Technology

📣 #45 [Cyber Security Talks Bulgaria](https://www.linkedin.com/company/cyber-security-talks-bulgaria/ "https://www.linkedin.com/company/cyber-security-talks-bulgaria/") е готов. 📣 Този път ще говорим за Cloud security, Governance, Quantum threats and something more. 🚨 Подгответе се за едно страхотно събитие в офиса на нашия домакин - KPMG Delivery Network Bulgaria. Темите на събитието: * **Using AWS native solutions for compliance checks (Security hub CSPM and AWS Config) on scale** - *Светломир Балевски* – DevSecOps architect at KPMG Delivery Network Bulgaria (*talk in bulgarian*) * **Passwords, encryption and the quantum threat -** *Alon Rotem* – Manager of Solution Architecture at KPMG Delivery Network (talk in english) * **Cloud security posture and governance -** *Иванка Кабранова* – Identity Architect at KPMG Delivery Network Bulgaria (*talk in bulgarian*) 🆓Както всеки път, входът е безплатен, но се изисква регистрация: 📅ДАТА : 17 март ⏰ЧАС: 19:00 часа 📍КЪДЕ : Офис на KPMG Delivery Network Bulgaria, Бизнес Парк София, сграда 15А, етаж 3

Our next meet-up is scheduled for March 18th....and we promise it will be a blast! ​Join us for a no-fluff, practitioner-led deep dive into two critical LLM challenges with focus on quantization and cheat-proof evaluations . ​This time we will handle a pannel discussion with two experts in the area - David Kоchoanov and Yordan Darakchiev. ​Pannel 1: Smarter AI at lower cost: How quantization makes LLMs more efficient? ​What can you expect? ​LLMs guzzle RAM and GPU like crazy. Quick rundown: inference modes, bottlenecks, the math behind it. ​Hands-on: when to use each and how to benchmark properly. ​The talk will provide a quick review of LLM inference modes, current bottlenecks, and numerics. The main goal is to explain post-training quantization methods that are most commonly supported by modern software and hardware, and give practical recommendations for their use and model benchmarking. We'll also provide a brief summary of the academic literature and discuss quantization-aware training and distillation. ​Who will present? ​David Kochanov has over 10 years of experience in computer vision research and development. In his current role at CARIAD (Volkswagen Group), he works on autonomous driving and driver assistance systems, with a focus on model deployment for real-time inference, including quantization and architectural optimizations. ​Pannel 2: Everybody Lies: How Language Models (and People) Cheat ​What can you expect? ​Teaching computers and people have the same temptations - students game grades, LLMs game benchmarks. We grade LLMs like exams: bad criteria reward test-taking tricks, not truth. The talk will present specially built for the pannel small BI-style benchmark (SQL, data summaries, and insight generation) with multiple LLM "judges" grade multiple models. With only couple of stress tests on the judges with small changes to the grading scheme all were broken - creating pure chaos! ​Rankings flip depending on who grades, response length beats correctness, and judges favour familiar model "accents". ​We'll end with an "academic integrity" toolkit for LLM evaluation: ensembles, invariance checks, length controls, and lightweight human calibration to make our LLM metrics harder to cheat on, and easier to trust. ​Who will present? ​Yordan Darakchiev is a data scientst and technical trainer. He has helped various teams turn data and ML into modern, measureable, production systems. His specialty are vision and language models, with a sharp focus on evaluation - fairness, privacy, trustworthiness, and robustness. He also teaches math and machine learning and has helped kickstart the career of more than 1000 data and ML professionals. ​Our next meet-up is scheduled for March 18th....and we promise it will be a blast! ​Join us for a no-fluff, practitioner-led deep dive into two critical LLM challenges with focus on quantization and cheat-proof evaluations . ​This time we will handle a pannel discussion with two experts in the area - David Kоchoanov and Yordan Darakchiev. ​Pannel 1: Smarter AI at lower cost: How quantization makes LLMs more efficient? ​What can you expect? ​LLMs guzzle RAM and GPU like crazy. Quick rundown: inference modes, bottlenecks, the math behind it. ​Hands-on: when to use each and how to benchmark properly. ​The talk will provide a quick review of LLM inference modes, current bottlenecks, and numerics. The main goal is to explain post-training quantization methods that are most commonly supported by modern software and hardware, and give practical recommendations for their use and model benchmarking. We'll also provide a brief summary of the academic literature and discuss quantization-aware training and distillation. ​Who will present? ​David Kochanov has over 10 years of experience in computer vision research and development. In his current role at CARIAD (Volkswagen Group), he works on autonomous driving and driver assistance systems, with a focus on model deployment for real-time inference, including quantization and architectural optimizations. ​Pannel 2: Everybody Lies: How Language Models (and People) Cheat ​What can you expect? ​Teaching computers and people have the same temptations - students game grades, LLMs game benchmarks. We grade LLMs like exams: bad criteria reward test-taking tricks, not truth. The talk will present specially built for the pannel small BI-style benchmark (SQL, data summaries, and insight generation) with multiple LLM "judges" grade multiple models. With only couple of stress tests on the judges with small changes to the grading scheme all were broken - creating pure chaos! ​Rankings flip depending on who grades, response length beats correctness, and judges favour familiar model "accents". ​We'll end with an "academic integrity" toolkit for LLM evaluation: ensembles, invariance checks, length controls, and lightweight human calibration to make our LLM metrics harder to cheat on, and easier to trust. ​Who will present? ​Yordan Darakchiev is a data scientst and technical trainer. He has helped various teams turn data and ML into modern, measureable, production systems. His specialty are vision and language models, with a sharp focus on evaluation - fairness, privacy, trustworthiness, and robustness. He also teaches math and machine learning and has helped kickstart the career of more than 1000 data and ML professionals. Agenda: 18:30-19:00 - Welcome drinks 19:00-20:00 - Pannel 1 & Pannel 2 20:00-20:30 - Q&A 20:30-21:30 - Networking ​Note: Event will be handled in English. ​Event is free but registration is mandatory: https://luma.com/8bbbxx1t

“**A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.**” – Oprah Winfrey ✨ And that’s the whole truth! 🥸 At the event **“The Power of Mentorship in My Career,”** Maria Saykova, VP Product Support 👩, will tell us more about the role her mentors have played in her career path 🤝, the lessons she has learned 📖, how to properly navigate the path of mentorship 🚀, and what AI mentoring is all about 🤖. The event is free, but **prior registration is required -** [https://luma.com/25egpx1d](https://luma.com/25egpx1d?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBEwWExlUkhYT3Y3SkVrVUc0SXNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR7i3nm8kC9n59ctarjyMXUlPlaD7HLthTigYvnr-PDwrxWIjArB3opCy7BiXg_aem_HBLFO9T_OM8lufotC4VnCA)

**Founders Running Club** (FRC) brings founders, investors, tech, creative people and startup enthusiasts together for weekly easy runs and networking. We like to be comfortable when we run and finish with coffee and conversations. Choose your pace or follow a pacer—pets, friends, family, are welcome. 🗓️ Launched in San Francisco, July 16, 2022 🌍 Now in 35+ cities 📅 Running + Networking events + Community **Join the community** [http://foundersrc.com/chats](http://foundersrc.com/chats) **Stay updated**: Instagram [http://instagram.com/foundersrc/](http://instagram.com/foundersrc/) Podcast [http://podcast.foundersrc.com/](http://podcast.foundersrc.com/) LinkedIn [http://linkedin.com/company/foundersrc/](http://linkedin.com/company/foundersrc/) Strava [http://strava.com/clubs/foundersRC](http://strava.com/clubs/foundersRC) Website [http://foundersrc.com/](http://foundersrc.com/)

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

We're excited to launch **GitHub Copilot Dev Days**, a global in‑person community event series running **March 15 – April 30**! Let's come together as developers, grow our local community, and showcase the power of GitHub Copilot with **free, high‑quality training materials** from Microsoft + GitHub. * GitHub Copilot in VS Code * GitHub Copilot CLI … and more! * **Intro Talk (30–45 min):** GitHub Copilot + AI development * **Local Community Talk (30–45 min):** NOT ME, **[Matt Eland](https://www.linkedin.com/in/matteland/)** * **Hands‑on Workshop (1 hour):** Practical exercises using GitHub Copilot * **SPECIAL GUEST** **(virtual)**: **[Andrea Griffiths](https://www.linkedin.com/in/acolombiadev/)** (Senior Developer Advocate at GitHub) ***Bring your laptop and expect to write some (AI-generated) code; this time!*** Food and drinks will be available. There will be a Pro+ Sweepstakes, and details on how to enter will be provided at the event. Microsoft will be raffling off 300 GitHub Copilot Pro+ codes at the end of Dev Days. How it works: * Attendees will enter the raffle by filling out an entry form provided at the event. * Codes will be raffled off at the end of the event series! **LOCATION:** 6515 Longshore Loop, Suite 300, Dublin, OH 43017 **FREE PARKING:** 6725 Longshore Street, Dublin, OH 43017

The global Azure community is coming together again, and Columbus is officially on the map. On **Saturday, April 18, 2026**, the Azure Columbus Meetup is hosting our local edition of Global Azure 2026. This is a free, community-driven event packed with learning, networking, and all things Microsoft Azure. Whether you’re building modern cloud-native apps, experimenting with AI agents, deploying containers, automating infrastructure, or just beginning your Azure journey, this event is for you! **What to Expect** * Engaging technical sessions * Real-world Azure architecture & cloud-native patterns * AI, agents, automation, and modern DevOps * Food and drinks (because learning burns calories) * Time to connect with fellow engineers, architects, and cloud enthusiasts We’re lining up a strong set of speakers from the local and regional Azure community. Speaker announcements coming soon! **Who Should Attend?** * Software engineers (any language, any stack) * Cloud architects * DevOps engineers * Data professionals * AI explorers * Platform builders * Anyone who loves solving hard problems with great tools If you build, deploy, automate, scale, monitor, or optimize in Azure, you’ll feel right at home. **Why Global Azure?** Global Azure is a worldwide community event where Azure user groups host learning sessions on the same day across the globe. It’s grassroots. It’s technical. It’s practical. And it’s powered by people who genuinely love sharing what they’ve learned. And yes, it’s free to attend!

Christians in Tech is a community at the intersection of faith and technology. Our meetups are designed to spark meaningful conversations, promote knowledge sharing, and encourage growth—both in your career and your spiritual walk with God. Whether you're an experienced professional or just starting your tech journey, CIT welcomes you. Our Website [https://linktr.ee/citcbus](https://linktr.ee/citcbus) Sponsors and Partners * Improving (Venue Sponsor) * Bethel World Prayer Center (Fiscal Sponsor) * Fruits & Roots (Coffee Partner)

Kevin Rhodus from Lucy Deep Park Northside is coming to talk to us about his extensive neighborhood Christmas light display that is open in November and December every year north of Dublin. 9 houses over 12 acres and over 120,000 individual controlled lights that sync to music which you can tune into on your radio! Quite impressive! https://ldplights.com/ We'll dive into the tech that runs the show -- should be a blast to hear about this very elaborate display! While we continue to pursue a more permanent venue for this Meetup, we’ll be using public library facilities based on availability. This session will be at the Dublin Library in the Meeting Room 2

Builders, creators, architects, admins, consultants - come one, come all. This one's for you. We're bringing a little friendly competition to the Columbus ServiceNow community while highlighting the cool things people have built on the platform. Five presenters will take the stage to showcase something they've built, solved, designed, or imagined on the ServiceNow platform - and a panel of judges (plus YOU, our amazing audience) will score them live. So basically, America's Got Talent but make it ServiceNow's Got Talent. Bring a notepad if you'd like 'cause you'll definitely be learning something new. Each presenter gets 10 minutes max to wow the crowd with: • A demo • A real-world business solution • A bold idea • A UX transformation • Or a creative use of the platform Judging Criteria: 🏆 Business Value 🚀 Innovation ✨ User Experience This event is about celebrating ideas, sharing knowledge, and showing how ServiceNow can drive both business impact and meaningful user value. Come learn. Come support. Come get inspired. Refreshments and bites will be provided. And maybe next time… you’ll be on stage.

Topic to be announced! **CALL FOR SPEAKERS** Learn more: https://www.awscolumbus.com/get-involved/ **THANK YOU** *Leading EDJE* for hosting our meetup! Leading EDJE specializes in helping organizations innovate and solve complex problems. EDJE does this with their "A" player team of professionals using agile methodologies and SCRUM management techniques to give organizations a competitive advantage that sets them apart. Learn more at https://www.leadingedje.com/ **THANK YOU** *Amazon Web Services* for sponsoring pizza! Learn more at https://aws.amazon.com/. **DIRECTIONS** 6515 Longshore Loop, Suite 300 Dublin, OH 43017 (3rd floor) **FREE PARKING** at the Endres Garage across the street, 6540 Riverside Dr, Dublin, OH **Want to sponsor the pizza and/or bar tab for a future meetup?** Please contact me if you would like to sponsor this meetup's pizza and/or bar tab: angelo@mandato.com