Decentralized Systems & Applications

\*\*Please make sure to head to the [AI Exchange Meetup Page](https://www.meetup.com/ai-exchange/events/313741366/?eventOrigin=your_events) to Register for this event\*\* Join us on Tuesday 24th March for the next AI Exchange event, where we will be hosted at Dawn Capital. We have three great talks lined up; heavily backed startup [Conduct AI](http://ttps//%5Bwww.conduct.ai/%5D(www.conduct.ai/)) will give us insight and lessons on how they've managed to take Agentic AI into some of the worlds largest organisations. [Canonical](https://canonical.com/) will be diving into how advances in AI have been driven by major improvements in customer interaction and [Capgemini](https://www.capgemini.com/gb-en/) are exploring the evolution of Engineering with an AI-native mindset. As always, doors open at 6:30pm and talks start at 7pm sharp. Drinks and food will be provided. **Agenda:** **[Henry Thompson](https://www.linkedin.com/in/henryithompson/) @ [Conduct AI](https://www.conduct.ai/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23305058141&gbraid=0AAAABCJY88zM3GE_S23wWaidRlqn_riJk&gclid=CjwKCAjwpcTNBhA5EiwAdO1S9vDNKLdlyXUqKM-5bV0MrytI_N6IuNjoIqYTsjZrDQMgMx8VmvWABBoC1EAQAvD_BwE)** **Teaching Old Systems New Tricks: Agentic AI in the Enterprise Core** The most valuable AI opportunities in large enterprises aren't greenfield, they're buried inside legacy landscapes and specialist teams who've operated the same way for decades. Most AI deployments never reach them. This session shares what we've learned taking agentic AI into some of the world's largest organisations: the product decisions forced by legacy constraints, the approaches required to ingest complex business data, and what it takes to embed agents inside teams with little AI experience. We take a dive into the technical, organisational, and commercial questions that only arise at true enterprise scale and how you turn that friction into real value. **[Artur Vartanyan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/artur-vartanyan/) @ [Canonical](https://canonical.com/)** **How Global Technology Alliances enable AI success** Artur will dive into how modern advances in artificial intelligence have been driven by major improvements in how customers experience and interact with AI. These advancements are largely enabled by strategic technological alliances. Instead of competing, leading tech companies are joining forces to make AI more accessible and impactful. This talk will explore the programs and tools that enable collaboration among technology companies in developing AI solutions, supported by real-world examples of successful alliances. Bio: Artur has 20+ years of business development experience in the IT industry across EMEA. Since January 2024 Artur has been working as Dell Alliance Manager at Canonical in London, UK to drive joint Canonical/Dell efforts in the AI, Cloud and Open Source. Prior to joining Canonical, he spent over 10 years at Dell Technologies (EMC) in various sales and leadership roles. Since 2016, Artur has been working as a visiting university professor and developed 12 educational programs on Big Data, IT Infrastructure and Digital Transformation for the leading universities in the CIS. He also authored 15 scientific publications on digital technologies, including SCOPUS. Holding a Phd in Economics, as well as honours degrees in Business Management and International Law, Artur was also certified in digital technologies by top universities (Oxford, Harvard, Stanford, INSEAD, Wharton, NYU) and global companies (Dell, IBM, Linux Foundation). As a digital technologies expert, Artur has been invited as a keynote speaker to over 200 IT-related conferences across the world. In 2023, Artur was endorsed as a Global Exceptional Talent in the field of digital technologies, by Tech Nation UK. **[Ezhil Suresh](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ezhilsuresh/) @ [Capgemini](https://www.capgemini.com/gb-en/)** **Evolution of Engineering Organisations** Ezhil will explore how static governance models give way to adaptive, AI‑driven controls — forming the backbone of a fully governed autonomous engineering control plane. When hundreds of engineers rely on shared platforms, standards, guardrails, auditability, and developer experience can’t be afterthoughts. They must be embedded. Becoming AI‑native demands a new mindset: one where engineering systems govern themselves, teams move faster with trust, and AI becomes the multiplier across the entire technology organisation. Bio: Ezhil Suresh Chockalingham is a cross‑functional technology leader in UK Public Sector , specialising in transforming engineering organisations into AI‑native, autonomous delivery ecosystems. With a background spanning cloud, data platform engineering, developer experience, and large‑scale governance, Ezhil focuses on building high‑trust, self‑governing engineering systems that accelerate value creation across complex enterprises. Ezhil serves as a strategic bridge across engineering, product, and governance functions — championing adaptive standards, AI‑driven guardrails, and scalable platform capabilities that enable hundreds of engineers to deliver securely and autonomously. Their work is centred on moving organisations from static governance to dynamic, AI‑powered control planes that reshape how modern technology gets built. We have a tight capacity for this event, so please RSVP as soon as you can to secure your space. We hope to see many of you at this event! **Sponsors...** The AI Exchange is brought to you in partnership with[ LinuxRecruit](https://www.linuxrecruit.co.uk/) and[ AWS.](https://aws.amazon.com/) LinuxRecruit is building the next wave of Tech Unicorns in Europe. Whether you're hiring or exploring your next opportunity, [get in touch](https://www.linuxrecruit.co.uk/jobs). The types of roles we have currently are across Founding Engineers, Engineers across Product, Software, AI/ML, Data and Platform Infrastructure/DevOps.

🎤 **Join Our Free Public Speaking Class in Central London** * 🌟 Are you struggling with public speaking or experiencing anxiety about it? * 👉 Attend our in-person public speaking class, suitable for beginners to advanced speakers, absolutely FREE as a guest! *You don't need to speak - just observe and learn, or participate if you feel ready.* **Why Attend Our Public Speaking Class?** * 💪 **Overcome Public Speaking Fear** Central London Toastmasters is the premier weekly public speaking club, offering a relaxed and supportive environment. Practice in a safe space where no one judges you, and start your journey to becoming a confident speaker. * ✨ **Become a Charismatic Speaker** Enhance your public speaking skills and develop the charisma you've always wanted. Impress your colleagues with smooth, polished presentations and wow your friends with newfound confidence and storytelling abilities. * 💼 **Improve Business Speaking Skills** Our meetings are friendly and informal, making them the perfect starting point for building confidence in public speaking. Many of our members began with anxiety, but now speak with total confidence. As a guest, you’ll see firsthand how warm and welcoming our club is, and you can chat with members about their experiences. * 🏆 **Develop Leadership Skills** Public speaking is not just about presenting; it's also about leading. Our club provides opportunities to take on leadership roles, helping you to develop crucial skills like team management, decision-making, and strategic thinking that can benefit your personal and professional life. 📅 **Location and Time** * 📍 Location: Cittie of Yorke pub, Holborn * ⏰ Time: 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM (Feel free to arrive late and quietly take a seat) 🔄 **What to Expect at Our Meetings** * The meeting is divided into two halves, each lasting approximately 50 minutes, with a 10-minute break. * 🎯 First Half: Members participate in impromptu speeches, and guests are invited to introduce themselves by name. * 📈 Second Half: Members deliver prepared speeches followed by evaluations. * After the meeting, we enjoy drinks and informal chats, providing a great opportunity to network and learn more about the club. 🎟️ **Interested in Becoming a Member?** Membership includes access to our online course, Pathways, guiding you step-by-step through your public speaking journey. A full year’s membership, covering 50 weekly meetings, is just £168, plus a one-time £30 registration fee. **💬 Testimonials from Our Members** * **“Toastmasters transformed my life!”** "I went from fearing public speaking to leading meetings at work. This newfound confidence even earned me a promotion!" – **Alexander** * **"A warm and supportive club!"** "From the first meeting, I felt welcomed. The constructive feedback boosted my confidence both in public speaking and daily life." – **Sarah** * **"Overcoming my fear was easier than I thought."** "The support here made my sales presentations more impactful and less stressful. It's been a game-changer for me professionally." – **David** * **"A fun and rewarding experience."** "I look forward to every meeting. The sessions are engaging, and I love the socializing afterward." – **Lucy** * **"I've grown as a speaker and leader."** "Taking on roles in the club has sharpened my leadership skills, making me more effective at work." – **James**

Join us on Tuesday 24th March for the next AI Exchange event, hosted by Dawn Capital. We have three great talks lined up; [Volary](https://volary.ai/) will give us insight into what they've learned from building memory systems agentic era. [Canonical](https://canonical.com/) will be diving into how advances in AI have been driven by major improvements in customer interaction and [Capgemini](https://www.capgemini.com/gb-en/) are exploring the evolution of Engineering with an AI-native mindset. As always, doors open at 6:30pm and talks start at 7pm sharp. We have a tight capacity for this event, so please RSVP as soon as you can to secure your space. **Agenda:** **[Peter Ebden](https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterebden/) @ [Volary AI](https://volary.ai/)** **Volary: The memory layer for the agentic era** We're seeing an explosion of innovation driven by AI agents, but they lack good options to remember and learn over time. At Volary we are building the missing memory layer for AI agents. This talk explores how we think about the problem, what we've learned from building memory systems, and how better memory can take agents from stateless tools to workers that improve through experience. Peter is an engineering leader with two decades of experience. After several years working on text-to-speech at Google, he joined Thought Machine as a founding engineer. He later served as CIO on the executive team, leading Infrastructure as the company scaled to over 500 employees, achieving unicorn status along the way, and went on to lead development of Vault Payments, a universal payments platform for retail banks. He is now CEO of Volary, where he is applying that experience to building foundational infrastructure for AI agents. **[Artur Vartanyan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/artur-vartanyan/) @ [Canonical](https://canonical.com/)** **How Global Technology Alliances enable AI success** Artur will dive into how modern advances in artificial intelligence have been driven by major improvements in how customers experience and interact with AI. These advancements are largely enabled by strategic technological alliances. Instead of competing, leading tech companies are joining forces to make AI more accessible and impactful. This talk will explore the programs and tools that enable collaboration among technology companies in developing AI solutions, supported by real-world examples of successful alliances. Bio: Artur has 20+ years of business development experience in the IT industry across EMEA. Since January 2024 Artur has been working as Dell Alliance Manager at Canonical in London, UK to drive joint Canonical/Dell efforts in the AI, Cloud and Open Source. Prior to joining Canonical, he spent over 10 years at Dell Technologies (EMC) in various sales and leadership roles. Since 2016, Artur has been working as a visiting university professor and developed 12 educational programs on Big Data, IT Infrastructure and Digital Transformation for the leading universities in the CIS. He also authored 15 scientific publications on digital technologies, including SCOPUS. Holding a Phd in Economics, as well as honours degrees in Business Management and International Law, Artur was also certified in digital technologies by top universities (Oxford, Harvard, Stanford, INSEAD, Wharton, NYU) and global companies (Dell, IBM, Linux Foundation). As a digital technologies expert, Artur has been invited as a keynote speaker to over 200 IT-related conferences across the world. In 2023, Artur was endorsed as a Global Exceptional Talent in the field of digital technologies, by Tech Nation UK. **[Ezhil Suresh](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ezhilsuresh/) @ [Capgemini](https://www.capgemini.com/gb-en/)** **Evolution of Engineering Organisations** Ezhil will explore how static governance models give way to adaptive, AI‑driven controls — forming the backbone of a fully governed autonomous engineering control plane. When hundreds of engineers rely on shared platforms, standards, guardrails, auditability, and developer experience can’t be afterthoughts. They must be embedded. Becoming AI‑native demands a new mindset: one where engineering systems govern themselves, teams move faster with trust, and AI becomes the multiplier across the entire technology organisation. Bio: Ezhil Suresh Chockalingham is a cross‑functional technology leader in UK Public Sector , specialising in transforming engineering organisations into AI‑native, autonomous delivery ecosystems. With a background spanning cloud, data platform engineering, developer experience, and large‑scale governance, Ezhil focuses on building high‑trust, self‑governing engineering systems that accelerate value creation across complex enterprises. Ezhil serves as a strategic bridge across engineering, product, and governance functions — championing adaptive standards, AI‑driven guardrails, and scalable platform capabilities that enable hundreds of engineers to deliver securely and autonomously. Their work is centred on moving organisations from static governance to dynamic, AI‑powered control planes that reshape how modern technology gets built. We hope to see you there for another great AI filled evening! **Sponsors...** The AI Exchange is brought to you in partnership with[ LinuxRecruit](https://www.linuxrecruit.co.uk/) and[ AWS.](https://aws.amazon.com/) LinuxRecruit is building the next wave of Tech Unicorns in Europe. Whether you're hiring or exploring your next opportunity, [get in touch](https://www.linuxrecruit.co.uk/jobs). The types of roles we have currently are across Founding Engineers, Engineers across Product, Software, AI/ML, Data and Platform Infrastructure/DevOps.

***The Fitzroy Tavern Edition*** ALTERNATIVE PLATFORM FOR BOOKINGS: **EVENTBRITE** (link below) Start your public speaking journey with us. Like a lot of people, we’ve had our own battles with public speaking. That’s exactly why this group exists. It’s for anyone who wants a place to start, people who want to keep practising, and those who just need a friendly audience to try things out. We grow at our own pace and build confidence in a relaxed, safe and supportive space. You’ll meet like-minded people, make new connections, and steadily get more comfortable speaking in front of others. There’s no judgement here. It’s just space for people to be themselves. We know there’s no single “right” way to speak in public. Whether you’re prepping for presentations, interviews, a best man speech, handling social situations, or simply getting more comfortable saying what you think, you’re welcome to explore your own style and find what feels natural to you here. PS Free event. Groups are kept small so everyone gets plenty of stage time, usually no more than 10–15 people. The pub kindly lets us use their space, so if you fancy it, feel free to grab a drink (or just a soft drink ) while you’re here. It’s a nice way to say thanks and helps us keep the space for future sessions. Eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/public-speaking-with-authenticity-reps-not-rules-tickets-1980278600602?utm_experiment=test_share_listing&aff=ebdsshios&sg=44d6d68e9a6562610839867fc9177e5b1d319685453f7cbd5502deb615049586b7e092be26e1ecfe0679502e35d905a0559ee449358ed8b5a17242d1abf6a83846e04015227bdfed111e8f519a62

A fun and hands on introduction to LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®, ideal for those who have not experienced the method before. After being welcomed by our experienced facilitator Sean Blair, you will explore building models as an individual and as a group. You will become practiced at several methods of communication and learn to hear and understand others, all using LEGO! Following the workshop we will send you a free pdf copy of the book "SeriousWork" - a hands on guide to using LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® yourself (5\*\*\*\*\* reviewed book that sells for £25 on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Facilitate-Meetings-Workshops-Serious-Method/dp/0995664706) Ideal for those who are interested in participatory leadership, better communication and creativity. If you have attended a taster workshop before, you are welcome to attend but please note this introductory workshop will be a similar experience.

Please note: **This session is intended for professionals currently operating in roles where decisions carry material, institutional or public responsibility.** **Attendance is curated and confirmed by the host; registering interest does not automatically secure a place.** This first Ethics Intelligence London conversation will explore the question: Who decides when systems decide? The discussion will examine how decision-making authority shifts when AI systems are introduced into institutions, professional practice and public life. We will focus on responsibility, governance, psychological impact and the distribution of power. Agenda – Arrival and informal settling – 5–10 minute framing of the central ethical question – Moderated discussion – Closing reflections The format is conversational and structured. There is no speaker panel and no presentations. The emphasis is on rigorous, respectful exchange. What to bring Curiosity, professional experience, and willingness to engage thoughtfully. No preparation is required. If you work in leadership, policy, technology, advisory, clinical or institutional roles, your lived experience is relevant. How to find us The meeting is hosted at Century Club in Soho, London. You will need to provide your name to the reception. Please arrive on time so we can begin together. Group size is intentionally limited to support depth of discussion. This inaugural session is complimentary. Future meetings may operate on a modest contribution basis depending on format and demand. Magdalena, **[Ethics Intelligence](https://www.ethicsintelligence.co.uk/)**

**About the London Software Guild** ​The London Software Guild gathers developers, architects, and teams across London who care deeply about the craft of building great software. No fluff, no vendor pitches — just people who take the work seriously, sharing what they've learned the hard way. *** ## ​**Tonight's Speakers** ## ​**🎤 Kieran — Founding Engineer, Demand-Genius** ​Kieran is a founding engineer at Demand-Genius, working to close the gap between how humans and machines perceive your brand versus reality. Background in electrical & electronic engineering, previously working on real-time payments systems, high-scale distributed dynamic rules engines, and reverse proxies. Third Start-Up/Scale-Up (because I'm dumb and have never learnt my lesson). ​ **Talk: The Statistical (Un)Certainty That Our AI Co-Founder Ruins Everything** ​We have handed the most powerful text prediction machines ever built the keys to our codebases. They write code that is statistically likely to be correct. But "statistically likely" and "correct" are not the same thing. As we move toward autonomous multi-agent systems writing production code at machine speed, that gap becomes the central engineering problem of our time. ​Code is not text. It is a formal, deterministic, mathematical structure that happens to be serialised as text. Every tool in the agentic coding stack — retrieval, editing, version control, coordination — treats it as text. ​This talk argues that the answer isn't better frontier models. It's better systems around models. Specifically, the engineering disciplines we've used for a century to control uncertain systems — feedback loops, formal verification, dependency analysis, and control theory — are the missing layer between "AI can write code" and "AI can write code you can trust." *** ## ​**🎤 Andy Roberts — Senior Engineering Leader** ​Andy Roberts is a senior engineering leader with 25+ years of experience — the kind where you've actually written the code, run the teams, and been in the room when things went wrong at scale. Previously Head of EMEA Enterprise Solutions at Apollo GraphQL, where he helped companies like [Booking.com](https://booking.com/), PayPal, and The New York Times stop arguing about their APIs. Before that, Head of API Engineering at RS Components, wrangling 11 teams. Has strong opinions about federated architecture and isn't afraid to use them. ​ **Talk: Built for Browsers, Billed by Tokens** *Your microservices solved for latency. AI agents are solving for context. Nobody told your APIs.* ​Every era of software development has been defined by a constraint that reshaped architecture. In the database era we optimised for round trips. In the web era we obsessed over latency. Mobile forced us to think about bandwidth and battery. Each shift required new instincts, new patterns, new defaults. We're in the middle of another one. ​The AI era introduces a new constraint: context. Language models have finite working memory, and every API response your services return goes into it. The kitchen-sink response payloads that work fine for browsers are quietly making your AI agents more expensive and less capable — and the cost is almost entirely invisible in your existing dashboards. ​This talk maps the constraint transition from latency to context, shows what it means for the microservice APIs you have today, and offers five concrete things you can do about it without touching a line of existing backend code.

Please note - make sure you book a space if you are coming to the event as we have a certain amount of tickets available. Have you ever been to a public speaking class where they expect to go up and speak for 2 minutes with no prior experience ? I think this is too hard for many people and just overwhelms the nervous system. This workshop is designed for people who want a gradual and easier approach.

We start in pairs and work our way up to smaller groups and slowly desensitise to being seen by a larger audience.The Speeches are are also short, from 10 seconds to 1 minute. You are under no pressure to do anything, all exercises are voluntary, no one will ever be put on the spot. I want people to view this class in the same light as a weight lifting class, if there was a weight to heavy for you , you would just say "I can't lift that yet" and there would be no shame nor embarrassment around it, so If something is abit to outside of your comfort zone, just sit it out and don't feel that you have to be embarrassed or have to explain yourself. We'll be in studio 12, at the theatre deli which is 107 Leadenhall street, it can be a bit confusing as is look a bit life and office building but it's actually studio and rehearsal spaces. I hope to see you there, if youre still worried feel free to send me a message and hopefully I can put your mind at ease 
Take care 
James. 
Gentle speaking

Please register here: https://hazelcast.com/resources/resilient-java-in-production-meetup/ ### Modern Java systems don’t fail all at once. They fail under load, during warmup, and sometimes days after a “successful” zero-downtime deployment. Join us for an evening focused on real-world resilience in production Java systems, from JVM performance stability to the hidden risks of mixed-version state during rolling upgrades. Come for the talks, stay for the conversations. Food, drinks, swag, and a LEGO® raffle included. ### **Special Guest: Simon Ritter** Java Champion and Deputy CTO at Azul, Simon Ritter shares how to make JVM performance more resilient by reducing latency risk from GC, warmup, and JIT behaviour without changing application code. ### **Hazelcast Session** Zero-downtime rolling upgrades in distributed Java systems are hard when multiple versions of the same service and data model must run concurrently and share state. Using Hazelcast and Hazelcast Compact Serialization, we’ll show practical Java examples and tests that demonstrate how mixed versions behave and how to make those upgrades resilient in real systems. ### **What’s in Store?** * Two technical talks on resilience in production Java systems * Food & drinks included * Swag + LEGO® raffle * Networking with the local Java community Please register here: https://hazelcast.com/resources/resilient-java-in-production-meetup/

## Details Welcome to the DevSecOps London Gathering March Event on Wednesday 26 March. We bring you two amazing talks, as well as the usual conversations, pizza and beer! 📍 **Hosted at Autogen AI, Pentonville Road, London** 📅 **Wednesday, 26 March** 🕕 **6:00–8:00 PM** ## Talk 1 **Abstract:** Software supply chain attacks are no longer rare or theoretical. They are happening every day. Recent ​ incidents show how easily malicious packages can enter trusted registries and make their way into production systems before anyone notices. Today’s package managers host millions of components and support billions of downloads each week. That scale enables modern software development, but it also creates an enormous attack surface. Typosquatting, dependency confusion, malicious install scripts, and credential harvesting are no longer unusual techniques. They are now common and repeatable attack patterns. This session looks at how these attacks are playing out. Using malicious code detection data from Veracode, we walk-through real-world supply chain attack campaigns, the techniques attackers use, and the indicators that separate legitimate open-source packages from malicious ones. Attendees will see how weaponized components are identified, sometimes before they reach production and sometimes after damage has already begun. The talk also draws on industry research, including findings from the Veracode State of Software Security report, to put hard numbers behind the risk introduced by open-source dependencies and transitive trust. The session concludes with practical guidance for reducing exposure without slowing development. Topics include dependency controls, CI CD enforcement, malicious code detection, and continuous monitoring approaches that fit modern engineering workflows. ## Talk 2 **Abstract** [The National Archives](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/") is the official archive and publisher for the UK Government. Our records include physical records such as the Domesday Book and Magna Carta, along with digital records from UK Government departments, Enquiries, and other public bodies, held both on premise and in public cloud. It's vitally important to protect our digital records from accidental deletion and the increasing threat of ransomware. We therefore initiated a programme to implement immutable cloud backups using the AWS Backup service within a central, segregated AWS account. In this talk, we'll share our learnings from this programme of work, including: * why AWS Backup compliance mode vault locks are not always truly immutable * which KMS key types should be selected to support backup and restore to a central vault * the importance of Logically Air Gapped (LAG) vaults * how each AWS service has implemented backups differently * which widely used AWS database option doesn't support centralised backup * cost considerations for setting up backup plans We soon learnt that it's not just a case of "Turn on AWS Backup". To deploy a centralised solution, we needed to: * configure centralised AWS Backup vaults and vault policies * deploy components to workload accounts, including Backup vaults, EventBridge, IAM roles * select the appropriate vault type depending on AWS resource type We decided to implement our solution as an open-source, public Terraform Module which deploys immutable AWS Backups across an AWS Organization, to handle this complexity, and simplify onboarding new accounts and resources to be backed up. You'll come away with an increased understanding of AWS Backup, an appreciation of its complexity and limitations, and the opportunity to greatly simplify deployment of truly immutable backups across your AWS accounts, using our public Terraform module.

Hi Architects, Welcome to our the second AWS London Well-Architected User Group Meetup!!! 🥳🥳🥳 Due to the huge demand we saw for our inaugural meetup we have gone bigger with a new venue. Dragon Hall Trust, 17 Stukeley Street, London WC2B 5LT The AWS London Well-Architected Meetup is the latest chapter in the most popular AWS Meetup group globally. At each meetup we cover off various pillars of AWS best-practice in detail including insights from industry leaders that specialise in the Well-Architected Framework. We'll be announcing more speakers and topics over the coming weeks. **Speakers** * **The Philosophy Behind Well-Architected** **Philip Fitzsimons (Fitz)** \- Ex\-AWS \- Co\-authored the AWS Well\-Architected Framework\. The Well-Architected Framework started at AWS but has since been adopted by every major cloud vendor and beyond. Why did it resonate so widely? In this session, Fitz, who led the Well-Architected initiative at AWS from the beginning, explores the philosophy behind the framework, how it was intended to shape architectural thinking, and the mistakes teams commonly make when applying it. Drawing on lessons from seeing thousands of real architectures, he will explain how to approach Well-Architected reviews in a way that actually improves systems rather than just generating checklists. * **Running your first Well-Architected Review: A Live Walkthrough** **James Harding** \- Technical CSM \- Green Custard Curious about how a Well-Architected Review works in practice? In this session we'll run a live walkthrough using the AWS Well-Architected Tool, showing how to define a workload, answer the review questions, identify High Risk Issues and move on to an actionable improvement plan. * **Building Your Infrastructure: "Self-Hosted vs. Managed"** **Mykola Boiko -** Backend Developer - Ultralytics What does it really cost to build and operate your own infrastructure? Mykola Boiko shares real-world lessons from scaling a globally distributed AI platform using self-hosted infrastructure before gradually migrating services to AWS. Through stories of building replication, caching, observability, and multi-region reliability from scratch, the session reveals the hidden operational complexity and costs behind running everything yourself. The journey highlights key principles of the AWS Well-Architected Framework including Reliability, Performance Efficiency, Operational Excellence, and Cost Optimisation and shows why managed cloud services can dramatically reduce operational burden while improving scalability and resilience. More speakers to be announced soon. So come join us at 7pm for a 7.30pm start, including drinks, snacks and friendly networking after our talks :-) \*\*\*NB: No entry to the building after 7.30pm.\*\*\*

**Agentic AI from Qlik: Smarter Decisions, Delivered in Real Time** Every organisation makes hundreds of decisions each day. The problem is not a lack of data, it is the inability to access the full picture at the right time. Data sits in silos, insights arrive too late, and teams spend more time searching for answers than acting on them. At our upcoming **Qlik Meetup,** we will explore how Agentic AI from **Qlik** is transforming this reality. Built on the power of **Qlik Answers**, Qlik’s **Agentic AI** framework introduces intelligent AI agents that go beyond dashboards and static reporting. These agents understand context, connect structured and unstructured data, explain the “why” behind insights, and take meaningful action. The result is faster, more confident decision making across the organisation. Join us for an interactive session including live discussion and Q&A with members of the Qlik team, where we will demonstrate how Agentic AI: * Unifies all your data sources, enabling instant access to structured and unstructured information wherever it resides * Delivers transparent, explainable analytics with clear traceability back to source data * Automates intelligently by building dashboards, triggering workflows and completing routine tasks * Amplifies team productivity by acting as an intelligent extension of your workforce * Accelerates time to value through a plug and play architecture designed for rapid deployment and measurable ROI This session is ideal for data leaders, BI professionals and analytics teams looking to move from insight generation to intelligent execution. If you are serious about unlocking the next evolution of analytics within your organisation, this is a session not to miss.

**First meetup of the Columbus AI Engineering group.** We’ll kick things off with a practical, beginner-friendly discussion on: **How LLMs like ChatGPT actually work — and how to build real applications with them.** We’ll cover: * what’s actually happening under the hood (at a high level) * why LLMs behave the way they do (hallucinations, prompt sensitivity, etc.) * how people are building real systems with them today * where things break in practice This will be a **short, informal talk (\~15–20 min)** followed by open discussion and Q&A. Whether you’re an engineer, builder, or just curious about how modern AI systems work, you’re welcome to join. No slides, no fluff — just real conversation about real systems. We’ll hang out afterward and get to know each other.

Discover Kiro, AWS’s innovative development environment that adapts to your workflow. Whether you prefer specification-driven development or a more intuitive, vibe-based approach, Kiro empowers you to build applications your way. In this session, speakers will explore Kiro’s core functionality and its evolution through re:Invent 2025, along with demonstrations of prompts used to create APIs, hooks, and steering documents. In the latter part of the session, watch as we build a complete example from scratch, showcasing Kiro’s agentic AI workflow in action for spec-driven development and vibe coding. What You'll Learn - Core Kiro concepts and development philosophy Feature evolution: pre and post re:Invent 2025 Practical examples: API creation, hooks, and steering docs Live coding demonstration with real-time problem solving Who Should Attend - Developers, solutions architects, and technical leaders interested in modern AWS development tools and AI-assisted coding workflows. **Speakers Bio:** Matthew Jorat: Matthew Jorat is a Customer Solutions Manager at AWS with nearly three decades of expertise in AI, cloud transformation, migration, modernization, IT, technology, and business. His career spans infrastructure engineer, solutions architect, security auditor, customer success director, support and services director, and operations officer. He was an early adopter of AWS services as a customer, and his current role at AWS uniquely blends his technical and business skills as he partners with executive teams to translate strategic priorities into measurable business outcomes through cloud adoption, AI implementation, and operational excellence. Matt leads end-to-end AI initiatives for enterprise customers, identifying high-impact use cases and maintaining relentless focus on measurable ROI. He holds eight AWS certifications and serves as Adjunct Professor at Franklin University teaching cloud computing and AWS architecture. His expertise encompasses GenAI, agentic AI systems, migration, modernization, and optimization strategies that drive transformation at scale. [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattjorat/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattjorat/) Girish Bhatia: Girish Bhatia is a seasoned technology delivery leader with deep expertise in cross-domain program management. He holds multiple AWS certifications, including AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate, AWS Certified Developer – Associate, and AWS Generative AI Practitioner, and is also an AWS Community Builder. Girish brings over two decades of experience in the information technology industry. Throughout his career, Girish has led major technology-driven business transformation from modernizing on-premises applications to driving large-scale cloud migrations. His work includes API-based integration platforms, data-center and mainframe modernization, and enterprise cloud adoption initiatives. Based in Columbus, Ohio, Girish works at a tech-forward fintech company. He is passionate about AWS serverless architectures, Generative AI and emerging cloud technologies. An avid learner and builder, he continues to explore and apply the latest innovations in AWS to help organizations accelerate their digital transformation. https://www.linkedin.com/in/girishbhatia/[https://www.linkedin.com/in/girishbhatia/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/girishbhatia/) **THANK YOU** *Franklin University* for hosting our meetup! To learn more about *Franklin University*, please visit their website: https://www.franklin.edu/ **DIRECTIONS** Franklin University Fisher Hall 300 E. Main St, Columbus, OH 43215 Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/jxjBA2hUmS5qrvhq8 Parking is FREE! Please park in Lot C in front of Fisher Hall. See attached map. NOTE: Map the address only. When mapping with Google Maps it may use the Fisher Hall at OSU, which is NOT correct. **Want to sponsor the pizza and/or bar tab?** Please contact me if you would like to sponsor this meetup's pizza and/or bar tab: angelo@mandato.com

## **Columbus Bitcoin Meetup – Event** Join us for another great evening dedicated to Bitcoin, learning, and community. We will be gathering in the private room at Olentangy Brewery for an evening of conversation, education, and fellowship with fellow Bitcoiners. This special event will feature three guest speakers sharing insights from across the Bitcoin ecosystem. ### **Guest Speakers** **Lindsay Faust** Relationship Manager at River **Andrew Tilmann** CEO of the Midwest Bitcoin Summit **Carlos Estrada** Founder of Coin Vigilante In addition to speaking during the event, Andrew Tilmann will also be available for a meet and greet. This will be a great opportunity to ask questions about the upcoming Midwest Bitcoin Summit, taking place September 23 and 24 at the Columbus Convention Center. ### **Midwest Bitcoin Summit Discount** Early Bird pricing ends **April 1st**, but you can still save **21%** by using the promo code: **COLUMBUS** Use the link below to apply the discount: [https://tickets.midwestbtc.com/affiliate/columbusbitcoinmeetup/event/midwest-bitcoin-summit-2026/?promoCodeTask=apply&promoCodeInput=columbus](https://tickets.midwestbtc.com/affiliate/columbusbitcoinmeetup/event/midwest-bitcoin-summit-2026/?promoCodeTask=apply&promoCodeInput=columbus) ### **Event Details** This will be a three hour event, with speakers beginning just before 7:00 PM. There will be plenty of time afterward for networking, meeting new friends, and continuing the conversation. Food will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there! ***

**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** Web Forms gave .NET developers a powerful abstraction for building reusable UI controls long before design systems were a thing. Web Components finally bring that same idea to the browser natively. This session explores how the Web Forms mindset translates into Custom Elements, Shadow DOM, and HTML templates. We’ll examine how Web Components enable design systems that work across frameworks, how they differ from server‑driven controls, and why they’re becoming a foundational layer for modern UI. Whether you’re maintaining legacy apps or building greenfield projects, you’ll leave with a practical understanding of how to apply familiar patterns in a modern, standards‑based way. **YouTube Link** TBA

Want to be a speaker? submit your talk to our Call for Presenters!!! https://sessionize.com/cbus-hug-2026/

In this local meeting, you will discover knowledge that you can use to get over the past. The key to improving your personal motivation, self-confidence, and happiness is to get over your painful memories. When you become free of your past, you will be free from stress, anger, anxiety and depression. Studies show that negative emotions can affect your health. By being free of negative emotions, believe it or not, you will most likely even look younger, feel more energetic, and become healthier! Be sure to click on the red "Attend" button below to come to this local event. We look forward to seeing you there. This group is brought to you by the Dianetics and Scientology life improvement center.

OpenClaw, NemoClaw, personal assistants, 24/7 agents. What does it all mean? How does it all work and what should we know about it? Whether you’re deep in the field or just getting curious, come connect with others building and exploring AI in Columbus. Sponsored by [Transform Labs](https://www.transformlabs.com/services)