Next-level AI Concepts for Devs: Agents, Tools, and MCP

Next-level AI Concepts for Devs: Agents\, Tools\, and MCP

AI is evolving fast, and so are the ways developers can integrate it into tech systems. A flurry of new approaches and tools surfaces every week, and it’s hard to know where to focus.
In this session, we will pull back the curtain on the next wave of AI development with agents, tool integrations, and Model Context Protocol (MCP). We will break down what AI agents are, how they interact with tools and APIs, and why context is critical for building smarter, more reliable applications. Next, we will look at MCP and how it standardizes communication between AI models and external systems.
Along the way, we will touch on related concepts and step through code and demos, giving you a complete roadmap to level up your AI skills. You won’t need a yellow brick road to follow along, but you will discover some magical new tricks to level up your AI skills!

Format

6:30pm — Welcome & Networking: Pizza, drinks and name tags will be provided—come hungry and ready to connect!
7:00pm — Get people into the auditorium.
7:05pm — Orlando JUG and ODevs opening remarks.
7:10pm — Featured presentation by guest speaker.
8:20pm — Q&A + Social Time. Two attendees will each win a JetBrains license (e.g. IntelliJ IDEA, CLion, PyCharm Pro, ReSharper, etc.) and 3 attendees will each win an O'Reilly book.

Speaker

Jennifer Reif is a Developer Advocate at Neo4j, speaker, and blogger with an MS in CMIS. An avid developer and problem-solver, she has worked with many businesses and projects to organize and make sense of widespread data assets and leverage them for maximum business value. She has expertise in a variety of commercial and open source tools, and she enjoys learning new technologies, sometimes on a daily basis! Her passion is finding ways to organize chaos and deliver software more effectively.

Links

Orlando JUG: https://www.meetup.com/orlandojug/
Jennifer Reif @ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmhreif/
Percy Vega @ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/percyvega/
Trung (Daniel) An @ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trung-daniel-an/

Parking

There is free street parking after 6pm.
Also, UCF has a day permit that is $8 for the whole day and you can park in the UCF Parramore Parking Garage.
Metered Parking (via ParkMobile, DTO code): are metered spots available on streets near venue.

Sponsors

Orlando Devs: ODevs is a vibrant community of software developers, designers, and tech enthusiasts in the Orlando and Central Florida area, dedicated to fostering growth, collaboration, and knowledge sharing among its members.
JetBrains: JetBrains develops a suite of developer tools, including Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), team tools, and other software designed to enhance programmer productivity and code quality.
O'Reilly: O'Reilly Media is a premier publisher established in 1978, renowned for its technical books featuring distinctive animal woodcut covers. It provides comprehensive technical and business education through an online learning platform, offering books, videos, live training, and interactive tutorials.