Building with open source AI: A crash course

Open source has fundamentally changed how teams build with AI. Instead of relying on closed, proprietary models, developers are now running, tuning, and deploying open models to gain control over cost, privacy, and customization. But moving from experimentation to production, especially in existing applications, can feel overwhelming.

In this live, hands-on workshop, presenters will walk through the practical steps of adding real AI features to an existing Java app using LangChain4J. Attendees will see how to connect models to enterprise data, introduce agentic workflows, and apply production best practices like observability with OpenTelemetry, testing with Promptfoo, and CI/CD with Tekton. Attendees will leave with a clear blueprint for building, testing, and operating AI features using open technologies, without vendor lock-in.