November was a month filled with learning and sharing! After the inspiring XR Summit 2024 at IIT Madras, I had the privilege of attending another fantastic event—XConf 2024 by Thoughtworks India. Here are my key takeaways from this incredible gathering of technologists.

About XConf

XConf is Thoughtworks’ annual technology event, designed by technologists for technologists. Sponsored this year by AWS and CockroachDB, it celebrates innovation and the transformative power of software in the real world.

Having spoken at XConf 2021, 2022, 2023, this year was extra special for me. I proudly showcased my book 📕 Exploring the Metaverse, at the Author’s Corner.

I also supported the Emerging Tech Track and contributed to the Experience Zone, which featured hands-on demonstrations of cutting-edge tech.

Here’s a glimpse into the highlights of the event:

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Top Tech Trends

Bharani Subramaniam and Vanya Seth shared this year’s top 8 tech trends, including:

• Generative AI Beyond Coding: Moving from “10x developers” to “10x teams” with AI-assisted collaboration tools like Thoughtworks Heaven.
• RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) and SLM: Highlighting the shift toward lightweight, efficient AI.
• LLM Evaluations and Local-First Software: Building reliable systems that are user-centric and scalable.

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Keynote Highlights

Innovation at Scale: Agentic AI

Kiran Jagannath and Satinder Singh from AWS shared Amazon’s vision for powering India’s growth as a global tech leader. AWS’s contributions to projects like CoWIN, DigiYatra, and UPI demonstrate technology’s transformative role in democratizing talent and driving India toward becoming the 3rd largest economy.

They also talked about how AWS’s in-house AI chips will be making LLM compute accessible to masses, with Amazon Bedrock Agent pushing boundaries in Agentic AI.

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🇮🇳 Astrophysics: A Technological Marvel

Hearing from Annapurni Subramaniam, Director of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, was an awe-inspiring experience. She shared the cutting-edge tech behind varius observatory telescopes in India, India’s astrophysical exploration and contributions to the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project.

For me, space exploration feels like the ultimate metaverse—a new world waiting to be discovered. Seeing the tech behind controlling observatories and telescopes remotely for years is truly remarkable.

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Tech Tracks

XConf offered insightful tracks Data & AI, Distributed Systems and Emerging Tech

The Emerging Tech Track, where I supported to bring up following interesting talks to the audience:

• The evolution of XR
• Continuous compliance
• Engineering practices for machines

I also snuck into some sessions from other tracks, and most were packed with fascinating insights!

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Experience Zones

The Experience Zone showcased cutting-edge tech, including Apple Vision Pro, industrial AR/VR applications, and GenAI demonstrations. Our GenAI Booth, along with partner booths from AWS and CockroachDB, attracted enthusiastic crowds.

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Author’s Corner

The Author’s Corner, introduced last year, continued to shine as a unique highlight. This year, I proudly displayed my book 📕 Exploring the Metaverse, alongside Unmesh Joshi’s Patterns of Distributed Systems. Visitors could engage with us directly, ask questions, and even get their copies signed!

Unmesh also led a workshop, leaving participants with valuable hands-on learning experiences.

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The event was filled with knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and inspiration, all complemented by amazing food and great conversations.

Wishing everyone continued success on their tech journeys! Let’s keep innovating and exploring. 🚀

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