AI agents can interact with the world through either the Command Line Interface (CLI) or the Model Context Protocol (MCP). This summary explores the trade-offs between the two, highlighting CLI's efficiency for tasks the model is trained on, versus MCP's power of abstraction and governance for more complex, high-level operations.
Cormac Brick from Google's AI Edge team details the dual trends of on-device AI: large, system-level models like Gemma 4 enabling complex agent skills, and fine-tuned tiny LLMs for high-performance, in-app tasks. The summary covers the architecture of on-device function calling, the engineering trade-offs for edge deployment, and the practical workflow for fine-tuning and deploying models under 1B parameters on platforms like Android and iOS.
A practitioner's guide to building a context engine, the reasoning layer that provides AI agents with the necessary organizational context to generate effective and appropriate code. The talk debunks common myths about RAG and large context windows, outlines core requirements for a robust context engine, and shares lessons learned from production.
Liam McGarrigle demonstrates how to build secure, observable, and controllable AI agents in n8n. The workshop covers creating a human-in-the-loop workflow for managing Gmail and Google Calendar, focusing on n8n's visual system for tool configuration, prompting strategies, and implementing essential approval steps to prevent unintended actions.
As AI handles more of the coding, the role of a software engineer is shifting from writing code to planning and reviewing the work of AI agents. This talk explores the implications of this shift, the new workflows it demands, and the tools required to manage them effectively.
Max Schoening, Head of Product at Notion, discusses how AI is reshaping software development. He argues that agency—the drive to effect change—is now more critical than specific skills, as AI makes the first 10% of any project 'free'. Schoening introduces his 'tiny core' theory for great products, debates the 'SaaSpocalypse', and emphasizes the growing importance of software quality and taste in an era of exploding software quantity.