Performance Engineering

**In-person event!** ## **The Reality Check** 90% of organisations are seeing some value from AI, but there is a massive gap between the “experimenters” and the “performers.” Most are stuck in Pilot Purgatory—burning through budgets while boards demand proof of return. *** ## **The Session** We’ve bought out from the United States, **Laks Srinivasan** (CEO, Return on AI Institute) to share with our market the global research the Institute has undertaken and published in Harvard Business Review along with the great AI Native offering for Enterprises from AI-Native by Scaled Agile. 1. **The Research:** Laks Srinivasan (CEO, Return on AI Institute) breaks down a global study of 1,000+ executives. He’ll share the “Value Gap” data—revealing exactly what distinguishes organizations winning with AI from those just spending money. 2. **The Blueprint:** We’ll dive into the Scaled Agile AI-Native system. This isn’t just about tools; it’s about the [AI-Native Foundations](https://prettyagile.com.au/course/ai-native-foundations) and [Change Agent](https://prettyagile.com.au/course/ai-native-change-agent) and [Leading the AI-Native Organisation](https://prettyagile.com.au/course/ai-native-leader). Frameworks that rewire how teams work, from prompt fluency to enterprise-scale workflows and how Executives lead AI Native Enterprises. *** ## **The Mix** **5:00 pm Welcome drinks + nibbles** **5:30 pm Data & Strategy:** * Laks presents the Harvard Business Review global research featured findings and the AI Money Map. **6:00 pm Group Jam** * A facilitated “unfiltered” discussion. We’ll explore how to move from scattered AI insights to an executable, AI-Native strategy. **6:30 pm Mingle with drinks + nibbles** *** ## **What’s in it for you?** * **Executives:** Get the metrics and “Board-ready” data to justify AI spend. * **Leads/Agilists:** See the AI-Native Change Agent roadmap to scale AI beyond small pilots. * **Engineers/PMs & Teams:** Learn how to redesign workflows to be “AI-First” without losing agility with AI-Native Foundations.

**Estrela do Mar** Inc is a Not-for-Profit organisation and this is a ticketed event, however don't let the investment be in your way, **please reach out** if you are experiencing financial difficulties to learn how can you contribute. Find out more at **[our](maracatu.org.au)** website. Workshops are held every Tuesday night at the Multicultural Hub in Melbourne, opposite the Vic Market. As the front door is locked after hours, please walk to Victoria Street, and turn right. You will find the door to Maracatu workshops on the right hand side just after Yarn Strong Sista. We teach **rhythm, song & movement** at regular workshops. Our style is traced through the lineage of groups (or "nations") such as **Maracatu Aurora Africana, Maracatu** **Estrela Brilhante**, **Maracatu** **Leão Coroado**, and others. We share a **living tradition of maracatu locally** to promote **social inclusion, break cultural barriers, and facilitate community building** & **engagement**. * **No musical experience** is required * **All instruments provided** * Not suitable for **children** Come along to learn & play this exhilarating rhythm. Please arrive at 6.25pm. The workshop will start at 6.30pm. \*\*Tickets: [https://events.humanitix.com/maracatu**](https://events.humanitix.com/maracatu**) $30 workshop or $20 concession Packages and Membership available

\*\* Important RSVP [here](https://www.aicamp.ai/event/eventdetails/W2026051322) (Due to room capacity and venue security, it's required to pre-register at the link for admission). RSVP on Meetup is turned off. **Description:** Join us for a community-led developer event focused on AI-assisted coding with GitHub Copilot. This event brings together developers to explore practical workflows, real-world use cases, and hands-on experiences using GitHub Copilot. Whether you are new to GitHub Copilot or already using it, this event will help you better understand how to apply AI-assisted coding techniques in everyday development. **Tech Talk: GitHub Copilot in Practice** **Speaker:** Scott Holden (Microsoft) **Tech Talk: LLMs, GitHub, and Copilot: Concepts, Capabilities, and Practical Use** **Speaker:** Shehr Yar (G42) **Speakers/Topics:** Stay tuned as we are updating speakers and schedules. 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 5,000+ AI developers in Melbourne and 500K+ worldwide.

Join us for a fun-filled evening of English country dance at our class in Melbourne! Whether you're a seasoned dancer or new to the world of English country dancing, this event is perfect for all skill levels. Our experienced instructor will guide you through various English dances. Get ready to connect with fellow dancers and embrace the joy of movement in a friendly and social atmosphere. Don't miss this opportunity to get some exercise and learn new dance patterns. Meet new friends, enjoy charming music, and experience the sense of community that comes from dancing together. Come solo or bring a partner - everyone is welcome! Let's celebrate the beauty of English country dance together in Melbourne. The class is held every week, alternately Tuesdays in Bennettswood, and Fridays in Surrey Hills.

## **The Reality Check** 90% of organisations are seeing some value from AI, but there is a massive gap between the “experimenters” and the “performers.” Most are stuck in Pilot Purgatory—burning through budgets while boards demand proof of return. *** ## **The Session** We’ve bought out from the United States, **Laks Srinivasan** (CEO, Return on AI Institute) to share with our market the global research the Institute has undertaken and published in Harvard Business Review along with the great AI Native offering for Enterprises from AI-Native by Scaled Agile. 1. **The Research:** Laks Srinivasan (CEO, Return on AI Institute) breaks down a global study of 1,000+ executives. He’ll share the “Value Gap” data—revealing exactly what distinguishes organizations winning with AI from those just spending money. 2. **The Blueprint:** We’ll dive into the Scaled Agile AI-Native system. This isn’t just about tools; it’s about the [AI-Native Foundations](https://prettyagile.com.au/course/ai-native-foundations) and [Change Agent](https://prettyagile.com.au/course/ai-native-change-agent) and [Leading the AI-Native Organisation](https://prettyagile.com.au/course/ai-native-leader). Frameworks that rewire how teams work, from prompt fluency to enterprise-scale workflows and how Executives lead AI Native Enterprises. *** ## **The Mix** **5:00 pm Welcome drinks + nibbles** **5:30 pm Data & Strategy:** * Laks presents the Harvard Business Review global research featured findings and the AI Money Map. **6:00 pm Group Jam** * A facilitated “unfiltered” discussion. We’ll explore how to move from scattered AI insights to an executable, AI-Native strategy. **6:30 pm Mingle with drinks + nibbles** *** ## **What’s in it for you?** * **Executives:** Get the metrics and “Board-ready” data to justify AI spend. * **Leads/Agilists:** See the AI-Native Change Agent roadmap to scale AI beyond small pilots. * **Engineers/PMs & Teams:** Learn how to redesign workflows to be “AI-First” without losing agility with AI-Native Foundations.

We are hosting another "Super Night" on Tuesday, 12th May 2026. We will hear from: **Akanksha Malik will discuss Foundry Toolkit Discoveries:** The Foundry toolkit has been evolving rapidly, and with new extensions and features come new possibilities — and new things to discover. This session shares a guided tour through recent toolkit additions, exploring what's changed, what's new, and what's worth paying attention to. **Ronak Vachhani will show us what's new in Fabric:** There are a lot of new features in Microsoft Fabric. Join Ronak, a Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft, to hear about the new features and announcements. **Come and share pizza, great conversation and free learning.** Schedule: 5.30-6.00 Pizza and Networking 6.00-7.30 Interactive sessions Teams link: [https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/48853399287851?p=m5rSbulYjgJ9AkN3tD](https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/48853399287851?p=m5rSbulYjgJ9AkN3tD "Meeting join")

Visitors and newcomers are very welcome, please see https://hackmelbourne.com/newcomer-faq/ for more details. COVIDSafe restrictions are also in place, please see https://hackmelbourne.com/covid-19-restrictions/ for the latest. Short walk from Glenferrie train station. Car parking at Hawthorn town hall. Bring a laptop and a project you are working on. There is also a number of group projects that you are welcome to join in. We have starter kits for Arduino, a couple of 3D printers, various tools and equipment available for use. Typically our sessions run from 6:45pm till later in the evening (depending on our members' availability to close) but if you're new please come early.

**Please sign up using Luma -** https://luma.com/x9tq0e88 A series of lightening talks on the topic on **The Measurement Problem** *"Are You Measuring the Right Things? SLOs, Toil, and the Metrics That Actually Matter.* After these talks we'll open the floor for discussion and Q&A with our presenters. **SCHEDULE** **5.30pm** 🍕Doors open – food and drinks served **6:00pm** ⚡️Three talks and Q&A and discussion with speakers **7:00pm** 🍻 Networking and drinks **7:30pm** 👋 Doors close

**English for Beginners (A1–B2): Casual Speaking Meetup** （※Mainly for people in their late teens to 20s） • You understand English… but can’t reply? • You studied for years… but still can’t speak? • You feel nervous speaking English? You’re not alone You just need a place to try This meetup is for beginners who want to actually SPEAK. ✨ Small group (4–10 people) ✨ Friendly & relaxed atmosphere ⸻ **✨ What makes this different?** We don’t just chat randomly. Everyone gets a chance to speak! • Level-based groups (A1–B2) • Pair conversations (10 min each) • New partner every round • Simple question sheets No one is left out :) ⸻ **No pressure, no judgement** Mistakes are OK ‍♂️ Speak slowly, use gestures or a translator You WILL speak — even a little! And you might actually enjoy it ⸻ **How it works (1 hour)** • Short intro • 3 rounds of pair conversations • Free chat at the end Speak a little or a lot — both are okay! ⸻ **Who is it for?** • English learners (A1–B2) • International students / working holiday • Anyone who feels shy speaking English • Young adults (around 18–30) ⸻ **About the host** Hi, I’m Yuki I also struggled to speak English before. So I created this space where beginners can feel safe and try. ⸻ **When & Where** Saturday 11:00–12:00 — Meeting Room 1 - Library at The Dock **Free (just buy a drink)** ⸻ ✨ Just come, try, and enjoy! See you there :)

Hi Architects, Welcome to our next AWS Melbourne Well-Architected User Group Meetup for 2026, including more exceptional speakers and topics! :-D At each meetup we covered off various pillars in detail, best-practices and insights from industry leaders that specialise in the Well-Architected Framework. And giving away drones, of course. Lots of drones. **Please also note that AWS Security now requests a company name and company email where it is available. If you are a student, please list your institution and your student email address at that institution 👍** We’ll be updating throughout the month with more speakers and our speakers so far this month include: * **Zé Mané, Cybersecurity Specialist** **Well-Architecting and Scaling my Life: How AI Helped Me Optimise and Thrive as a Digital Nomad in Oceania** A talk about balancing a demanding tech career, building a startup fully hosted on Amazon Web Services, and living as a digital nomad across New Zealand and Australia. * **Mystery Speaker** **Well-Architected Agents** In this talk we will go into the detail of not only the launch of the first Well-Architected agents from both AWS and other AWS partners (and what they can and can't do) but will also go through best-practice agentic architecture as verified by AWS senior architects. This month's menu will include: * Pizzas * Beer: Nastro Azzurro * Wine: Big and red 🤤 NB: Please check in up the stairs from the ground floor to the Mezzanine Level. So come join us at 5:30 for a 6pm **SHARP** start, followed by beer, wine, pizza and friendly networking after our talks :-)

**FREE IMPROV WORKSHOP THIS THURSDAY!** #### **Join us for a relaxed, low-pressure improv workshop where the focus is on having fun, trying new things, and not taking yourself too seriously.** #### **Held at The Improv Pit Theatre, this session is perfect for anyone curious about comedy, whether you’re a total beginner or just looking to loosen up and laugh.** #### **Stick around after the workshop for free entry to our weekly show, *Thursday Night Improv*, performed by our seasoned Improv Pit ensemble cast!**

Join us in Melbourne for an event bringing together integration architects, enterprise technologists, and AI practitioners from across Victoria and beyond. Whether you're evaluating the next generation of AI enterprise gateways or looking to deepen your network in the hybrid integration space, this is the room to be in! Venue: IBM Design Hall in Melbourne, Level 28 Hosted by: IBM Australia

**Salsa, Bachata & Kizomba Beginner Classes in Prahran** 💃🏼🕺🏻 Always wanted to try? Now is the time! Learn to dance with our friendly beginner classes for Salsa, Bachata & Kizomba. You’ll always walk away with a smile after dancing! **Get Fit. Have Fun. Meet new people.** Every Wednesday night Prahran RSL \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* **Timetable** 👉 **6.30pm** **FREE Intro to Cuban Salsa** (30mn) 👉 7.00pm Beginner 1 Cuban Salsa & Bachata 👉 8.10pm Beginner 1 Kizomba 🔸Privates lessons also available if you can’t make group classes! \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* **Location:** Prahran RSL 301 High Street Prahran Looking forward to seeing you all! 💃🕺🏻 \*\*\* **Cost:** Try our Free Intro class and after if you want to increase your dance level, feel free to enjoy our special deal for new students below! 📣 **Beginner Welcome Pack** 📣 4 weeks Beginner Classes + 30 min Private Lesson Just $65!! (value $165) 👉For more information 🔸You can contact us directly : 0411 572 822 ✅ David Smile Dance https://www.davidsmiledance.com

We're thrilled to invite you to our next Microsoft Student Accelerator event on **Thursday, May 14th at 3:00 PM** at the **Microsoft Melbourne Office**! 🎉 Whether you're looking to understand different tech roles, learn how to best prepare for tech interviews, or learn about how to make your LinkedIn stand-out, this meetup is for you. Join us for an engaging afternoon filled with insights, practical guidance, and opportunities to connect with industry professionals and fellow students. ## What’s on the agenda: 📝 **Interview Preparation & Tips** – Learn what kinds of questions to expect in tech interviews and how to best prepare for them. 💬 **Crafting your LinkedIn Profile** – Get some tips about how to make your LinkedIn profile stand out. 🔦 **Role Spotlights** – Discover different tech pathways through short talks from professionals across multiple disciplines. 🤝 **Networking & Food** – Connect with peers and industry professionals to wrap up the afternoon. 📍 Microsoft Melbourne Office - Level 5, 4 Freshwater Place, Southbank VIC 3006 🗓 Thursday, 14th May 🕒 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM (AEST) (Please note: meetup event shows time in AWST, this event is at 3PM Melbourne time) We can't wait to see you there! 🤩 Best regards, The MSA Melbourne Team

Join us for a practical, beginner-friendly guide to choosing the right large language model. We’ll compare major models like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Llama, talk about when to use hosted APIs versus local models, and break down the tradeoffs around cost, speed, quality, privacy, context windows, coding ability, and reliability. You’ll leave with a clearer mental model for picking an LLM based on your actual use case instead of hype, benchmarks, or brand names. No deep AI background required. LOGISTICS AND PARKING: The talk starts at 7:00 PM. The first half hour is reserved for everyone to get set up and mingle. Free pizza and drinks! The cheapest parking option is to find street parking, which will only cost you a few bucks. Otherwise, park in the nearby veteran's museum lot for $8. It's highly recommended you avoid the nearby $15 garage parking.

Customer identity resolution becomes increasingly complex as organizations scale across multiple systems, regions, and data formats. Traditional rule-based approaches often fail to keep up with data variability, require constant manual tuning, and struggle with real-time processing needs. This session presents a practical approach to building a scalable identity resolution pipeline using AWS services and modern AI techniques. The architecture combines data ingestion through Amazon S3 and AWS Glue, transformation pipelines using Spark on EMR, and machine learning models deployed via SageMaker for entity matching and standardization. Graph-based relationship modeling is implemented using Amazon Neptune to improve resolution accuracy by incorporating household and shared attribute context. We will walk through how machine learning models can be used for name and address normalization, how intelligent blocking strategies improve matching efficiency, and how feedback loops can be introduced to continuously improve accuracy. The session also highlights how serverless components such as AWS Lambda can be used for orchestration and real-time processing. **SPEAKER BIO** Mosaic Syed is a Senior Data Engineering and Cloud Solutions Architect with over 20 years of experience designing and delivering scalable, secure, and high-performance data solutions across global enterprise environments. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mosaic-basha-syed-92300856 **CALL FOR SPEAKERS** Learn more: [https://www.awscolumbus.com/get-involved/](https://www.awscolumbus.com/get-involved/) **THANK YOU** *VEEAM* for hosting our meetup! To learn more about *Veeam*, please visit their website: [https://www.veeam.com/](https://www.veeam.com/) **DIRECTIONS** 8800 Lyra Dr #450 · Columbus, OH go to 4th floor. **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

**Building a great product is one thing—building momentum behind it is another.** Join **Senior Product Manager Adam Solaiman** and **User Experience Manager Tyson Smith** for a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to turn complex ideas into scalable products inside large organizations. In this session, they’ll share how teams move from ambiguity to execution—navigating organizational complexity, aligning stakeholders, and continuously evolving products after launch. You’ll walk away with insights on how to: * Build and sustain momentum across teams * Adapt to changing priorities without losing direction * Scale products thoughtfully in complex environments Whether you're driving a new initiative or growing an existing product, this conversation will give you practical strategies to keep things moving forward. Come connect, learn, and swap stories with fellow product professionals. \-\-\- Food and drinks will be provided by Switchbox, our generous host. Free parking will be available at the front and back sides of the Switchbox Office.

Whether you've never done improv before, or you've done it for so long you knew Del Close on a personal level, or anywhere in between, come join us! Swing by *Gresso's* for the **Columbus Improv Comedy Meetup** for some fun and games! The idea behind improv is to create entire scenes from scratch based on a suggestion from the audience. This can be done in game form, like *Whose Line Is It Anyway*, *ComedySportz*, or *Wild 'n Out*; it could also be done to tell stories, like *Middleditch and Schwartz*. Our meetup, which is central Ohio's longest running (and free!) weekly comedy event, brings the games (and occasionally different forms) for you to play in a safe, supportive, and compassionate environment. Not only is it a lot of fun, but you get to work on thinking faster on your feet, plus it's an excellent way to meet new people and make friendships that'll last a lifetime! **AND TODAY IS OUR THIRTEENTH ANNIVERSARY!!!** So be ready for a celebration of everything that's made Improv Meetup wonderful: you, the amazing performers! Ask yourself if you want to join the **Columbus Improv Comedy Meetup**, and say "Yes, And" that you'll have fun!

**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 You will need to scan your ID at the door to get a visitor badge. **Abstract** TBD **YouTube Link** TBD

The topic for May is "Ink" Speak Easy: true stories, told live. The idea is simple: an audience, an open microphone, and great stories. Hilarious, gripping, poignant- it's up to you. Audiences are invited to come to listen or come to tell as folks from all corners of Columbus offer their stories live on stage! Held at Wild Goose Creative's warm, intimate space, this night of tales occurs on the 3rd Thursday of every month. Doors open at 6:30 pm, show starts at 7:00 pm. Please arrive early if you want to tell, as we generally only have room for a limited number of tellers, and the sign-up sheet has a tendency to fill up fast. Formed around the idea that people need stories--they're what hold and draw us together--SpeakEasy celebrates the strangeness and commonness of being human. And in a world of smartphones, Facebook, Twitter, and more . . . it gives people a real, breathing, in-person way to connect. The night is geared for true stories of all kinds, taking the best tales told around kitchen tables, in darkened pubs, on the street corner, and at late-night parties and giving them an audience. Speak Easy is also a great outlet for performers, writers, and artists looking to share their favorite stories and perfect their skills. We strongly encourage tellers to please tell the story rather than read it so we keep within the spirit of good storytelling and stay engaged with the audience. All are welcome. Hang around after the show for a drink and build community!

**Total Eclipse of the Chart: School Redistricting Dashboards** In this presentation, we will explore the utilization of maps, sets, and SQL within a Tableau dashboard to help provide “what-if” analyses generated through the use of a mapped dashboard, providing different scenarios and the potential implications of these. While in this use case we are focused on a large school district, the concepts of utilizing existing data to explore the future impacts of modifying different geographic boundaries can be useful to many industries, balancing the mix of maps with visual analytics. **About Our Speaker** Robert Kramer is the Data Systems and State Reporting Coordinator at South Western City Schools in Grove City. He has worked there for 17 years, serving previously in the roles of Data Analyst, Programmer, and Operations Coordinator. Prior to working at South Western, he worked as a Systems Engineer at Pinnacle Data Systems in Groveport. He graduated in 2005 from The University of Toledo with his Bachelor’s in Computer Science and Engineering, and a minor in Mathematics. Robert resides in Obetz with his wife, and their 15 and 12 year-old daughters. He was also just elected to his 3rd four-year term on the Obetz City Council. Thanks to our 2026 sponsors: [Clarivoy](https://www.clarivoy.com), [What Box Consulting Group](https://www.whatboxconsultinggroup.com), [Conductrics](https://www.conductrics.com), and [Piwik PRO](https://piwik.pro) More info at [cbusdaw.com](https://cbusdaw.com)