The Great Indian Developer Summit (GIDS) 2024
Read my reflections on the event and my appreciation for some phenomenal speakers in this reflective read.
I had the privilege to attend the Great Indian Developer Summit (GIDS) on April 24th, 2024, and it was truly a remarkable experience! 🚀✨
#GIDS was a revelation, and at its heart was Kenneth Kousen’s keynote, a masterclass in navigating the corporate landscape amidst AI-driven management. His insights, especially the line, “A good answer today is better than a great answer next week,” struck a chord, offering a timely perspective shift. His discourse was so intriguing that I didn’t bat an eye the entire talk. A few key things that Ken dived into were the Gartner Hype Cycle, lessons from The Prisoner’s Dilemma, the cost of AI, Stochastic parrot, Stanford’s AI index report, & the importance of testing & assessing what AI spurts out.
Another speaker I loved listening to was Jim Webber. Not only was his talk “Lies, Damn Lies and AIs” fun & captivating, but also super informative. He spoke about how words only constitute about 7% of communication & hence when an AI is involved in communication, it only depicts the 7% (low quality) description of anything. He also dived into knowledge graphs, RAG & GraphRAG. One takeaway was a quote by Yejin Choi, “Language Models != Knowledge Models”.
P.S.: I am glad to know his apple tree finally started fruiting well :)
Sven Peters, with his infectious enthusiasm and profound insights, shed light on how teams need to be always backed up (not driven) by data instead of opinions. His talk, aptly named “Developer Joy — How Great Teams Get S%*t Done,” underscores the ideal distribution between work: changing the business (55%), keeping the lights on (35%), and increasing developer experience (10%). If anyone reading my article is a team lead/manager, I would highly recommend that they check out the Atlassian Developer Experience Survey.
Kito Mann’s exploration of AI-driven productivity tools offered a glimpse into the future of workplace efficiency. His presentation left me eager to explore the plethora of tools he discussed, each promising to revolutionize daily workflows and streamline tasks.
The summit also featured many other talks, each offering unique perspectives on cutting-edge technologies. From Atin Banerjee’s insights into graphDB solutions for monitoring complex data processing pipelines to Anand Jayaram’s exploration of Tesco’s search architecture, the sessions were a treasure trove of knowledge, and Ritabrata Saha’s deep dive into Snowflake solutions that underscored the platform’s versatility.
One notable mention goes to Arun Gopinath. Amidst discussions predominantly centered on cutting-edge technology and the future of AI, I found it refreshing to hear someone address the importance of constructing a sustainable digital future. His keynote delved into strategies aimed at maximizing the positive “digital handprint” of technology while simultaneously minimizing its environmental “digital footprint”.
Special mention goes to Arsh Goyal, whose CodeMod for JavaScript showcased the power of innovation in simplifying complex tasks. Our conversation afterwards was invaluable, providing actionable takeaways that I’m eager to start implementing right away.
While I missed out on Stephen Chin’s talk due to the auditorium being at full capacity, the prospect of catching the recorded session has me eager to dive deeper into the world of LLMs.
In addition to the engaging talks, GIDS also featured an expo boasting approximately 30 booths from various companies, including Atlassian, RedHat, Google Cloud, Zoho, Work In Finland, Target, Elastic, Goldman Sachs, & many others.
A special shoutout to Neo4j and Apryse for hosting the most remarkable and supportive representatives at their booths.
& of course a big thanks to JPMorgan Chase for providing me with this opportunity to attend #GIDS #DeveloperSummit
