AI DevSummit 2025 + DeveloperWeek Leadership 2025: Full Schedule

9:30am PDT

OPEN Session: The Rise of Small Language Models: Unlocking Efficient & Secure AI

Wednesday May 28, 2025 9:30am - 9:55am PDT

Shrinath Thube, IBM, Software Developer
Vaibhav Tupe, Equinix, Technology Lead

As AI adoption grows, the need for efficient, cost-effective, and privacy-conscious solutions has never been greater. Small Language Models (SLMs) are emerging as a powerful alternative to resource-intensive Large Language Models (LLMs), addressing challenges like high computational costs, latency, and environmental impact while also enhancing security and compliance.

This session will explore the evolution of small language models, covering their training, fine-tuning, and deployment for key NLP tasks such as text generation, summarization, and question-answering. We will also examine the security implications of using SLMs, including on-device processing for data privacy, reducing attack surfaces, mitigating prompt injection risks, and ensuring robust model governance. Techniques like model distillation, quantization, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) will be discussed in the context of optimizing both performance and security.

Attendees will gain insights into leading open-source models like Mistral, Gemma, Phi, and IBM Granite, learning how to harness them for real-world applications while implementing best practices for AI security and compliance. We will also discuss strategies for integrating SLMs into enterprise environments, edge computing, and secure on-premise AI deployments to achieve scalable, efficient, and trustworthy AI solutions.

Speakers

Shrinath Thube

Software Developer, IBM

IEEE Senior Member | Software Developer, IBM | Technology Advisory Board MemberShrinath Thube is a Software Developer at IBM with 8+ years of experience in security, cloud, microservices, observability. An IEEE Senior Member, he is part of the IEEE CISOSE 2025 Organizing Committee... Read More →

Vaibhav Tupe

Technology Lead, Equinix

Vaibhav Tupe is a distinguished Technology Advisory Board Member and Engineering Leader specializing in cybersecurity, cloud, and AI-ready data center infrastructure. With over 13 years of experience, he currently serves as a Technology Leader at Equinix USA, where he drives high-performance... Read More →

Wednesday May 28, 2025 9:30am - 9:55am PDT
AI DevSummit Expo Stage

AI DevSummit

Additional Topics LLMs
Session Type OPEN Session
Tracks AI DevSummit, OPEN Session, Machine Learning / Models & Architectures (AI DevSummit), AI Security / Ethics / Governance & Compliance (AI DevSummit)
In-Person/Virtual In Person

11:00am PDT

PRO Session: Agentic GraphRAG: AI’s Logical Edge

Wednesday May 28, 2025 11:00am - 11:25am PDT

AI DevSummit Main Stage

Stephen Chin, Neo4j, VP of Developer Relations

AI models are getting tasked to do increasingly complex and industry specific tasks where different retrieval approaches provide distinct advantages in accuracy, explainability, and cost to execute. GraphRAG retrieval models have become a powerful tool to solve domain specific problems where answers require logical reasoning and correlation that can be aided by graph relationships and proximity algorithms. We will demonstrate how an agent architecture combining RAG and GraphRAG retrieval patterns can bridge the gap in data analysis, strategic planning, and retrieval to solve complex domain specific problems.

Speakers

Stephen Chin

VP of Developer Relations, Neo4j

Stephen Chin is VP of Developer Relations at Neo4j, conference chair of the LF AI & Data Foundation, and author of several titles with O'Reilly, Apress, and McGraw Hill. He has keynoted numerous conferences around the world including AI DevSummit, Devoxx, DevNexus, JNation, JavaOne... Read More →

Wednesday May 28, 2025 11:00am - 11:25am PDT
AI DevSummit Main Stage

AI DevSummit

Additional Topics AI Integration Strategy, AI Product Strategy
Session Type PRO Session
Tracks AI DevSummit, Data Access / Management & Operations (AI DevSummit), Machine Learning / Models & Architectures (AI DevSummit)
In-Person/Virtual In Person

11:30am PDT

PRO Session: The Future of AI-Driven Discovery: Can We Build Recommendation System That Inspire, Not Just Retain?

Wednesday May 28, 2025 11:30am - 11:55am PDT

AI DevSummit Main Stage

Jiahui (Sophia) Bai, Meta, Data Scientist Lead

This talk explores the evolving role of AI-powered recommendation systems in shaping content discovery, moving beyond engagement-driven optimization to fostering meaningful exploration. Today’s recommendation algorithms are finely tuned to maximize user retention, often reinforcing content bubbles and favoring already-popular creators. While effective for keeping users engaged, this approach can limit exposure to new ideas, diverse voices, and serendipitous discovery—key elements that make digital platforms more enriching and dynamic.

We begin by defining the core challenges of AI-driven content recommendations: noisy engagement signals, over-reliance on short-term behavioral data, and algorithmic bias toward dominant content and creators. We explore how improving signal quality—by distinguishing between passive consumption and genuine interest—can lead to more personalized yet diverse recommendations. Next, we tackle the issue of democratizing reach, discussing algorithmic strategies that ensure small and emerging creators have a fair chance to break through without compromising user satisfaction.

The session will also cover rethinking success metrics for recommendation systems, moving beyond click-through rates and watch time to metrics that measure content diversity, long-term engagement, and user well-being. Finally, we will discuss the future of AI-driven discovery, including the role of Generative AI, hybrid human-AI curation, and serendipity-focused models in creating recommendation systems that inspire, inform, and surprise users—rather than just retaining them.

Speakers

Jiahui (Sophia) Bai

Data Scientist Lead, Meta

Sophia Bai is a Senior Data Scientist at Meta, specializing in AI-driven recommendation systems and product analytics. She has led key initiatives in improving signal quality, optimizing content discovery, and redesigning recommendation models to create more balanced and engaging... Read More →

Wednesday May 28, 2025 11:30am - 11:55am PDT
AI DevSummit Main Stage

AI DevSummit

Additional Topics Machine Learning, AI-driven Automation, AI Integration Strategy, Generative AI, AI Product Strategy, Data Engineering, AI Code Generation
Session Type PRO Session
Tracks AI DevSummit, Frameworks / Tools & Applied AI (AI DevSummit), Machine Learning / Models & Architectures (AI DevSummit)
In-Person/Virtual In Person

1:30pm PDT

KEYNOTE (Leadership): Snowflake -- Harnessing the Power of Generative AI for Intelligent Applications

Wednesday May 28, 2025 1:30pm - 1:55pm PDT

DeveloperWeek Leadership Main Stage

Shivali Naik, Snowflake, Data and Technology Enthusiast

Generative AI is transforming industries by enabling businesses to create content, automate decision-making, and enhance user experiences. But how can organizations effectively build and deploy AI-powered solutions while maintaining security, efficiency, and scalability?

In this session, we will explore the fundamentals of Generative AI models, their real-world applications, and how they can be leveraged to drive innovation.

🔹 Key Takeaways:
✅ Understanding Generative AI models and their capabilities
✅ How to implement LLMs for text generation, summarization, and automation
✅ Building Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) workflows for AI-driven insights
✅ Best practices for AI model governance, optimization, and ethical considerations

Speakers

Shivali Naik

Data and Technology Enthusiast, Snowflake

I'm Shivali Naik, a Solutions Architect with a passion for data engineering and cloud tech. With over two years of experience, I love tackling tough problems and optimizing data workflows to help businesses thrive. I’m a lifelong learner, always sharing insights on tech blogs and... Read More →

Wednesday May 28, 2025 1:30pm - 1:55pm PDT
DeveloperWeek Leadership Main Stage

5. KEYNOTES & FEATURED

Additional Topics AI Strategy and Leadership, Engineering Culture, Team Collaboration, Learning and Development, LLMs, Generative AI, Governance and Regulation, AI Ethics and Bias
Session Type OPEN Session
Tracks DeveloperWeek Leadership, Technical Leadership / Management & Teams (Managing People) (DeveloperWeek Leadership), Career Development: Impact & Change (DeveloperWeek Leadership), AI DevSummit, Machine Learning / Models & Architectures (AI DevSummit)
In-Person/Virtual In Person

4:00pm PDT

OPEN Session: AI Cloud Advisor: Applying Domain-Specific Intelligence for Scalable Cloud Optimization

Wednesday May 28, 2025 4:00pm - 4:25pm PDT

AI DevSummit Expo Stage

Sumit Bhatnagar, Vice President - Software Engineering
Roshan Mahant, LaunchIT Corp, System Architect

This talk will explore the architecture and real-world deployment of AI Cloud Advisor — a custom-trained AI assistant built to optimize multi-cloud environments using Natural Language Processing (NLP), Reinforcement Learning (RL), and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). Unlike general-purpose models, AI Cloud Advisor is engineered for live, production-ready decision support across AWS, Azure, and GCP. The session will cover the technical challenges and solutions involved in unifying multiple ML paradigms for actionable, contextual insights that have driven up to 69% cloud cost savings and a 50% reduction in troubleshooting time. Ideal for ML engineers and DevOps leaders.

Speakers

Sumit Bhatnagar

Creator, AI Cloud Advisor

Sumit Bhatnagar is an experienced engineering leader and AI strategist with 18+ years of experience in building cloud-native systems. He is the creator of AI Cloud Advisor, a real-time AI assistant for optimizing cloud workloads and architectures. Sumit is a member of the Forbes Technology... Read More →

Roshan Mahant

System Architect, LaunchIT Corp

This talk will explore the architecture and real-world deployment of AI Cloud Advisor — a custom-trained AI assistant built to optimize multi-cloud environments using Natural Language Processing (NLP), Reinforcement Learning (RL), and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). Unlike... Read More →

Wednesday May 28, 2025 4:00pm - 4:25pm PDT
AI DevSummit Expo Stage

AI DevSummit

Additional Topics Machine Learning
Session Type OPEN Session
Tracks OPEN Session, AI DevSummit, Machine Learning / Models & Architectures (AI DevSummit)
In-Person/Virtual In Person

5:30pm PDT

AI/ML Panel: The Next Frontier in AI Development: Why Agent Experience (AX) Matters

Wednesday May 28, 2025 5:30pm - 6:20pm PDT

AI DevSummit Expo Stage

Dana Lawson, Netlify, CTO
Julianna Lamb, Stytch, Co-founder and CTO
Aiden Ba, Million.js, Founder
Sean Roberts, Netlify, Distinguished Engineer

Agent experience (AX) is the holistic experience AI agents will have as the user of a product or platform. AI agents are reshaping software development, but today’s developer tools and platforms weren't built for them. For AI agents to truly be effective, we need to craft our products with AX in mind. How do we design platforms, APIs, and workflows that help AI agents operate effectively? While DX optimized tools for humans, AX challenges us to rethink systems for AI-first development.
This panel brings together experts in AI infrastructure, developer tooling, and LLMs to discuss:
-Introduction to Agent Experience (AX)
-The current limitations of AI agents when building, deploying, and iterating software.
-How platforms might need to evolve to support AI-native workflows.
-The tensions between human-driven and AI-driven development—and what collaboration could look like.
-The early signs of AX in today’s AI-powered development landscape.

Speakers

Aiden Ba

Founder, Million.js

Julianna Lamb

Co-founder and CTO, Stytch

Dana Lawson

CTO, Netlify

Sean Roberts

Distinguished engineer, Netlify

Wednesday May 28, 2025 5:30pm - 6:20pm PDT
AI DevSummit Expo Stage

Additional Topics Agents, AI Product Strategy, Cross-functional Collaboration
Session Type OPEN Session
Tracks Frameworks / Tools & Applied AI (AI DevSummit), AI Leadership & Strategy (AI DevSummit), AI DevSummit, OPEN Session, Machine Learning / Models & Architectures (AI DevSummit), Data Access / Management & Operations (AI DevSummit), Productizing AI (AI DevSummit)
In-Person/Virtual In Person

1:30pm PDT

PRO Session: AI Agents in Software Engineering: Can Autonomous AI Teams Build and Maintain Code

Thursday May 29, 2025 1:30pm - 1:55pm PDT

AI DevSummit Main Stage

Tanush Sharanarthi, IBM, Staff Software Engineer

AI-powered coding assistants like GitHub Copilot have changed how developers write code, but what if AI could go beyond assisting and work together as a team? This talk explores the potential of multi-agent AI systems, where different AI agents take on specialized roles—one writing code, another reviewing it, a third optimizing performance, and another refactoring—to collaboratively build and maintain software with minimal human input. We’ll dive into real-world applications, emerging research, and the challenges of AI-driven development, from debugging AI-generated code to ensuring reliability. Attendees will gain insight into the future of AI-powered software engineering, whether AI can function as independent development teams, and what this means for the role of human engineers.

Speakers

Tanush Sharanarthi

Staff Software Engineer, IBM

Tanush Sharanarthi is a Staff Software Engineer at IBM Silicon Valley Labs with a strong background in software development and artificial intelligence. His work focuses on AI-driven development, large language models, and building intelligent automation systems. He has served as... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2025 1:30pm - 1:55pm PDT
AI DevSummit Main Stage

AI DevSummit

Session Type PRO Session
Tracks AI DevSummit, Frameworks / Tools & Applied AI (AI DevSummit), Machine Learning / Models & Architectures (AI DevSummit)
In-Person/Virtual In Person

2:00pm PDT

PRO Session: Decoding Enterprise AI for Devs: Choosing Between Private LLMs and Public Generative AI Services

Thursday May 29, 2025 2:00pm - 2:25pm PDT

AI DevSummit Main Stage

Shomron Jacob, Iterate.ai, Head of Applied Machine Learning & Platform

This AIDev Summit session will navigate an increasingly pivotal crossroads: the decision between investing in proprietary, custom-tailored Large Language Models (LLM) or capitalizing on the versatility and ease of public generative AI services.

The session will begin by demystifying the complexities of private LLMs. With domain-specific capabilities and enhanced data security, these models have faster customization and compliance with industry-specific regulations. Yet, they also pose challenges: a bigger investment, infrastructure requirements, and ongoing maintenance. These elements necessitate a thorough examination.

Next, the session will scrutinize public generative AI services, exploring the inherent benefits of these ready-to-use solutions. With their scalability, diverse applications, and lower upfront costs, they hold significant appeal. But they also come with their own set of considerations, such as data privacy, standardized performance, and reduced control over the model’s behavior.
With real-world examples, we will walk through how various organizations have approached this decision, the results they achieved, and the invaluable lessons learned.

The session will then go into a decision-making framework, with the purpose of enabling attendees to assess their options between private LLMs and public generative AI services more effectively.

Speakers

Shomron Jacob

Head of Applied Machine Learning & Platform, Iterate.ai

Shomron Jacob is the Head of Applied Machine Learning & Platform at Iterate.ai. Shomron began his career as a software engineer but soon found himself learning ML/AI and switched his professional direction to follow it. He lives in Silicon Valley.

Thursday May 29, 2025 2:00pm - 2:25pm PDT
AI DevSummit Main Stage

AI DevSummit

Additional Topics Generative AI, LLMs, Governance and Regulation, AI Integration Strategy, AI Product Strategy, Technical Decision Making, AI Strategy and Leadership
Session Type PRO Session
Tracks AI DevSummit, AI Leadership & Strategy (AI DevSummit), DeveloperWeek Leadership, Strategy / Methodology & Tooling (DeveloperWeek Leadership), Machine Learning / Models & Architectures (AI DevSummit)
In-Person/Virtual In Person

2:30pm PDT

PRO Session: Building Robust Data Pipelines for Scalable Machine Learning

Thursday May 29, 2025 2:30pm - 2:55pm PDT

AI DevSummit Main Stage

Rachita Naik, Lyft, Machine Learning Engineer

This session will provide a comprehensive, hands-on guide to designing efficient, production-ready data pipelines for machine learning model training. Tailored for engineers, ML practitioners, and architects, this talk will break down key technical aspects of data processing, feature management, and pipeline optimization at scale.
Key takeaways include -
1. Optimized Data Ingestion: Efficiently processing real-time and batch data from multiple sources while minimizing latency and ensuring smooth data flow for ML models.
2. Reusable & Scalable Features: Designing centralized feature stores that enable cross-model sharing, reduce redundancy, and support large-scale ML operations.
3. Robust Data Preprocessing: Implementing techniques to clean, transform, and structure raw data, ensuring high-quality inputs that improve model accuracy and efficiency.
4. Ensuring Data Consistency: Maintaining parity between offline training and real-time inference by preventing schema mismatches, data drift, and inconsistencies.
5. Proactive Monitoring & Debugging: Using automated tracking, anomaly detection, and logging to identify bottlenecks, optimize pipeline performance, and ensure data reliability.

This session will combine technical deep dives with real-world lessons from deploying ML pipelines at scale in rideshare applications. Whether you’re designing your first ML pipeline or optimizing existing workflows, you’ll walk away with practical strategies to enhance data efficiency, model reliability, and overall system performance.

Speakers

Rachita Naik

Machine Learning Engineer, Lyft

Rachita Naik is a Machine Learning (ML) Engineer at Lyft, Inc., and a distinguished graduate of Columbia University. With a strong foundation in AI and two years of professional experience, she is dedicated to creating transformative solutions that address complex, real-world challenges... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2025 2:30pm - 2:55pm PDT
AI DevSummit Main Stage

AI DevSummit