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 😄.