About us
This meetup brings together IT professionals, architects, and tech leaders who are leading, designing, and building modern software solutions. This meetup will provide a means for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and discussion on best practices, emerging technologies, and strategic approaches to designing scalable, efficient, and cutting-edge systems.
Key Sponsors
Improving MN and Gartner Software Engineering Strategy & Practices are proud to sponsor this meetup.
Featured event
Twin Cities Solution Architecture Meetup
About the Event
Summer's winding down, which means it's time for another Twin Cities Solution Architecture Meetup!
This month we're covering two topics that explore the role of the solution architect in successful digital transformations, with perspectives from two Improving consultants. The first session dives into quickly scoping a client's problem to unlock decisions on their modernization journey. The second is a practical walkthrough of using AI to deliver a value-add solution for a client — from discovery to deployment.
As always, there will be time for socializing, hearing about upcoming events, and connecting with the community.
Topic: Finding the Balance Between Product Autonomy and Cooperative Conformity
Speaker: Steve Lashinski, Director of Solution Architecture, Improving
Steve will explore how teams can maintain the autonomy to optimize how they work while still conforming for the benefit of the broader enterprise. Drawing on the realities of distributed architecture ownership, evolving enterprise patterns, competing timelines, and cross-cutting concerns, the discussion will examine when a product or domain decision becomes a solution-level concern, how much conformity is needed while preserving team autonomy, and the role Solution Architecture can play in connecting the two.
Topic 2: Solution Corner — Leveraging AI for Case Files at Hennepin County
Speaker: Kevin Beatty, Improving
Kevin will walk through how AI not only assists development but was harnessed to surface valuable insights — complete with documented citations — for case workers and lawyers.
About our speakers:
Steve Lashinski is a Director of Solution Architecture and technical leader with nearly 30 years of experience designing, modernizing, and delivering enterprise software solutions across healthcare, financial services, government, education, and other complex business environments. His career has spanned hands-on software engineering, technical and team leadership, and solution architecture, giving him a practical perspective on the intersection between enterprise architecture and the realities of software delivery. His recent work includes architecting Apollo GraphQL federated solutions, designing .NET APIs and enterprise developer platforms, leading cloud and application modernization efforts, and guiding data integration and database architecture across multiple teams. Throughout his career, Steve has worked across engineering, platform, security, data, and business teams to establish technical patterns, evaluate emerging technologies, mentor engineers, and translate architectural direction into solutions that can actually be built and delivered.
Kevin Beatty is an electrical engineer and Principal Consultant with more than 30 years of experience designing and delivering mission-critical enterprise software systems. His career spans semiconductor manufacturing, enterprise consulting, and large-scale e-commerce, including co-authoring semiconductor industry standards, creating a run-to-run control system still in production across facilities in the U.S., U.K., and Asia after more than 22 years, and architecting Kafka-based order management systems for Best Buy.
This event is sponsored by Improving. Improving is a modern digital services company and trusted AI expert for Fortune 500 and Global 1000 enterprises. Improving is also proud to be a champion of Conscious Capitalism - seeking ways to unlock purpose beyond profit. One of the main ways we do this is by recognizing our local community as our biggest stakeholder and giving back by opening up our space for meetups and user groups.
Upcoming events
1
Twin Cities Solution Architecture Meetup
3033 Excelsior Boulevard, 3033 Excelsior Blvd, Minneapolis, MN 55416, USA, Minneapolis, MN, USAbout the Event
Summer's winding down, which means it's time for another Twin Cities Solution Architecture Meetup!This month we're covering two topics that explore the role of the solution architect in successful digital transformations, with perspectives from two Improving consultants. The first session dives into quickly scoping a client's problem to unlock decisions on their modernization journey. The second is a practical walkthrough of using AI to deliver a value-add solution for a client — from discovery to deployment.
As always, there will be time for socializing, hearing about upcoming events, and connecting with the community.
Topic: Finding the Balance Between Product Autonomy and Cooperative Conformity
Speaker: Steve Lashinski, Director of Solution Architecture, Improving
Steve will explore how teams can maintain the autonomy to optimize how they work while still conforming for the benefit of the broader enterprise. Drawing on the realities of distributed architecture ownership, evolving enterprise patterns, competing timelines, and cross-cutting concerns, the discussion will examine when a product or domain decision becomes a solution-level concern, how much conformity is needed while preserving team autonomy, and the role Solution Architecture can play in connecting the two.Topic 2: Solution Corner — Leveraging AI for Case Files at Hennepin County
Speaker: Kevin Beatty, Improving
Kevin will walk through how AI not only assists development but was harnessed to surface valuable insights — complete with documented citations — for case workers and lawyers.About our speakers:
Steve Lashinski is a Director of Solution Architecture and technical leader with nearly 30 years of experience designing, modernizing, and delivering enterprise software solutions across healthcare, financial services, government, education, and other complex business environments. His career has spanned hands-on software engineering, technical and team leadership, and solution architecture, giving him a practical perspective on the intersection between enterprise architecture and the realities of software delivery. His recent work includes architecting Apollo GraphQL federated solutions, designing .NET APIs and enterprise developer platforms, leading cloud and application modernization efforts, and guiding data integration and database architecture across multiple teams. Throughout his career, Steve has worked across engineering, platform, security, data, and business teams to establish technical patterns, evaluate emerging technologies, mentor engineers, and translate architectural direction into solutions that can actually be built and delivered.Kevin Beatty is an electrical engineer and Principal Consultant with more than 30 years of experience designing and delivering mission-critical enterprise software systems. His career spans semiconductor manufacturing, enterprise consulting, and large-scale e-commerce, including co-authoring semiconductor industry standards, creating a run-to-run control system still in production across facilities in the U.S., U.K., and Asia after more than 22 years, and architecting Kafka-based order management systems for Best Buy.
This event is sponsored by Improving. Improving is a modern digital services company and trusted AI expert for Fortune 500 and Global 1000 enterprises. Improving is also proud to be a champion of Conscious Capitalism - seeking ways to unlock purpose beyond profit. One of the main ways we do this is by recognizing our local community as our biggest stakeholder and giving back by opening up our space for meetups and user groups.
18 attendees
Past events
4
