Code Review

We are back in the c-base! Do you already run NixOS and want to talk to other people or want an introductory session with some NixOS users. Just bring your machine! Usually there are no topics, we just sit in front of our computers, talk about stuff, debug some problems or review some PRs on nixpkgs. There are drinks usually available from the c-base bar. If you can't find us. just ask around or ask in irc (#krebs on hackint)

This time, we explore **how the growth of AI is shaping a new SDLC and which evolution strategy to choose for your team**. We will focus on which metrics truly help manage delivery, and which ones only create an illusion of progress and AI adoption. Hands-on practice in small groups and a live battle of different views and approaches — everything that you love in EM Katas. ❗❗❗ **Register here** ➡️ https://luma.com/aug0ujkl ⬅️ ❗❗❗ **❓ What is an EM Kata?** EM Kata is a playground where Engineering Managers\* can practice their skills and receive immediate feedback. **\* - 👨‍🔬 / 👩‍🔬EM Kata is also beneficial for** * **Senior Leaders:** Head of Engineering, Engineering Directors, VPs, CTOs - to practice and enhance mentoring and coaching skills. * **Tech/Team Leads:** To acquire essential skills for a successful transition to an EM role. * **Senior Software Engineers:** To gain insight into EM responsibilities and explore if a leadership career path interests them. * **Agile Coaches:** To better understand the challenges faced by EMs and the skills they require, enabling better support for them at work. Each small group works on identifying the root causes of the challenges by analysing them from different perspectives, determining the most efficient strategy to solve them, developing a detailed plan, and necessary team constellation changes & architecture. **🕑 Event Schedule** 18:00 – Doors open for snacks, drinks, and networking 18:30 – Introduction 18:50 – EM Kata: working and forecasting in small groups 20:00 – Senior Leadership round: challenging assumptions, shaping the future From 21:00 to 21:30 — Networking and discussions. **📍 Venue** **Contentful** Max-Urich-Straße 3, 13355 Berlin **📣 Spread the Word** **Love our meetups?** Help us grow the community! Share your experience on LinkedIn—whether it’s what you’ve learned, key takeaways, or why you enjoy EM Kata. By spreading the word, you’ll help more engineering managers and aspiring tech leaders find a safe environment to practice and enhance their skills. We believe it’s much more fun to have fun with friends, so come join us and bring your friends along! Tag us **#EMKata #Meetup by #SEML about #TechLeadership**. **🤝 Sponsored by Contentful** A big shout-out to Contentful for sponsoring our event and supporting our mission to foster a tight-knit community of engineering leaders. **👍 Code of Conduct** We adhere to the [Berlin Code of Conduct](https://berlincodeofconduct.org/) to ensure a welcoming and respectful environment for all participants.

The Test Tribe 11th Berlin Meetup – Making QA Work Smarter with Generative AI Generative AI is no longer a future concept-it’s already reshaping how QA engineers design tests, debug failures, write documentation, and even collaborate with development teams. But beyond the buzzwords, many testers are still asking the same questions: How do I actually use AI in my day-to-day work? What makes a good prompt? And where does agentic AI really fit? At the 11th Berlin Meetup, we’ll cut through the hype and focus on practical, QA-first applications of Generative AI, showing how testers can work smarter today and prepare for an agent-driven tomorrow. **Event Details** Date: 20th January 2026 Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM CET Venue: SumUp (Entrance via Lange Straße) Koppenstraße 8, 10243 Berlin, Germany Session: Making QA Work Smarter with Generative AI - From Prompts to Agentic AI Speaker: Vignesh Srinivasa Raghavan **Introduction** Generative AI is rapidly reshaping how Quality Assurance engineers approach their daily work-from test design and automation to debugging, documentation, and reporting (yes, even writing Jira tickets 😄). This session is a practical, QA-focused introduction to Generative AI, designed to help testers move beyond curiosity and into real, day-to-day usage. Rather than abstract theory, the focus is on how QA engineers can use AI to work faster, think better, and reduce repetitive effort-without losing control or judgment. You’ll learn how prompt engineering dramatically impacts the quality of AI outputs and get a glimpse into Agentic AI, where autonomous AI agents can assist testers across workflows in the near future. Attendees will leave with actionable ideas they can immediately apply in their QA roles. **Key Takeaways** * Understand what Generative AI is and how it applies specifically to QA workflows * Learn practical prompt engineering techniques to get better results from AI tools * Discover different prompt types for testing, automation, and documentation * Get an introduction to Agentic AI and how it can amplify tester productivity **About the Speaker** Vignesh Srinivasa Raghavan is a Lead SDET with 11+ years of experience in Software Automation Testing, specializing in Web, Mobile, API, and Performance Testing. He is also an experienced trainer with 9+ years of teaching experience, having trained 7,000+ students globally. Vignesh is a top-rated Udemy instructor and regularly conducts corporate training sessions, both online and offline. Expertise & Tools * AI: Generative AI for QA, Agentic AI for QA * Web Automation: Playwright, Cypress, Selenium, WebdriverIO * Mobile Automation: Appium, Espresso, XCUITest * API Automation: RestAssured, Postman, Karate, Katalon * Performance Testing: Gatling, JMeter * Languages: Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Kotlin, Scala Vignesh is deeply passionate about helping QA engineers embrace modern tools and future-ready practices while staying grounded in strong testing fundamentals. Why You Should Attend * Learn how QA engineers can practically use Generative AI today * Improve productivity without compromising quality or ownership * Understand prompt engineering through a tester’s lens * Get early insights into Agentic AI and its impact on QA * Connect with Berlin’s growing QA and testing community * Be part of The Test Tribe’s 11th Berlin Meetup About The Test Tribe The Test Tribe is the world’s largest software testing community, empowering testers globally since 2018. With 700+ events and 150K+ members across 130+ countries, we bring testers together to learn, grow, and connect through meetups, conferences, cohorts, masterclasses, and more. By RSVPing, you agree to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy and consent to be contacted by The Test Tribe and our event partners.

Meet us for talks with EBCONT on January 20, 2026! Doors open at 18.00, first talk starts at 18.20. We wrap up at 20.30. Please make sure you sign up with your full name. 📅**Date and Time:** Tuesday, January 20, from 6:00-8:30 PM 📍**Location:** [Beyond Office, Heidestrasse 34, 10557 Berlin](https://maps.app.goo.gl/QJTtLBsyWdBXo9iA6) We will need your full name to allow your entrance at the building. 📝 **Agenda:** * **18:00 - Doors Open** * **18:20 - Talk #1** **\- Elastic Agent: Ingesting log files\, how hard can it be?** **[Denis Rechkunov](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rdner/)**, Principal Software Engineer at Elastic **Abstract:** Logs are the foundation of any observability solution, but to make them useful, they need to be ingested into a search index. One of the features provided by our Elastic Agent offering is to ingest log files into Elasticsearch so our customers can quickly navigate events in their systems. Reading files and sending data to Elasticsearch sounds simple, right? Not quite. In this talk we're going to dive deep into challenges associated with reading log files and sending them to Elasticsearch. * **18:50 - Talk #2 Flexible Chatbots with Elasticsearch - Integrating Elasticsearch, Confluence, and LLMs** **[Christoph Eder](https://www.linkedin.com/in/christoph-eder-0ab776194/)**, Senior IT Consultant at **[EBCONT](https://www.ebcont.com/en)** **Abstract:** In this talk, we'll show how we developed a flexible enterprise search solution using Elasticsearch — one that not only works in the cloud and with LLMs, but can also run on-premises and be easily combined with different LLMs. * **19:20 - Pizza, drinks and networking** * **20:30 - Wrap up** Invite your friends and join our meetup. Special thanks to our partner **[EBCONT](https://www.ebcont.com/en).** Want to speak at our next meetup? Submit your talk on **[this link](https://sessionize.com/elastic-meetups/)** and we will get in touch with you as soon as possible.

In diesem Kurs beschäftigen wir uns mit verschiedenen Texten aus unterschiedlichen Bereichen. Das können u.a. kurze Geschichten, Gedichte, Zeitungsartikel, Kolumnen oder Videos sein. Immer sind es Themen, die uns gefallen, die wir besonders interessant, wichtig oder manchmal auch richtig schlecht finden. Gemeinsam versuchen wir die Position der Autor*in, den Stil und die Argumentationsstruktur zu verstehen. Dazu diskutieren wir über das, was wir verstehen, welche Meinung wir zu dem Thema haben oder welche Fragen offen bleiben.
Gerne könnt ihr uns auch Themenvorschläge mitbringen oder zuschicken.
Der Kurs richtet sich an interessierte Menschen mit einem B2-Niveau (oder so ähnlich), die Lust haben sich weiter mit der deutschen Sprache zu beschäftigen und ihren Wortschatz zu erweitern.
Die Termine sind sporadisch.

**Topic: How Could Low-Tech Industry Be More Data-Driven?** **What to Expect:** * A concise, 5-10 minute expert presentation introducing us to the nuances of the topic. * Engage in insightful discussions with fellow participants in breakout groups, exploring diverse experiences and practices. * Dive into prepared questions designed to challenge and expand your perspective on the topic. * A fantastic opportunity to network with like-minded professionals and enthusiasts passionate about software development and team building. *** **Broadening Our Discussions:** We explore a wide range of topics, including Extreme Programming (XP), agile management methods, lean theory, career management, programming katas, and other areas related to software development. Whether you're new to software, a seasoned practitioner, or an expert, your insights and experiences are valued here! *** **Event Details:** We'll gather from 7:00 PM, officially start the session at 7:15 PM, and take a break at 8:30 PM to decide the topic for our next session. Don't miss this chance to learn, share, and connect!

Come along, grab a coffee, shut up, and write! We will do at least two sessions of each 45 minutes of writing and two breaks. We will start the first writing session at 10:45. For space reasons we only allow a limited number of attendees, so please update your RSVP if you can't come. We'll probably be grouped around the large table in the back room's center. In the summer, also outside. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Join this **Interview Simulation** session — to sharpen the skills for both interviews **and** architectural pitches. 💡 How it works The event is split into three parts: 1. **Most common behavioral & HR questions** \- you will receive a printed list of behavioral/HR questions and we brainstorm tips on how to prepare for them 2. **Interview Simulation (10 minute rounds)** – One participant acts as the interviewee and answers a round of behavioral and design-focused questions. Each other participant gets to ask him one interview question. 3. **Feedback Round** – The group provides feedback on communication, structure, and clarity. Constructive criticism is encouraged. 💡You will be asked: * **Behavioral questions** (“Tell me about yourself”, “Describe a challenge you faced...”) * **Technical questions** (based on your tech stack) * **Light design problems** (high-level reasoning, not code) No need to prepare anything in advance — just bring curiosity and an open mind. Feel free to bring your CV if you’d like feedback from others, or share a few words if you’re currently job hunting. If so, we will also brainstorm answers to more common questions that you were asked. Whether you’re preparing for an interview or simply want to grow as a software designer or architect, this session is for you. Note: location was changed to Strandbad Mitte cafe: https://share.google/ahAXMM91XoJY6fFez 💡Resources: * IT portfolio ideas: ideabrowser.com , reddit.com/r/SideProject * mock interview platforms: pramp.com , interviewbit.com , finalroundai.com * online coding platforms: leetcode.com, hackerrank.com, codewars.com , codingame.com , projecteuler.net ,techiedelight.com , exercism.org * confidence building exercises: [Confidence exercises ](https://limewire.com/d/o4tZw#RLA03qdOxU) , [reddit discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/jobs/comments/1cjlblp/how_in_the_world_do_you_keep_your_selfesteem_up/) , [another discussion](https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-keep-my-self-esteem-from-being-destroyed-while-job-hunting) , [quora discussion](https://www.quora.com/In-my-late-50s-I-find-myself-out-of-work-for-the-first-time-in-30-years-How-do-I-replace-apprehension-and-anxiety-with-confidence-to-job-hunt) * success stories: [story 1](https://www.reddit.com/r/RemoteJobseekers/comments/1p8faip/i_finally_landed_a_remote_job_after_10_months_of/), [story 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/RemoteJobseekers/comments/1fdpeg2/how_i_landed_multiple_remote_job_offers_my_remote/)

In our January meetup [Alexander Shabalin](https://github.com/projedi) will talk about the LLVM-based backend in Kotlin and its tracing garbage collector. Alexander is a software engineer at JetBrains who works on Kotlin/Native. Kotlin/Native is one of the backends of the Kotlin compiler. It uses LLVM for code generation and it features a tracing garbage collector. The GC integration is custom and currently doesn't rely on LLVM GC extensions. In this talk we'll take a look at some Kotlin code, the LLVM code generated for it and the reasons behind it. Small snacks and drinks will be available. There is always space for outside topics and discussions. If you have specific questions, please bring them. Looking forward to meeting everyone again!

Join us for a C++ meetup, proudly organized by think-cell, on **Wednesday, January 21, 2026**. The event is for C++ engineers eager to learn about "Lightweight: fast yet type safe database access". Connect with fellow engineers and industry experts over pizza and beer in the new year. **Agenda** 18:30 Doors open, snacks & drinks 19:00 Welcome speech by think-cell 19:05 Talks + Q/A 20:15 Pizza and beer, networking 21:30 Farewell **Venue** The meetup will be held at a new location this year. Say hello to [42 Berlin](https://42berlin.de/de/), a vibrant and welcoming space perfect for our gathering. We would like to extend our gratitude to42 Berlin for their generous cooperation in hosting this event. Address: Harzer Str. 42, 12059 Berlin Google Maps: [https://maps.app.goo.gl/tRUZuNqXvCoySysA6](https://maps.app.goo.gl/tRUZuNqXvCoySysA6) **Talk** This talk introduces Lightweight, a new C++ SQL library that aims to provide a user-friendly API while maintaining high performance and type safety. We'll discuss the design philosophy behind Lightweight and the challenges we overcame to create a solution that hides most boilerplate and low-level processes. The presentation will cover the library's iterative development, highlight practical usage examples, and offer an outlook on what's to come, including plans for C++26. **Speaker** **Yaraslau Tamashevich** is a Software Developer at **LASTRADA**, a leading software provider for the construction materials industry. He writes modern C++ code during the day and maintains multiple open-source projects, including a Contour terminal emulator that he attempts not to leave. Before relocation to Berlin, he wrote computational code in Julia to solve nonlinear light–matter interaction problems. He also worked on algorithms for electromagnetic compatibility solutions using C++. **Lightning Talk** *Slint a Modern UI Framework with First-Class C++ Support* by **Olivier Goffart**, **Co-founder at SixtyFPS**. Slint is a modern UI framework for building native applications, with a focus on performance and developer experience. This talk introduces Slint and shows how it can be used through a clean and idiomatic C++ API. We'll also look behind the scenes at how Slint C++ wrapper is made around the Rust implementation, how C++ and Rust interoperate, and how CMake integration is handled so that using Slint from C++ feels natural. **Registration** Seats are limited, so register to secure your spot. We look forward to an evening of technical deep dives and networking with fellow C++ engineers!

Join us for an inspiring life drawing session in Berlin with our talented group dedicated to capturing the beauty of the human form through sketching and drawing. Our sessions provide a supportive and creative space for artists of all levels to practice figure drawing in a relaxed environment. Whether you are an experienced artist or just starting out, our group welcomes everyone to come together and explore the art of life model drawing. Channel your creativity and hone your skills as you sketch our professional life model during our dynamic sessions. Drawing enthusiasts can expect a friendly and inclusive atmosphere, where you can exchange ideas, techniques, and feedback with fellow artists. Don't miss the chance to immerse yourself in the world of figure drawing and be part of our vibrant community. No ticket required, payment is by donation, suggested amount is 10,- Join us for an engaging and enriching experience at our next life drawing event in Berlin!

Welcome to the PyData Berlin January meetup! We would like to welcome you all starting from 18:30. There will be food and drinks. The talks begin around 19.15 and the doors will close at 18:45. **Make sure to arrive on time!** Please provide your first and last name for the registration because this is required for the venue's entry policy. If you cannot attend, please cancel your spot so others are able to join as the space is limited. **Host**: **Spiced Academy** is excited to welcome you to this month's version of PyData. \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* The Lineup for the evening **Talk 1: From Grape Stomping to Gorilla Trekking: AI-Driven Discovery of Novel Interests at GetYourGuide** **Abstract**: UX research shows that discovering new, unexpected and unique things to do in a destination is among the most important needs for travelers. However, surfacing these “hidden gems” at scale is a major challenge for any dynamic marketplace. At GetYourGuide, we tackled this by combining large language models, semantic vector embeddings, and a robust human-in-the-loop process to automatically identify and categorize novel customer interests. Join me as I dive into how we created this AI-driven solution and how we achieved scalable, granular and relevant categorization of our activities. **Description:** How do you help a traveler find something they never knew they wanted? In this talk, I will explore the exciting journey of developing an AI-driven solution to identify novel customer interests at GetYourGuide. With thousands of new activities onboarded weekly, manual categorization became impractical, prompting the need for automation. This talk will walk you through our end-to-end solution: * The problem: the challenges travelers face in discovering relevant and unique experiences, the organizational complexity of this on our platform and its business impact * The AI journey: From raw LLM-based extraction to vector embeddings, clustering, all the way to a robust human-in-the-loop pipeline. I’ll share how we iterated from noisy prototypes to an impactful system, launching 300+ new interests and driving significant engagement and net revenue uplifts * What we learned: The realities of working with LLMs in production-like settings, more specifically hallucinations and issues with relevance, granularity and semantic deduplication. We found out that the line between useful innovation and unwanted noise can be surprisingly fine when using LLM’s. I’ll share practical examples of these challenges and how we addressed them. * Impact and future directions: How we achieved a 10x increase in manual acceptance of AI-suggested interests in just two iterations, and what’s next for AI-driven discovery at GetYourGuide **Bio**: **Morena Bastiaansen** holds a master’s degree in Econometrics from the University of Amsterdam and currently works as a Data Scientist at GetYourGuide in Berlin. She combines her passions for machine learning, language, and travel to build impactful systems for travelers worldwide, with a current focus on personalization in email marketing. Morena is also actively involved in the local tech and ML community. **Talk 2: Deep dive into data streaming security** **Abstract**: Data streaming is powering everything from fraud detection and real-time analytics to patient monitoring and order fulfillment. But as the role of streaming grows, so does the risk - because many streaming platforms, like Apache Kafka, aren't secure by default. In this talk, we’ll take a practical look at data streaming security through the lens of Kafka, one of the most widely adopted streaming platforms in the world. We'll walk through what can go wrong - real examples of exposing 14M patient-doctor messages, or years of real-time delivery info to the internet - and what it takes to do it right. We'll cover the key pillars of securing a streaming system: encryption in transit and at rest, access control, monitoring, and key management. Along the way, we’ll look at the trade-offs like disk encryption vs. end-to-end encryption, what is behind field-level and envelope encryption, and the realities of using customer-managed keys in regulated industries. We'll also explore how streaming security has evolved, how real vulnerabilities (like CVE-2019-12399) highlight the need for patching and monitoring, and what successful multi-layered security looks like in production - from financial institutions to healthcare platforms. If you're building, running, or scaling streaming systems, this talk will help you see the security blind spots and give you concrete steps to protect the data flowing through your pipelines. **Bio**: Olena Kutsenko is a Staff Developer Advocate at Confluent and a recognized expert in data streaming and analytics. With two decades of experience in software engineering, she has built mission-critical applications, led high-performing teams, and driven large-scale technology adoption at industry leaders like Nokia, HERE Technologies, AWS, and Aiven. A passionate advocate for real-time data processing and AI-driven applications, Olena empowers developers and organizations to use the power of streaming data. She is an AWS Community Builder, a dedicated mentor, and a volunteer instructor at a nonprofit tech school, helping to shape the next generation of engineers. As an international speaker and thought leader, Olena regularly presents at top global conferences, sharing deep technical insights and hands-on expertise. Whether through her talks, workshops, or content, she is committed to making complex technologies accessible and inspiring innovation in the developer community. **Lightning talks** There will be slots for 2-3 Lightning Talks (3-5 Minutes for each) between the two main talks. Kindly let us know if you would like to present something :) \*\*\* NumFOCUS **Code of Conduct** THE SHORT VERSION Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down others. Behave professionally. Remember that harassment and sexist, racist, or exclusionary jokes are not appropriate for NumFOCUS. All communication should be appropriate for a professional audience including people of many different backgrounds. Sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. NumFOCUS is dedicated to providing a harassment-free community for everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, or religion. We do not tolerate harassment of community members in any form. Thank you for helping make this a welcoming, friendly community for all. If you haven't yet, please read the detailed version here: https://numfocus.org/code-of-conduct \*\*\*

**Important!!! Please register to this event on [Luma Page](https://luma.com/m71xu826)** We’re back with a new hands-on workshop — and this time we’re diving into Superapp, a tool for building and shipping real iOS apps without code. Just your ideas, some curiosity, and the right flow. 🧠 Led by: [Vitalik Kotik](https://de.linkedin.com/in/vitali-kotick) Founder at Superapp, ex-Senior Product Designer @ Bolt This session is all about creating your own project with live guidance from Vitalik. Whether it’s a wild idea or something practical, you’ll build in real time and learn by doing. At the end, we’ll vote for 3 winners in these categories: 🏆 Best Visual Design 💡 Most Creative Idea 🔮 Could Totally Be a Startup 🎁 All three will get a free 1-year Superapp paid subscription 🗓 Event Agenda 18:00 – Arrival & welcome 18:30–18:45 – Quick intro of project ideas 18:45–20:00 – Heads-down building with support from Vitalik 20:15–20:30 – Project showcase 20:30–20:40 – Community voting 20:40–21:15 – Mingling, chatting, hanging out ⚙️ This event is entry-level friendly You don’t need to be a developer or an experienced vibe coder — just bring some curiosity, a laptop, and the energy to explore and build. 🎯 Think of a small app idea in advance — something simple, weird, useful, or fun. You’ll build your own project from scratch during the session. ⚠️ Important — Please prepare before the event * Download and install Superapp on your Mac before coming * Complete the onboarding flow in Superapp in advance ⚡ Wi-Fi at the venue won’t support downloads — you won’t be able to install tools or onboard during the session. 💬 Having trouble with setup or onboarding? Contact: 📩 [vitalik@superappp.com](mailto:vitalik@superappp.com) or message [Vitalik](https://de.linkedin.com/in/vitali-kotick) or [Emiliia](https://www.linkedin.com/in/emiliiakarpiuk/) on LinkedIn 📍 Event Details 🗓 Monday, January 22 🕕 18:00 CET Blumental, Engeldamm 64, 10179 Berlin 👥 Limited spots — RSVP early! This event is organised by Projector Global Community ambassadors (by [Projector Institute](https://prjctr.com/en/about))

**IMPORTANT PLEASE RSVP AT:** https://www.meetup.com/pydata-berlin/events/312771201/ \*\*\* We would like to welcome you all starting from 18:30. There will be food and drinks. The talks begin around 19.15 and the doors will close at 18:45. **Make sure to arrive on time!** Please provide your first and last name for the registration because this is required for the venue's entry policy. If you cannot attend, please cancel your spot so others are able to join as the space is limited. **Host**: **Spiced Academy** is excited to welcome you to this month's version of PyData. \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* The Lineup for the evening **Talk 1: From Grape Stomping to Gorilla Trekking: AI-Driven Discovery of Novel Interests at GetYourGuide** **Abstract**: UX research shows that discovering new, unexpected and unique things to do in a destination is among the most important needs for travelers. However, surfacing these “hidden gems” at scale is a major challenge for any dynamic marketplace. At GetYourGuide, we tackled this by combining large language models, semantic vector embeddings, and a robust human-in-the-loop process to automatically identify and categorize novel customer interests. Join me as I dive into how we created this AI-driven solution and how we achieved scalable, granular and relevant categorization of our activities. **Description:** How do you help a traveler find something they never knew they wanted? In this talk, I will explore the exciting journey of developing an AI-driven solution to identify novel customer interests at GetYourGuide. With thousands of new activities onboarded weekly, manual categorization became impractical, prompting the need for automation. This talk will walk you through our end-to-end solution: * The problem: the challenges travelers face in discovering relevant and unique experiences, the organizational complexity of this on our platform and its business impact * The AI journey: From raw LLM-based extraction to vector embeddings, clustering, all the way to a robust human-in-the-loop pipeline. I’ll share how we iterated from noisy prototypes to an impactful system, launching 300+ new interests and driving significant engagement and net revenue uplifts * What we learned: The realities of working with LLMs in production-like settings, more specifically hallucinations and issues with relevance, granularity and semantic deduplication. We found out that the line between useful innovation and unwanted noise can be surprisingly fine when using LLM’s. I’ll share practical examples of these challenges and how we’re iterating to address them. * Impact and future directions: How we achieved a 10x increase in manual acceptance of AI-suggested interests in just two iterations, and what’s next for AI-driven discovery at GetYourGuide **Bio**: **Morena Bastiaansen** holds a master’s degree in Econometrics from the University of Amsterdam and currently works as a Data Scientist at GetYourGuide in Berlin. She combines her passions for machine learning, language, and travel to build impactful systems for travelers worldwide, with a current focus on personalization in email marketing. Morena is also actively involved in the local tech and ML community. **Talk 2: Deep dive into data streaming security** **Abstract**: Data streaming is powering everything from fraud detection and real-time analytics to patient monitoring and order fulfillment. But as the role of streaming grows, so does the risk - because many streaming platforms, like Apache Kafka, aren't secure by default. In this talk, we’ll take a practical look at data streaming security through the lens of Kafka, one of the most widely adopted streaming platforms in the world. We'll walk through what can go wrong - real examples of exposing 14M patient-doctor messages, or years of real-time delivery info to the internet - and what it takes to do it right. We'll cover the key pillars of securing a streaming system: encryption in transit and at rest, access control, monitoring, and key management. Along the way, we’ll look at the trade-offs like disk encryption vs. end-to-end encryption, what is behind field-level and envelope encryption, and the realities of using customer-managed keys in regulated industries. We'll also explore how streaming security has evolved, how real vulnerabilities (like CVE-2019-12399) highlight the need for patching and monitoring, and what successful multi-layered security looks like in production - from financial institutions to healthcare platforms. If you're building, running, or scaling streaming systems, this talk will help you see the security blind spots and give you concrete steps to protect the data flowing through your pipelines. **Bio**: Olena Kutsenko is a Staff Developer Advocate at Confluent and a recognized expert in data streaming and analytics. With two decades of experience in software engineering, she has built mission-critical applications, led high-performing teams, and driven large-scale technology adoption at industry leaders like Nokia, HERE Technologies, AWS, and Aiven. A passionate advocate for real-time data processing and AI-driven applications, Olena empowers developers and organizations to use the power of streaming data. She is an AWS Community Builder, a dedicated mentor, and a volunteer instructor at a nonprofit tech school, helping to shape the next generation of engineers. As an international speaker and thought leader, Olena regularly presents at top global conferences, sharing deep technical insights and hands-on expertise. Whether through her talks, workshops, or content, she is committed to making complex technologies accessible and inspiring innovation in the developer community.

## 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/

## 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. 🧱➡️📐

**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

**NEW LOCATION: Improving Office in Franklinton** Physical location: Improving Office 330 Rush Alley Suite #150 Columbus, OH 43215 Schedule: * 6:00 p.m.: Socialize, eat, and drink. Improving will be providing pizza and beverages. * 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Main meeting and presentation(s). For this first meeting of the year, we will be reviewing submissions for the [Your Program is Hideous and Obfuscated Challenge (YPHOC). ](https://docs.google.com/document/d/13zbxwElpJqPMuAN4Ele2hUgsqtFKzH3OCTL5NEeiLKQ)Submissions for this challenge are due by January 12th, 2026. The details can be found here: or on our website http://www.cohpy.org See Our [Parking Map](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1u2A4fLNlxwLJn0KA_hKc8bnFlFHLvsHBDh-_8wzX_tk/edit?usp=sharing) We meet on the last Monday of each Month. Presentations are given by members and friends of this group. If you would like to do a presentation (small or large) on a python topic, please contact centralohpython@gmail.com

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.

Columbus Code & Coffee is an inclusive, informal co-working session. People of all skill levels attend, and we love it that way. Many people (optionally) bring projects to work on, and many other people (optionally) socialize the entire time. It's entirely up to you! **What to Expect at the Intro Circle** \~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~ Near the beginning of the event (1:30 pm), we do a standup: * Organizer announcements, updates, and logistics Round 1 - (7 secs max): * Your name * What you're working on * What you can help others with Round 2: * Community events you wanna plug. If none, that's cool too. Round 3: * Job opportunities you're hiring for OR announce that you are looking for one. If none, that's cool. After the introduction circle, everything is self-organized! Feel free to work alone, pair up, attend one of our workshops/presentations, or mingle!

Bring your work or your hobby, hang out, and code with us. Follow @buckeyecocoa for more information.