Google Cloud Next '26

A great evening to remember! GDG Cloud Southlake Social Club took place outdoors, thanks to the great weather! Thank you, our host, Gus Penning and Michael Fox at CodeRabbit, for giving away a pass to the Google Cloud Next '26 conference (hotel/air not included). Congratulations, David W. Beggs V, you won the FREE Ticket to Google Cloud Next '26! Thanks to Packt for giving away five copies of the book. 📘 DeepSeek in Practice Authors: Andy P. Alex S. Linschoten Duarte O.Carmo 📘 Unlocking Data with Generative AI and RAG (Second Edition) Author: Keith Bourne 📘 The AI Optimization Playbook Authors: Chun Schiros, PhD, NACD.DC Rajdeep Arora Supreet Kaur Usha Jagannathan, PhD Foreword by: John C. Havens 📘 The Machine Learning Solutions Architect Handbook (Second Edition) Author: David Ping 📘 Building Agents with OpenAI Agents SDK Author: Henry Habib 🙏 Special thanks to Sonia Chauhan for making this possible! Thank you, Anamika Singh, Deepak Kumar, Anjitha Nair, Preet Ahuja, Teny Thomas, Sanjana Gupta, Nimisha Dua, Preet Ahuja, Rahul Nair, Shruthi Shetty, Vinishka Kalra! Google Developer Groups (GDG) community spirit ✨ meets Texas 🤠⭐ Alyssa Hamulak Zach Lieb Santosh Kumar Chennuri Nitin Raut Mike Shirk Ramji Bala Kenny Kon Mallikarjun Dontula Diwakar Pandrangi James Anderson Our next event 📅 When Thursday, March 12, 2026 ⏰ 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM (CST) 📍 Where Flying Saucer Draught Emporium 3111 Olympus Boulevard Coppell, TX 75019 📅 Event details & registration 👉 https://lnkd.in/gn7DSU6e Let’s learn, connect, and grow together — see you at the meetup! 💙🚀 #Community #Networking #CloudNative #Kubernetes #Learning #Meetup #TechCommunity #BuildInPublic

🚀 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 Google Cloud Next '25 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. Half a year ago, I had the pleasure of joining my manager, Carl Franklin, Director at Google, and the insightful Piyush Saxena, SVP from HCLTech, moderated by Shagun Singh, to discuss the coming impact of 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐈. Today, Agentic AI isn’t just a theory — it’s a mainstream, enterprise-ready technology fundamentally transforming business operations. 💡 What does this shift mean for enterprises? 1️⃣ From Passive Tools to Proactive Action We’ve moved beyond chatbots. Agents are autonomous digital actors that can plan multi-step workflows, execute actions across systems (CRM, ERP, databases), and course-correct in real time. 2️⃣ End-to-End Automation Agents now drive measurable results — from auto-resolving IT tickets and optimizing supply chains to delivering hyper-personalized customer journeys. 3️⃣ The New Productivity Engine The true value lies in automating entire business processes, not just isolated tasks — enabling efficiency gains and new, data-driven revenue streams. If your organization still treats Agentic AI as an experiment, you’re falling behind. It’s time to redefine your workflows around this technology. Do you know where these agents live? They live in Kubernetes containers! 🐳🤖 The future is already here — and it’s Agentic. ⚡ #AgenticAI #GenAI #GoogleCloudNext #HCLTech #FutureOfWork #EnterpriseAI #Kubernetes

📖 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 Mona Mona? 📸 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗲𝗿? At Google Cloud 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒, I got to do both. ✨ I had already passed the 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫 exam before, without using the book. But now, as I prepare for renewal, I’ve started studying with the Official Study Guide by 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗮 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗮 and Pratap Ramamurthy. The highlight? Meeting 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗮 in person, getting my copy signed, and hearing her encouraging words: “𝗧𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻�� 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿-𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱.” 👑 Do you know? ✨ 𝗖𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿𝘀. ✨ 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘂𝘀 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲. ✨ 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆. Even though Mona Mona no longer works for Google, but she left a legacy as the author of the toughest Google Cloud Certification - Machine Learning Engineer. 💡 🔥 The exam may be tough, but we are tougher! 💪 #GoogleCloud #MachineLearning #CloudNext #Certifications

I used to be afraid of speaking in meetings until ... I became a Toastmaster. What happened next? I transformed into a professional speaker—on and off the stage. From Google Cloud breakout sessions to leadership panels, from small club meetings to packed tech conferences. 📸 Swipe through a few snapshots of my journey—from the spotlight at Google Cloud Next, to heartfelt laughs with new friends, to animated panels where we shared real stories and big ideas. None of this would have been possible if I hadn’t stepped up that very first time to speak… trembling hands and all. To anyone out there still holding back in meetings or staying silent in rooms where your voice matters: Your transformation can start today. Just one speech. One room. One brave moment. 💬 What helped you find your voice? ___________________________________________________________ 🌟 Be the BEST LEADER & SPEAKER You Can Be! 🌟 Join the Leaders-Speakers of Tomorrow & IT EGOS Toastmasters Clubs! 🗣️ Build confidence in public speaking 💬 Sharpen your communication 🌱 Grow your leadership skills 🙌 Experience a supportive, learn-by-doing environment 🗓️ Weekly Meetings: 📍 Tuesdays | 6:00 – 7:00 PM CT 🕠 Social & Tech Check-In at 5:45 PM 💻 Join via Zoom: https://lnkd.in/gfpnHgPq 📌 Follow us on Facebook: Leaders–Speakers of Tomorrow Need more info? 📧 Leaders–Speakers of Tomorrow: Donna Young 📧 IT EGOS Toastmasters: Thomas (Tuc) Goodwin    ✨ Everything is Possible — Start your journey today! Even if you are not ready, as long as you start, you will find a way. _____________________________________________________________ 👣 Crawl. Walk. Run. A Journey. >> https://lnkd.in/gSSsFwKC ❤️ 🚀 Follow me on my cloud adventure 🎥 Top viewed session at Google Cloud Next ‘23 >> https://lnkd.in/gqKn97wq 🌟 Google Cloud Champion Innovator >> https://g.dev/yujunliang 🌐 Why follow me? >> https://lnkd.in/eSzAgUu #PublicSpeaking #Toastmasters #DevOps #CloudCertification #GenerativeAI #CloudComputing #AWS #Azure #GoogleCloud #CloudJourney #Terraform #BookRaffle #CommunityEvent #GoogleCloud #GenerativeAI #CertificationJourney #AILeadership #LifelongLearning #DigitalTransformation #AIPowered #FutureOfWork #Toastmasters #PublicSpeaking #GoogleCloudNext #Leadership #PersonalGrowth #CloudArchitect #ProfessionalSpeaker

Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean. Join us >> https://lnkd.in/d6XSukjZ More than 70 people attended the GDG Cloud Southlake Monthly Meetup last month. Our next meetup is on Thursday, 05/22/2025, sponsored by Corey Richard and Joe Franco of NetApp. Let's get together and connect! DFW Social Club @ Flying Saucer, Coppell, TX. We have space inside. Just come inside and get a name tag and something to eat and drink! Plenty of Non-Alcoholic options if you don't drink. Veg and non-veg appetizers served. NetApp is sponsoring.     And better yet, Nimisha Dua of Packt just confirmed to sponsor another exciting book >> https://lnkd.in/deHtvbTd By Eyal Wirsansky To learn more about Packt books, please subscribe to their free newsletter >> https://lnkd.in/dyE3mrih If you subscribe now, Packt will send you this ebook at 9:30 am, within 24 hours of subscription >> https://lnkd.in/dQeHu-dX Alyssa Hamulak, Zach Lieb, Nitin Raut, Santosh Kumar Chennuri, Mike Shirk, Kenny Kon, James Anderson, Mallikarjun Dontula, Diwakar Pandrangi, Ramji Bala Maybe you will meet Aamir Haroon, Aaron Karchmer, Adam Kobos, Aditya Wagholikar, Alaina Vollmar, Alan Strader, Albert Horst, Aleemuddin Mohammad, Alex Monasterio, Alex V., Alexander Murdoch, Alyson Vo, Alyssia Osborn, Andrew Smith, Anil Gamidi, Anilkumar Attappilly, Anju Joshi, Ann Whiting, Anthony Lange, Anthony Nguyen, Anthony Rossini, Anwesh Rijal, Aryl Kohrs, Ashish Kalra, Asif Effendi, Aspen N., Avinash Reddy Kontham, Balu Vasireddy, Wing Fu