DevOps Bern

The DevOps Meetup in Bern is back with two great talks and will take place on May 7th, 2025!

17:45 Open Doors 🚪
18:00 - ca. 19:15 Talks 🎙️🎙️
19:15 until open end: Apéro Riche with snacks & drinks in the Loft 🥂🍿

Impact Hub Bern, Spitalgasse 28
Entrance in the Ryffligässchen, use the elevator to reach the 4th floor.
The event is in the Loft on the 5th floor. Note that the elevator will not be accessible from the outside after 18:30.

We are always on the lookout for exciting talks and experience reports - get in touch!

Talk #1: Building Reliable and Secure GenAI Apps with Open-Source Models
Matthias Junker, CTO MinimalTools & Co-organizer Uphill Conf

Building reliable and secure GenAI applications doesn't happen by magic—it takes solid engineering. In this talk, Matthias shares hard-earned lessons from bringing open-source AI models into production. Drawing on MinimalTools’ experience with advanced models like Qwen, LLaMA, and DeepSeek, Matthias will explore how to harness the power of open-source Large Language Models (LLMs) without compromising on reliability or data privacy.

Matthias is CTO at MinimalTools, where he develops AI-enhanced decision intelligence applications that transform external and organizational knowledge into strategic insights. With 15 years of experience building business-critical systems, he brings deep technical expertise to complex AI challenges. A passionate advocate for practical AI applications, Matthias co-organizes Uphill Conf, a conference focusing on Applied AI in Bern.

Talk #2: Use the Power of the universe to creat realistic Timelines - challenge accepted
Lorenzo Santoro & Benjamin Huser-Berta, Hitachi Energy

Are you stuck in lengthy meetings, converting story points to hours, relying on metrics like velocity, and still unable to reliably tell stakeholders when things will be done? If you need to create timelines or have contractual obligations to deliver features by a certain date, you need a reliable way to forecast completion. After trying various approaches, we’ve found a method that provides more accurate results with less effort than estimating in hours, ideal days, or story points. We introduce probabilistic forecasting with Monte Carlo simulations. We will share our journey of moving away from traditional planning towards a system based on managing flow and applying continuous forecasting. We’ll also discuss the impact this shift has had on developers, Product Owners, and stakeholders.

Lorenzo Santoro (Product Owner) und Benjamin Huser-Berta (Scrum Master):
We are Lorenzo Santoro (Product Owner) and Benjamin Huser-Berta (Scrum Master), working at Hitachi Energy. In a traditional organization that operates in a conservative market, we strive to apply modern practices while acknowledging the needs of the organization and its customers. With our teams, we focus on continuous improvement based on data, without being tied to any specific framework, method, or practice—whatever helps us improve is what we should be doing.

Get inspired!

The Apéro is sponsored by Postfinance, thanks a lot! 💪

The talks today will be held in english, the language at the apéro is up to you ;) English, German, Ugnaught, Klingon, French - whatever works for you and your conversation partners.

Meet with the DevOps community in the greater Bern area, exchange experiences and/or simply enjoy a cool drink.
The DevOps Meetup Bern is a tribe of the Impact Hub Bern - many thanks also to the Impact Hub for sponsoring the great and central location!

Partner Event Information (note that the RSVP is for the meetup only!)

The DevOps Meetup Bern is a community partner of the UphillConf, taking place April 24–25, 2025 on top of the Gurten in Bern.

From Hype to Practice: Experience how AI & ML are transforming software development sustainably – presented by leading international and national experts. Dive into the world of AI Agents, Reinforcement Learning and Open Source Models. The UphillConf provides both Hands-on Workshops (Thursday, April 24) and a Conference with Talks & Lounge Sessions (Friday, April 25). Experience top-tier speakers from Hugging Face, Red Hat, Zalando, and other leading companies. In the lounge sessions, you’ll have the opportunity to engage in inspiring discussions with speakers and fellow attendees.