Last Friday marked an incredible milestone in my journey of organizing tech events. Despite not being physically present, I successfully orchestrated Cloud-Native AI Day in Singapore—a day that brought together some of the brightest minds in the cloud-native and AI space. This was no overnight effort; it was a carefully planned and executed endeavor that began two months ago, during my Singapore trip for DevTools Day Singapore.
The Early Days of Planning
The seeds for Cloud-Native AI Day were sown right after DevTools Day Singapore. Energized by the enthusiastic response from the tech community during my November 2024 visit to Singapore, I felt a strong urge to keep the momentum going. On returning home, I began sketching out plans for the event.
The first step was announcing the event on the Docker Singapore Meetup page and the Collabnix Meetup portal. The response was immediate and overwhelming, with developer marketers team from NVIDIA, Cloudera, Neo4j, and Grafana showing immense interest in participating and sponsorship.
To streamline the planning, I started a shared Google Doc to track every aspect of the event—from securing a venue to finalizing speakers.
I reached out to AWS, who graciously agreed to host us in their brand-new office location again. Kudos to Cassandra Seto, APJ Senior Partner Manager, AWS for all her support in making this happen. Sponsors quickly followed, with Rachael Tan (NVIDIA), Surbhi Gupta (Grafana), Siddhant Agarwal (Neo4j) committing to cover food and refreshments.
Building Momentum
As the weeks passed, the excitement grew. The event was promoted across multiple platforms, and we collectively received over 300 RSVPs. This was both exhilarating and nerve-wracking—how would everything come together remotely?
WhatsApp became my lifeline. Through constant communication with volunteers and speakers, we ironed out every detail. Reached out to Grain SG and finalized on the food menu items.
The Big Day
Finally, January 24th arrived. By 1:00 PM, the venue was abuzz with activity. I messaged Samriddhi Bhatnagar (Cloudera) and she stepped up to host the event.
Siddhant carried a few bunch of Neo4j T-shirts for the speakers and handed over to the host. Their dedication and support made all the difference.
Registration and networking kicked off the event, setting a welcoming tone for the afternoon.
Around 130+ attendees walked through the doors, filling the space with palpable energy and excitement. The agenda was packed with insights and innovation. Registration started on-time.
The event kicked-off with Chen Yu, AWS who delivered insightful talk
on "Generative AI for Developers: Updates from re:Invent".
Chen shared valuable updates from re:Invent and demonstrated how AWS is empowering developers with cutting-edge GenAI tools to accelerate innovation and productivity. It was an engaging talk that resonated with everyone in the room!
Dr. Deb Goswami, NVIDIA was our next speaker and delivered a 30-min talk on "Accelerating AI with NVIDIA - from ETLs to LLMs".
Deb shared how NVIDIA is revolutionizing AI workflows, from ETL processes to the advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs). His insights on leveraging NVIDIA’s cutting-edge technologies to accelerate AI solutions were both inspiring and impactful!
Muhammad Aamir Saleem from Cloudera. His talk, “Trust Your Data, Trust Your AI,” shed light on the critical importance of data integrity and governance in building trustworthy AI solutions.
Aamir’s insights into how Cloudera empowers organizations to establish confidence in their data and AI systems were incredibly valuable for everyone in the room.
Proud to host impactful discussions like these, made possible with the amazing support of Cloudera. More event highlights coming soon—stay tuned!
A short tea break at 3:30 PM provided everyone with a chance to recharge and network before diving back into the sessions.
A Big thank you to Manuel de la Peña 🪨 from Docker, Inc for delivering an insightful session on “Testing GenAI Applications in Go".
Manuel walked us through the unique challenges of testing Generative AI applications and shared practical strategies using Go. His expertise on building robust and reliable testing frameworks left the audience with actionable takeaways to apply in real-world projects.
Next, Siddhant Agarwal from Neo4j talked on “Supercharging LLMs with Knowledge Graphs and GraphRAG".
Siddhant captivated the audience by showcasing how Knowledge Graphs can enhance the performance and accuracy of Large Language Models (LLMs). His insights on integrating GraphRAG with LLMs to create smarter, more context-aware AI solutions were truly inspiring!
Adrian Tan from Grafana Labs delivered an insightful session on “AI/ML in Grafana Cloud: Saving Toil, Time, and Money.”
Adrian shared how Grafana Cloud leverages AI/ML to streamline operations, enhance efficiency, and drive cost savings. The practical examples and real-world applications left the audience with actionable strategies to optimize their workflows.
The day concluded with a lively networking session, where attendees shared insights, exchanged contacts, and discussed potential collaborations.
A Moment to Reflect
Organizing an event of this scale remotely was both challenging and rewarding. It required meticulous planning, constant communication, and unwavering trust in the team on the ground. Seeing everything come together seamlessly, from the engaging sessions to the spirited networking, was a testament to the power of collaboration and technology.
Cloud-Native AI Day wasn’t just an event; it was a celebration of the innovation and community spirit that defines the tech ecosystem. As I look back, I’m filled with gratitude for everyone who contributed to its success. Here’s to many more such moments in the future—both remote and in-person!
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