💡 First speaking engagement 2025 in Bengaluru, India
It’s been a while since I’ve written an event recap — surprising, considering I spend so much time attending and speaking at conferences! Events are at the core of DevRel, where learning, sharing, and connecting happen in real-time. So, I’ve decided to make it a tradition: documenting my speaking engagements not only as a personal reflection but also as a resource for anyone interested in the topics I cover.
The year kicked off on an exciting note with me speaking at AI Tour, Bengaluru. I had a fully packed day, filled with workshops and wrapped up with a breakout session of my own. With such a full schedule, I didn’t have much time to explore other talks, but I did catch the keynote — and it was an absolute delight.
Workshop (s) - Interacting with Multimodal Models on Azure AI Foundry
Over the past few months, I’ve been working behind the scenes on a beginner-level workshop designed to introduce interaction with multimodal models. This workshop is tailored for complete beginners, making it accessible to both developers and business decision-makers alike. The AI Tour in Bengaluru gave me the perfect opportunity to deliver it live for the very first time — an exciting milestone that brought months of preparation to life. The workshop experience was fantastic — at least until we ran into WiFi issues. What started as a planned 15-minute introductory session quickly evolved into a hands-on session that stretched over an hour. And I did it twice 😓. The key lesson I walked away with? If someone offers to help lighten your load, just say yes!
If you are interested in learning more about the workshop, check it out at: https://aka.ms/aitour/wrk540
Keynote: Leading in the new age of AI
I’ve always appreciated how Microsoft delivers keynotes at major events — a crisp 30-minute overview packed with demos and exciting announcements. This event was no exception. The keynote room was filled to capacity. And the highlight for me? The insightful tidbits shared by Satya Nadella!
- Thinking with AI, working with teammates
- Every time you improve healthcare efficiency, you improve the economy
- Copilot is the UI for AI with extensibility and measurement
My other highlight for the keynote was the demo by the GitHub team on Copilot workspaces. Copilot Workspaces enables you to brainstorm, test and deploy your copilot changes seamlessly. It takes is multi-agent approach where you can brainstorm on any changes, validate and test them and when done, share with your teammates.
You can watch the keynote at: https://www.youtube.com/live/bYgP-tC5BFU?si=Sz6g0zYewbs82sUt
Breakout: Explore cutting edge models, SLMs, LLMs and more…
Yes, the African nature to always say yes and step in when needed meant I had to do an extra session as my teammate was unavailable. I had previously done this session back at AI Tour Sydney. The session begins with a comparison between SLMs (Small Language Models) and LLMs (Large Language Models), followed by a dive into SLMOps — the end-to-end process of customizing and deploying your SLMs. The focus is primarily on using tools like ONNX for inferencing and Microsoft Olive (ONNX Live) to customize and deploy your models.
The session is fascinating for me because having AI on edge means everyone gets access to Generative AI capabilities regardless of device and can deploy these models offline. Opening up a world of possibilities for accessibility and flexibility.
You can learn more about the session and get the resources at https://aka.ms/aitour/brk453
💡 attendee feedback: the session seemed a bit repetitive but well brought forward by the speaker.
What more….
In addition to the AI Tour, I had the opportunity to visit the Microsoft offices in Bengaluru and connect with various teammates. As part of a global team, I truly value these in-person interactions, as we’re rarely in the same time zone or location. India was absolutely beautiful, and I’m already looking forward to my next visit.
For now, it’s onto the next adventure!
P.S. it’s AI Tour in Joburg, SA 😊