I had the chance to participate in GDG Auckland 2023, which was touted as one of the largest events post-Covid. This event held particular significance for me as it marked my first experience engaging with professionals spanning various industries.

Despite the diverse range of sessions, the content heavily emphasized Google products. Personally, I found Vertex AI to be the most impressive. It provided insights not only into Google but also offered glimpses into the direction of other big tech companies like Microsoft, AWS, among others.

In the DevOps and infrastructure-related sessions, they covered the lifecycle of issue resolution, focusing on which tools to use at each stage. However, I was more intrigued by the lifecycle itself. These discussions reminded me that there are several missing processes within our team currently. Our team's current objective is centered around building a more robust and maintainable system. Specifically, the absence of a postmortem process following issues appears to be the most crucial area requiring improvement.

One of the best aspects of this event was the opportunity to meet industry professionals and expand my network. It was great to engage with experts from various fields and individuals who are studying in diverse domains. As someone who didn't pursue computer science through formal education but rather self-studied, I felt I lacked in certain areas. However, this event provided a valuable chance to connect with professionals across industries, something I've been longing for but hadn't found a suitable opportunity for. I believe participating in such events frequently and engaging with professionals from different fields will be beneficial.