Data Streaming x AI

Join us for an Apache Kafka® meetup on Thursday, May 28th from 6:00pm in Lisbon hosted by Marionete!

📍Venue:
The Nest by NEAR
Avenida 5 de Outubro 146, Lisbon

If you cannot attend, please change your RSVP so someone else can join! Thank you!

🗓️ Agenda:

• 6:00pm: Doors open
• 6:00pm - 6:30pm: Food, Drinks & Networking
• 6:30pm - 7:00pm: Viktor Gamov, Principal Developer Advocate, Confluent
• 7:00PM - 7:30PM: David Navalho, Principal of Software Engineering, Marionete
• 7:15pm - 8:00pm - Additional Q&A & Networking

💡Speaker One:
Viktor Gamov, Principal Developer Advocate, Confluent

Title of Talk:
The Missing Protocol: How MCP Bridges LLMs and Data Streams

Abstract:
Nobody’s talking about this: MCP isn’t just another way to build chatbots. It’s the bridge we’ve been missing between AI reasoning and real-time data systems. Teams build AI applications that work great in demos but fall apart with production data. Your agents analyze historical reports but can’t tell what’s happening in your Kafka streams. They’re blind to schema changes and disconnected from events that matter to your business. Instead of treating streaming platforms like black boxes, you expose them directly to your agents via MCP protocol. Suddenly, your AI doesn’t just read about data—it lives inside your data flows. Learn what becomes possible when you stop thinking about AI as an external service and start treating it as part of your streaming architecture. We’ll build systems where agents subscribe to real-time events, reason about evolving schemas, and make decisions that ripple through your data platform.

Bio:
Viktor Gamov is a Principal Developer Advocate at Confluent, founded by the original creators of Apache Kafka®. With a rich background in implementing and advocating for distributed systems and cloud-native architectures, Viktor excels in open-source technologies. He is passionate about assisting architects, developers, and operators in crafting systems that are not only low in latency and scalable but also highly available.

As a Java Champion and an esteemed speaker, Viktor is known for his insightful presentations at top industry events like JavaOne, Devoxx, Kafka Summit, and QCon. His expertise spans distributed systems, real-time data streaming, JVM, and DevOps.
Viktor has co-authored "Enterprise Web Development" from O'Reilly and "Apache Kafka® in Action" from Manning.
Follow Viktor on X - @gamussa to stay updated with Viktor's latest thoughts on technology, his gym and food adventures, and insights into open-source and developer advocacy.

💡Speaker Two:
David Navalho, Principal of Software Engineering, Marionete

Title of Talk:
Back to the Boring: GenAI That Ships

Abstract:
Everyone’s chasing the future: agentic workflows, autonomous systems, AI-first transformations. Meanwhile, around 95% of GenAI pilots fail to deliver.
This talk focuses on what actually works: going back to the “boring” parts of enterprise systems: approvals, reconciliations, handoffs, and repeatable workflows, where small improvements compound into real value.
I’ll show a practical delivery pattern where GenAI is embedded into small, focused services and coordinated through Kafka.
No hype. Just a grounded way to turn GenAI into something that actually ships.

Bio:
David Navalho is a Principal at Marionete, where he specializes in the development of sophisticated data solutions, including platforms, data mesh architectures, and data governance frameworks. With a background in distributed systems research, David has transitioned his expertise into practical applications, helping clients navigate and solve complex data challenges. Under his leadership, Marionete has become synonymous with delivering innovative, scalable solutions tailored to enhance data management and utilization. David is passionate about pushing the boundaries of data technology and sharing his insights with the community, aiming to drive forward industry standards and practices.

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DISCLAIMER
NOTE: We are unable to cater for any attendees under the age of 18.
If you would like to speak or host our next event please let us know! community@confluent.io