Well, it's that time of year again. In less than two months we'll be in amazing and weird Las Vegas, hustling between venues, trying to maximize learning, networking, and perhaps a fun Las Vegas side quest.
As exciting as this time can be, it's also incredibly daunting (there are nearly 3000 sessions 😱). And to make matters worse you need to have your favorites ready, as in just a few hours we'll need to book sessions. This experience is stressful, very much like buying in demand tickets for a concert or sporting event tickets.
So where to start?
My theme for this year - AI Convergence
We’re witnessing the long-anticipated convergence of data and software engineering — data systems are finally being built and operated like software. At the same time, Generative AI is accelerating this shift, demanding production-grade reliability, automation, and integration into core products. Together, these forces are reshaping what it means to be a data professional.
You can read more about my point of view here.
So, with this theme in mind, here's what's on my list. It's not perfect, but it's a good start for my data friends who are trying to up-skill and jump into the convergence head on.
Data is being built like software.
Data Mesh and Open Data Lake format are driving micro-service like architecture, and having clean, reliable data is more important than ever.
- Building Production-Ready Data Systems for AI Applications (ANT403)
- Building an operational data lake using S3 Tables and SageMaker (STG413)
- Build trust in your data with Amazon SageMaker Catalog (ANT406)
Data professionals need to be full stack, and serverless is the best way to start. 🤓
- AWS Serverless developer experience workshop (CNS402)
- Building Serverless distributed data processing workloads (CNS404)
Software is becoming intelligent. And AI is forcing it all to converge — faster than ever.
Learn the frameworks and tools to build agents leverage MCP (Model Context Protocol) and RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation). In order of recommendation -- essential to extra credit. It's a long list, but the solution space is large and evolving. 🤖
- Agent in an hour: Build an agentic app with Strands Agents and MCP (IND334)
- Vector search with Amazon OpenSearch Service (ANT419)
- Unlock interoperability: Build your first MCP server (DVT404)
- Deploying Intelligent Agent Systems with MCP (PEX401)
- Smart agents meet documents: Building next-gen IDP architectures (AIM415)
- Build agentic workflows with Small Language Models and SageMaker AI (AIM406)
- Efficient AI model customization for agentic workflows (AIM410)
- Implement hybrid search with Aurora PostgreSQL for MCP retrieval (DAT409)
Security and governance 🔒
- Mastering agent authentication with Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Identity (AIM321)
- Red Team vs Blue Team: Securing AI Agents (DEV317)
- Build trustworthy AI applications with Amazon Bedrock Guardrails (AIM303)
And a little fun 🎊
- Create your own AI sidekick: a hands-on agent building workshop (DVT403)
- Game on: build a retro adventure game in 120 minutes (DVT402)
I hope this guide is helpful, have fun and get weird 😄.
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