Fireside Chat: Joe Reis & The Future of Data Engineering

The first ever Coactive meetup, co-hosted with Rahul Parundekar from the ML Ops community, kicked off with a bang by welcoming data and machine learning professionals from around the Bay Area. The event became a melting pot of ideas, discussions, and forward-thinking strategies around data science and machine learning.

The Coactive office in downtown San Jose buzzed with excitement as data scientists, machine learning engineers, and tech enthusiasts gathered to exchange insights and forge new connections. The evening was a vibrant showcase of how companies like Coactive AI are shaping the future of how multi-modal data is accessed with insights for data science and MLOps.

The event featured insightful talks from various speakers. Florent Blachot, VP of Data Science & Engineering at Fandom, who has leveraged Coactive’s technology to unlock new dimensions of data interaction and analysis within the entertainment domain. Fandom, a platform that builds dedicated communities and provides in-depth content, services, and experiences for fans of entertainment and gaming, shared vital considerations for creating a robust ML operational platform.

Amanpreet Singh, the co-founder and CTO of Contextual AI gave great insights into what it would take for people to build their own foundational and fine tuned models. He dissected the nuances of spinning up GPU clusters. He detailed the performance axes that matter—from GPUs to inter-node networks—offering a pragmatic approach to the hardware selection to avoid costly mistakes.

These talks highlighted the synergy between advanced data platforms and industry expertise.

The culmination of the evening was the fireside chat with Joe Reis, hosted by William A. Gaviria Rojas, the co-founder of Coactive. The conversation delved into the evolving relationship between data engineering and ML Ops, offering a retrospective of recent years, as well as a forecast of what’s to come. "I really enjoyed the event. It's amazing to be a part of the MLOps Community inaugural event at the Coactive Office! So many awesome people turned out, and I got a chance to meet with a ton of people way cooler and smarter than me," reflected Joe, often playfully referred to as a "recovering data scientist," Joe brought a unique perspective to the conversation by blending the wisdom of experience with the foresight of a pioneer in the field. This provided attendees with a candid look at the future of the industry, followed by a Q&A, and the opportunity to network and discuss session topics to conclude.

A big thank you to the ML Ops team for making this a success. The contributions from partners and attendees alike underscored a shared vision and enthusiasm  for more similar gatherings in the future.

If you're interested in events like this, the MLOps Community has got more lined up! To get involved and stay in the loop for future meetups, by joining the MLOps Community here.