Open Models, Production Agents: The New Economics of AI-Native Engineering

The era of AI-driven software development is here, are your teams ready?

Join us for an evening exploring how open models and autonomous AI agents are rewriting the economics of software engineering. As models like Kimi, GLM, and MiniMax approach parity with closed alternatives like Claude Code and Codex, at a fraction of the cost, engineering leaders face a new question: do you need a closed model to run production-grade coding agents?

Co-hosted by OpenHands, Ollama, and FriendliAI, this session brings together leading voices at the intersection of open models, coding agent infrastructure, and agentic engineering:

• Saurya Velagapudi, Principal Engineer at OpenHands

• Brian Yoo, Chief Business Officer at FriendliAI

• Jeffrey Morgan, CEO at Ollama

Together, we'll dive into what it takes to run autonomous agents in production. We'll cover the cost and latency tradeoffs of open vs. closed models, the build-vs-buy calculus behind owning your SDLC instead of outsourcing it to a black box, and how engineering organizations are rethinking their stack — and their headcount, budget, and vendor strategy — as agents move off of laptops and into production.

This is a strategy-level conversation for the people setting the roadmap, not just coding to it. Expect lively discussion, practical insights, and plenty of networking with other CTOs, VPs of Engineering, and AI/ML leaders responsible for their org's AI adoption and governance.

Schedule
6:00 PM — Doors open (food & drinks)
6:30 PM — Panel conversation
7:00 PM — Audience Q&A
7:30 PM — Networking
8:00 PM — End

Refreshments and food will be provided.

Come ready to share questions, ideas, and your own experiences deploying AI in the real world. This session is designed for Director-and-above leaders shaping engineering strategy at their organizations.

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