Back to Vegas: My Second AWS re:Invent Adventure
With one month left until Las Vegas, I can’t help but feel the familiar excitement building up. This marks my second year attending AWS re:Invent, and I’m thrilled to share what makes this conference such an incredible experience for cloud engineers worldwide.
What is AWS re:Invent?
AWS re:Invent is AWS annual cloud computing conference, widely regarded as the most significant event in the cloud industry. Since its inception in 2012, re:Invent has evolved into a massive learning and networking extravaganza that brings together cloud practitioners, developers, engineers, and IT professionals from around the globe.
The conference serves multiple purposes: it’s a platform for AWS to announce new services and features, a massive educational hub with hundreds of technical sessions, and an unparalleled networking opportunity for cloud professionals. Think of it as the ultimate playground for anyone passionate about cloud technology.
What sets re:Invent apart is its scale and depth. This isn’t just a conference where you sit through presentations – it’s an immersive experience with hands-on labs, workshops, networking opportunities, and direct access to AWS experts and service teams.
The Numbers Game: Scale That Amazes
The sheer scale of AWS re:Invent is mind-boggling. This year, the conference is expected to attract over 65,000 attendees from more than 100 countries. To put that in perspective, that’s larger than the population of many small cities!
The session catalog is equally impressive, featuring over 2,000 sessions across various formats:
Keynotes from AWS leadership
Technical sessions and deep dives
Hands-on workshops and labs
Chalk talks for intimate technical discussions
Lightning talks for quick insights
These sessions are categorized across multiple learning levels (100-400 level) and cover everything from introductory concepts to expert-level architectural patterns. The content spans all AWS services and addresses use cases across industries, making it relevant for professionals at every stage of their cloud journey.
The Venues: Las Vegas Transformed
AWS re:Invent essentially takes over Las Vegas, utilizing multiple world-class venues across the Strip. The conference spans several major hotels and convention centers:
The Venetian: This hotel serves as the heart of re:Invent, hosting the main keynotes, expo hall, and numerous breakout sessions. The Venetian’s massive convention space becomes a bustling hub of activity.
Mandalay Bay: Known for hosting various technical sessions, Mandalay Bay’s convention center provides additional space for the growing conference.
MGM Grand: One of the largest hotels in Vegas, MGM Grand offers multiple ballrooms and conference spaces that house various breakout sessions, workshops, and networking events.
Wynn: Adding an extra touch of Las Vegas glamour to the conference, Wynn provides sophisticated venue space for select sessions and special events.
Caesars Forum: AWS’s newest addition to the re:Invent venue lineup, providing state-of-the-art facilities for sessions and networking events.
The multi-venue setup means you’ll be doing quite a bit of walking (or shuttle riding) between sessions. Comfortable shoes are essential! The venues are connected by a robust shuttle system that AWS provides, making navigation between locations relatively seamless.
My Session Lineup: Sharing Knowledge on Serverless
This year, I’m excited to be presenting two sessions that dive deep into serverless architectures and modern application development:
CNS372: Serverless Patterns for Large-Scale Applications with AWS Lambda (2 repeats)
Type: Code Talk
Session 1: Tuesday, December 2, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM PST
Location: Mandalay Bay | Level 3 South | Jasmine F
Session 2: Wednesday, December 3, 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM PST
Location: Mandalay Bay | Level 3 South | Jasmine H
This code talk addresses one of the biggest challenges organizations face as they scale their serverless adoption: managing complexity across multiple Lambda functions. As serverless architectures grow, teams often struggle with project organization, code reusability, dependency management, and maintaining consistency across environments.
In this live coding session, I’ll demonstrate:
Multi-function codebase organization strategies that scale with your team
Cross-function code reuse patterns to eliminate duplication and improve maintainability
Dependency management techniques specific to serverless applications
Standardized deployment pipelines that ensure consistency across environments
Battle-tested techniques you can implement immediately to improve your development practices
This isn’t just theory – you’ll see real code and practical solutions that my team and I have used in production environments. The session runs twice, which is fantastic because it means more engineers can attend and ask questions.
To see more click here.
CNS311: Building Serverless AI Agents in Java with Spring AI
Type: Builders’ Session
Date: Friday, December 5, 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM PST
Location: Caesars Forum | Level 1 | Summit 212 | Content Hub | Builders’ Session 2
This hands-on builders’ session is where things get really exciting! We’ll dive deep into the intersection of serverless computing and AI, using Java and the Spring AI framework.
In this session, you’ll build a complete serverless AI agent from the ground up, including:
Integration with Amazon Bedrock models for various AI capabilities
Chat memory implementation to maintain context across conversations
Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) patterns for enhanced knowledge access
Model Context Protocol (MCP) support for advanced AI interactions
Deployment to both Amazon ECS and AWS Lambda to understand different hosting options
Interactive UI to test and explore your AI agent’s capabilities
By the end of this session, you’ll have a fully functional AI agent that demonstrates production-grade reliability and scalability.
To see more click here.
Why This Matters for Cloud Engineers
Attending re:Invent for the second time has given me perspective on how quickly the cloud landscape evolves. The sessions I’m presenting this year reflect trends I’m seeing across the industry: the maturation of serverless architectures and the democratization of AI capabilities.
For fellow cloud engineers, conferences like re:Invent aren’t just about learning new technologies – they’re about understanding where the industry is heading and how we can better serve our organizations and customers.
Looking Forward
As I prepare for another intense but rewarding week in Las Vegas, I’m reminded of why events like re:Invent are so valuable. They push us to think bigger, learn faster, and connect with the global community of cloud practitioners who are shaping the future of technology.
If you’re attending re:Invent this year, I’d love to meet you or see you at either of my sessions. And if you’re considering attending next year, I can’t recommend it highly enough – just be prepared for an information overload in the best possible way!
See you in Vegas, cloud engineers!