 infrastructure modifications to rigorously quantify "toil"; the work that slows teams down without adding real value. We’ll share the statistical techniques and practical models we developed to find the best opportunities for safe auto-approval, and show how you can use similar methods to identify (and eliminate) wasted effort in your own workflows. We’ll also discuss pitfalls, trade-offs, and how AI can take your approval process even further. Whether you’re a platform engineer or an SRE, you’ll learn how to free up your team to focus on what really matters while keeping your systems safe and reliable. Speaker: **[Rory Malcolm](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rory-m-m/)**, Product Engineer at Incident.io Session Title: My first year as an AI engineer Description: Join Rory, Product Engineer at Incident.io, as he walks through everything the team learned in their first year building an AI capability. This session focuses on how they scaled both technically and socially, growing from early work into an engineering team able to make meaningful progress against real AI goals. Expect practical insight into team growth, collaboration, and what actually enabled progress. **Agenda (GMT / UK):** 18:00 — Welcome and refreshments 18:30 — Introduction — Ethan Sumner 18:35 — Speaker 1 19:10 — Break 19:20 — Speaker 2 19:55 — Close and networking **We are always keen to hear from:** • Speakers — leadership case studies, transformation journeys and strategic insights • Hosts — organisations able to support executive-style roundtables and meetups • Sponsors — support with venue access, refreshments, recording or accessibility If you would like to speak, sponsor, or host a future session, please get in touch with **[Ethan Sumner](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethansumner404/)** via LinkedIn. You can find our **[YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@CommunityStackHQ)**[ ](https://www.youtube.com/@CommunityStackHQ)via our community pages, where we publish selected talks and highlights. This community forms part of the[ ](https://www.meetup.com/pro/generative-ai-uk-community/)**[Community Stack ecosystem](https://www.meetup.com/pro/generative-ai-uk-community/)** and follows the **Community Stack Code of Conduct**, ensuring a respectful, inclusive and welcoming environment where leaders can share openly and learn from one another.

Hello and welcome to our next **GenAI UK in-person event**, delivered **in collaboration with [Data & AI Leaders](https://www.meetup.com/data-and-ai-leaders-uk/)**[.](https://www.meetup.com/data-and-ai-leaders-uk/) This session brings together engineers, ML practitioners, data and platform teams, product leaders, and technologists who are building and operating generative AI systems in real-world environments, alongside senior practitioners responsible for scaling those capabilities inside organisations. This collaborative session focuses on what happens when GenAI moves beyond experimentation, exploring how AI capabilities are built, scaled, and operated in production, and how teams reduce operational toil while maintaining security, reliability, and delivery velocity. Our meetups are friendly, welcoming, and practitioner-led, creating space for the community to learn from real systems, real teams, and real trade-offs. This session will include technical and experience-led talks, Q&A, and open discussion with members of the GenAI UK community. **We run:** • Online events for our UK & global audience • In-person meetups in London Please keep an eye on our Meetup page for future sessions. We are delighted to host this **in-person GenAI UK event in London on the 22nd of January**, in collaboration with **[Data & AI Leaders](https://www.meetup.com/data-and-ai-leaders-uk/)** and **[Incident.io](https://incident.io/)**. **Speakers and Sessions:** **Speaker: [Dylan Ratcliffe](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanratcliffe/), Founder at Overmind** **Session Title: How We Detected Toil among 36,000 Changes** How much engineering effort is spent on work that doesn’t add real value? In this talk, Dylan shares how nearly 37,000 infrastructure changes were analysed to quantify toil, identify safe automation opportunities, and reduce manual effort using data-driven models and AI-supported approval workflows. **Speaker: [Rory Malcolm](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rory-m-m/), Product Engineer at Incident.io** **Session Title: My first year as an AI engineer** Rory walks through Incident.io’s first year building an AI capability, covering both the technical and organisational challenges of moving from early experimentation to a team able to make meaningful progress against real AI goals. **Agenda:** 18:00 — Welcome & refreshments 18:30 — Introduction - [Ethan Sumner](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethansumner404/) 18:35 — [Dylan Ratcliffe](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanratcliffe/) 19:10 — Break 19:20 — [Rory Malcolm](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rory-m-m/) 19:55 — Close & networking **We are always keen to hear from:** • Speakers — demos, applied GenAI projects, engineering deep dives • Sponsors — support for venues, recording, accessibility or community initiatives • Collaborators — meetups, research groups and ecosystem partners If you’d like to speak, sponsor, or collaborate on a future session, please get in touch with **[Ethan Sumner](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethansumner404/) via LinkedIn or Meetup**. This community forms part of the **[Community Stack ecosystem](https://www.meetup.com/pro/generative-ai-uk-community/)** and follows the **Community Stack Code of Conduct**, helping us maintain a respectful, inclusive and welcoming environment for all attendees. We look forward to seeing you in January, and for those planning ahead, the **next [GenAI UK online](https://www.meetup.com/generative-ai-uk-community/events/312728629/) event takes place on the 3rd of March**.

Join us at our first event of the year at [The Information Lab](https://www.theinformationlab.co.uk/) on the historic Watling Street in the City of London 🙌 We will be kicking off 2026 by delving into the topic of real-time data with our speakers - Sam, Nicoleta & Anton. We are running this event in collaboration with **[Confluent](https://www.confluent.io/)**. **6pm:** Doors Open **6:30pm:** Talks Start 🗣️The Speakers🗣️ ***Load-In to Lights-Out: Data Engineering the World's Biggest Tours and Live Events*** ***Sam Malcolm,*** ***Head of Architecture & Engineering at Centrus ([Sam's Linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-m-00b19a110/))*** **Sam’s** session dives into lessons from large-scale live event data systems—handling over **10 billion data points per second** for global tours like Beyoncé, Coldplay, and Glastonbury. He connects the extreme demands of real-time analytics and high-performance networking to modern cloud data practices, showing how the same principles of **speed, resilience, and precision** apply when designing reliable, scalable data platforms today. ***Should I Stream or Should I Join: From Regular to Delta Joins in Apache Flink*** ***Nicoleta Lazar, Senior Data Engineer at Fresha & Anton Borisov, Principal Engineer at Fresha ([Niloceta's LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoleta-lazar-921a6864/) , [Anton's LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/anton-s-borisov/))*** Joins in the streaming world are where the fun stops and the tradeoffs start. State that grows forever, latency that spikes unpredictably, watermarks that never quite behave, every Flink developer has war stories about this. In this session, Anton Borisov and Nicoleta Lazar break down the join landscape in Apache Flink: → Regular joins and the state explosion problem → Interval joins: when they work, when they don't → Temporal joins and the versioned table dance → Lookup joins: the escape hatch and its hidden costs → Delta joins: the new kid and how Fluss enables them, and why it matters Talks finish by **8pm** and there will be a break between the talks. Afterwards, we may head to a pub to continue chatting. You can sign up by subscribing to this event 🚨**IMPORTANT**: Please bring a ***valid form of ID***. See you all on the 22nd January 🤩 Happy Networking 🍻 Checkout Meetup Groups run by Confluent: * https://www.meetup.com/london-real-time-data-meetup/ * https://www.meetup.com/data-streaming-europe/ By attending this event, you agree to abide by our rules of conduct: * Respect others' opinions. * Keep it appropriate - no harassment of any sort. * If you see something or have a complaint, please reach out to one of the organisers or email events@dataengineerslondon.com.

## Details **Abstract:** A honeypot is a system for which there is no intended legitimate access, so what happens when you place three honeypots on the public Internet, in three different countries? Jonathan will explain what a honeypot is before talking through his research from July 2025, and comparing it to previous research in 2021 and 2022. You may find this year’s most popular password surprising!

**Important:** Register on the [event website](https://www.aicamp.ai/event/eventdetails/W2026012210)[ ](https://www.aicamp.ai/event/eventdetails/W2025110510)is required for admission. Welcome to the AI meetup in London, in collaboration with Civo. Join us for deep dive tech talks on AI, GenAI, LLMs and Agents, hands-on experiences on code labs, workshops, and networking with speakers and fellow developers. **Speakers/Topics:** Check the [event website](https://www.aicamp.ai/event/eventdetails/W2026012210) for speakers and topics. If you have a keen interest in speaking to our community, we invite you to submit topics for consideration: [Submit Topics](https://forms.gle/JkMt91CZRtoJBSFUA) **Sponsors:** We are actively seeking sponsors to support AI developers community. Whether it is by offering venue spaces, providing food, or cash sponsorship. Sponsors will not only speak at the meetups, receive prominent recognition, but also gain exposure to our extensive membership base of 20,000+ AI developers in London and 500K+ worldwide.

## Learn Infrastructure-as-Code (the FUN Way) — Through Minecraft 🎮☁️ **Joint Meetup: Azure CBUS × Columbus HashiCorp User Group × DevOps Columbus** What if learning Terraform and Infrastructure-as-Code didn’t feel like a whitepaper… but more like a game? Join us for a joint Azure CBUS, Columbus HashiCorp User Group, and DevOps Columbus meetup where **Mark Tinderholt** \(Principal Architect\, Microsoft Azure \| HashiCorp Ambassador \| “The Azure Terraformer”\) shows how **Minecraft** can be used as a surprisingly powerful way to understand real-world Infrastructure-as-Code concepts. In this session, Mark will demonstrate how Terraform and Azure can be used to provision, configure, and manage Minecraft servers—while teaching the same patterns you’d use for production cloud infrastructure. ### What we’ll cover * Infrastructure-as-Code fundamentals using **Terraform** * Provisioning real infrastructure on **Azure** * Applying **IaC best practices** (immutability, repeatability, versioning) * How playful environments like Minecraft make complex concepts *click* * Why learning through experimentation beats click-ops every time ### Who should attend * Developers, platform engineers, and cloud engineers * Terraform users (new or experienced) * Anyone curious about Infrastructure-as-Code but tired of boring examples * Minecraft fans who want to see it used in a totally unexpected way No prior Minecraft experience required—just curiosity and a willingness to learn infrastructure the fun way. Come for the blocks, stay for the Terraform. 🧱➡️📐 Want to be a speaker? submit your talk to our Call for Presenters!!! https://sessionize.com/azure-cbus-2026/

### Tools in your AI's Toolbox : An introduction to MCP Servers The generative AI revolution has unlocked unprecedented capabilities, but the next frontier is agency: empowering models to interact with, query, and act upon the world. The current challenge is the “N x M integration problem,” where every AI model requires a custom, brittle integration for each external tool or data source. This approach simply doesn’t scale. How can we give an AI access to our sales leads, code repositories, or IoT devices in a standardized, secure, and reusable way? This session introduces Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP), the open-source framework designed to solve this challenge and become the universal connector—the USB-C port—for AI. MCP standardizes how AI models discover and use external tools, moving beyond simple function-calling to a robust, client-server architecture. We will dive into how this open protocol is creating a new ecosystem for building powerful, context-aware AI agents. Join this session for a developer-focused introduction where you will learn how to: Understand the core concepts of the open-source Model Context Protocol and its architecture. Utilize pre-built, open-source MCP servers to instantly connect AI to tools like Git, Slack, and databases. Build a custom MCP server to securely expose your own proprietary data and APIs as tools for any compliant AI. Move beyond bespoke integrations and contribute to a standardized, collaborative, and open ecosystem. Stop building one-off connectors and start building intelligent agents. This session will give you the practical knowledge to leverage MCP and create the next generation of AI that doesn’t just talk, but does. Want to be a speaker? submit your talk to our Call for Presenters!!! [https://sessionize.com/azure-cbus-2026/](https://sessionize.com/azure-cbus-2026/)

## Learn Infrastructure-as-Code (the FUN Way) — Through Minecraft 🎮☁️ **Joint Meetup: Azure CBUS × Columbus HashiCorp User Group** What if learning Terraform and Infrastructure-as-Code didn’t feel like a whitepaper… but more like a game? Join us for a joint Azure CBUS and Columbus HashiCorp User Group meetup where **Mark Tinderholt** \(Principal Architect\, Microsoft Azure \| HashiCorp Ambassador \| “The Azure Terraformer”\) shows how **Minecraft** can be used as a surprisingly powerful way to understand real-world Infrastructure-as-Code concepts. In this session, Mark will demonstrate how Terraform and Azure can be used to provision, configure, and manage Minecraft servers—while teaching the same patterns you’d use for production cloud infrastructure. ### What we’ll cover * Infrastructure-as-Code fundamentals using **Terraform** * Provisioning real infrastructure on **Azure** * Applying **IaC best practices** (immutability, repeatability, versioning) * How playful environments like Minecraft make complex concepts *click* * Why learning through experimentation beats click-ops every time ### Who should attend * Developers, platform engineers, and cloud engineers * Terraform users (new or experienced) * Anyone curious about Infrastructure-as-Code but tired of boring examples * Minecraft fans who want to see it used in a totally unexpected way No prior Minecraft experience required—just curiosity and a willingness to learn infrastructure the fun way. Come for the blocks, stay for the Terraform. 🧱➡️📐 Want to be a speaker? submit your talk to our Call for Presenters!!! https://sessionize.com/cbus-hug-2026/

## Details \#\# Learn Infrastructure\-as\-Code \(the FUN Way\) — Through Minecraft 🎮☁️ **Joint Meetup: DevOps Columbus - Azure CBUS - Columbus HashiCorp User Group** What if learning Terraform and Infrastructure-as-Code didn’t feel like a whitepaper… but more like a game? Join us for a joint DevOps Columbus, Azure CBUS and Columbus HashiCorp User Group meetup where **Mark Tinderholt** \(Principal Architect\, Microsoft Azure \| HashiCorp Ambassador \| “The Azure Terraformer”\) shows how **Minecraft** can be used as a surprisingly powerful way to understand real-world Infrastructure-as-Code concepts. In this session, Mark will demonstrate how Terraform and Azure can be used to provision, configure, and manage Minecraft servers—while teaching the same patterns you’d use for production cloud infrastructure. \#\#\# What we’ll cover * Infrastructure-as-Code fundamentals using **Terraform** * Provisioning real infrastructure on **Azure** * Applying **IaC best practices** (immutability, repeatability, versioning) * How playful environments like Minecraft make complex concepts *click* * Why learning through experimentation beats click-ops every time \#\#\# Who should attend * Developers, platform engineers, and cloud engineers * Terraform users (new or experienced) * Anyone curious about Infrastructure-as-Code but tired of boring examples * Minecraft fans who want to see it used in a totally unexpected way No prior Minecraft experience required—just curiosity and a willingness to learn infrastructure the fun way. Come for the blocks, stay for the Terraform. 🧱➡️📐

2026 may be the last year many developers write code by hand. We need coding agents to solve complex problems in production codebases, but vibe coding alone won’t get us there. Vibe coding is all gas, no brakes. It burns up the context window until the agent slips on its own slop. You can go fast at first, but the more you stuff into the context window, the more tangled its outputs get. While the industry is rapidly increasing code generation speed, we still have to understand, review, merge, and maintain what gets shipped. This talk featuring Michael Geiger will outline how coding agents (Claude Code + Gas Town) work and a framework for orchestrating them to solve complicated problems in complex codebases. It’s about steering the model: doing the research to align intent, planning the approach up front, implementing in parallel steps, and breaking early. Human judgment still matters, but it should be spent on high-leverage decisions: what to build, what to forbid, and “what is quality?”, not cleaning up slop. Attendees will leave with a checklist to identify workflow and environment gaps that hold agents back, so you and your team can ship higher-quality software starting tomorrow.

Bring your Raspberry Pi, Arduino, microcontroller, or any other electronic project and join fellow electronics makers for a night of creativity and collaboration! This session is open forum to share your current projects—whether complete or in progress, it’s all interesting! Whether you’re deep into embedded systems, exploring new ideas, or just getting started, you’ll find a welcoming space to collaborate, share, and get inspired. Topic TBD! While we continue to pursue a more permanent venue for this Meetup, we’ll be using public library facilities based on availability. This session will be at the Columbus Library - Northern Lights Branch in the Meeting Room 1C.

**Important time note:** Please plan on arriving between 5:30 and 6:00 as the elevators lock after 6 and you'll need to message us and we'll need to come get you. The building address is 4450 Bridge Park The entrance is 6620 Mooney St, Suite 400 **Abstract** GitHub Copilot is rapidly changing how developers write, understand, and maintain code. Powered by generative AI and deeply integrated into modern development environments, Copilot acts as an intelligent coding assistant, helping developers move faster while maintaining quality and focus. In this session, we’ll explore what GitHub Copilot is, how it works, and where it fits into a real-world developer workflow. We’ll break down what Copilot can (and cannot) do, where it can be used, and how licensing differs for individuals and organizations. Most importantly, this talk goes beyond theory with a live, hands-on demo showcasing Copilot inside the IDE and on GitHub, demonstrating how it can assist with code generation, refactoring, learning new APIs, and accelerating day-to-day development tasks. Designed for developers, technical leads, and engineering managers, this session provides a practical introduction to AI-assisted development, highlights best practices for getting value from Copilot, and closes with guidance on how to continue learning and evolving alongside this rapidly advancing tool. Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of how GitHub Copilot can enhance productivity, improve developer experience, and fit into modern software teams today, not someday. **YouTube Link** TBA