This past weekend, on October 11th, the vibrant city of Thessaloniki hosted DevFest 2025, and what a day it was! For those who may not be familiar, DevFest is a global, community-led developer conference series hosted by Google Developer Groups (GDGs) around the world. These events are a chance for developers, students, tech enthusiasts, and industry professionals to come together, learn about the latest in technology, and connect with like-minded individuals.
Following the success of last year's event which my colleague Ilias Papachristos and I organized for about 150 attendees, this year we were thrilled to welcome around 250 people to DevFest Thessaloniki 2025. This year, we were joined by Paraskevi Pita as the organizing team behind GDG Cloud Thessaloniki, and we are incredibly proud of what we accomplished together.
The heart of any DevFest is, of course, its speakers and the knowledge they share. This year, we were privileged to host a lineup of incredible speakers from around the world. Each session was insightful, but a few resonated with me on a very personal level. Nicola Guglielmi's talk on building teams before products struck a chord, as it touched upon many of the challenges and strategies I encounter in my daily work. Adi Mazor Kario’s presentation on entrepreneurship in the age of AI was particularly inspiring, as it connected directly with my university studies. Furthermore, with my master's thesis focused on AI, all the talks centered around this transformative technology were incredibly relevant and thought-provoking.
The agenda was carefully crafted to take the audience on a journey through the modern tech landscape, and the feedback from the attendees on the quality and variety of the sessions was overwhelmingly positive. The day's sessions included:
- Andre Sara, who kicked things off by setting a thoughtful tone with his session on the ethical considerations and responsible development of AI.
- Nicola Guglielmi, who followed with an insightful talk on the importance of building strong teams as the foundation for successful products.
- Hannah Olukoye, who provided practical guidance for engineering leaders on mastering goal setting and charting progress.
- Dr. Roushanak Rahmat, who demystified prompt engineering with a comprehensive guide.
- Gabriel Preda, who showcased how to leverage Kaggle models to rapidly build generative AI applications.
- Önder Ceylan, who took us into the future of Web AI, exploring the integration of on-device models and LLMs in the browser.
- Tom Colvin, who gave a practical demonstration of building offline AI-powered apps with Android and Gemma.
- Adi Mazor Kario, who concluded the day's sessions by inspiring everyone with her talk on the new era of entrepreneurship in the age of AI, the "One-Person Unicorn."
The success of the event is a direct result of the incredible effort from our team of volunteers. Their dedication, energy, and hard work behind the scenes were the backbone of the event's success. Without their contribution, DevFest would not have been the same, and we are deeply grateful for their support.
An event of this scale would not be possible without the incredible support of our sponsors. Their contributions were instrumental in ensuring a smooth and successful event, and we are immensely grateful for their partnership.
We are also immensely grateful to our inspiring speakers. They are the ones who ignite the passion and curiosity within our community, and we are so fortunate that they shared their time and expertise with us.
Finally, I want to personally thank my co-organizers, Ilias and Paraskevi. The countless hours we spent planning and executing this event were fueled by our shared passion for technology and community. It was a pleasure to work alongside both of you.
To close out a fantastic day, we hosted a special gathering for our speakers and volunteers. It was a wonderful opportunity to unwind in a pleasant space, share food and drinks, and continue the inspiring conversations that DevFest is all about.
DevFest Thessaloniki 2025 was more than just a conference, it was a celebration of our thriving tech community. Thank you to everyone who was a part of it. We can't wait to see you next year.
0 Σχόλια