Participant: We gained a great knowledge in TechUp #2 by Sun*!

On the afternoon of Saturday, June 8th, TechUp #2 – a tech event hosted by Sun with the theme “Applying AI to Improve Programming Efficiency and Create Breakthrough Products” officially took place at Sun* Hanoi office, attracting the participation of 120 engineers and thousands of views on the livestream.

Shared with Sun* News, a participant said: “Going to TechUp this year has yielded many great things"! Nothing testifies to the success of an event better than the participants' experiences. Let's explore the “fruits” harvested at the event to understand what made TechUp #2 leave such a deep impression not only on Sunners but also on many talented engineers across the country! 

AI is no longer a distant future with Practical Knowledge from Speakers

According to a pre-event survey, most attendees registered for TechUp #2 with the desire to learn more about the application of artificial intelligence – a concept that has been booming in technology market recently but is still quite new when it comes to practical use. TechUp successfully realized this goal with impressive appearances by Quý Hải and Văn Toàn – two tech experts from Sun*, who jumped into two hot topics:

1. Optimizing Programming Efficiency by Harnessing AI Potential

In the first topic, “Optimizing Programming Efficiency by Harnessing AI Potential,” speaker Phạm Quý Hải provided the participants with a series of practical demos of Generative AI, such as ChatGPT and Copilot.

“I was quite ‘wowed’ by some of the tips Hải used in app development and how he interacted directly with the editor and generated code live on stage. There were also some Copilot features I hadn’t used before, but after the event, I learned and applied them immediately,” shared by Hữu Kim (Sun*), an event attendee.

“I couldn’t attend the event in person and followed this event by livestream. Hải’s topic on optimizing programming with AI left quite an impression on me. Previously, I had a Copilot account but hadn’t used such features, so it really opened my eyes and gave me new keywords to explore further,” said by Đình Đoan (Sun*) when being asked about his impressions of TechUp #2.

Our speaker, Quý Hải said: “Having researched AI for 3 years, I immediately agreed to participate and eagerly prepared the content when the organizing committee approached me. To deliver the most concise and practical knowledge, I constantly revised the slides over a week to answer the question: How can I make the audience understand in 30 minutes that: Working faster with AI is real and interacting with AI is not as hard as you think? I’m thrilled to hear that some participants bought Copilot right after TechUp #2. It feels like I successfully 'sold' the brainchild I’ve been researching and experimenting with.”

2. Applying LLM with RAG Architecture to Create AI-Integrated Products

While the first session provided content closely related to engineer's work, the second session was more “academic” with new knowledge on using RAG architecture in LLM to overcome the limitations of existing AI applications in the market.

New concepts such as Hallucination and Vector Database were presented in an accessible manner, with humorous explanations by speaker Văn Toàn, making the content was extremely interesting.

“What impressed me most at the event was the presentation on applying Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) by speaker Phạm Văn Toàn. This method combines information retrieval techniques and Generation to create innovative AI products, improving the accuracy and quality of AI systems. The presentation clearly explained how RAG works and its applications in creating advanced AI products. Real-world examples and detailed analyses helped me understand the potential of RAG in this field,” Ngọc Phương (Sun*) said.

Shared about his experience, speaker Văn Toàn said: “The biggest challenge was preparing a talk that was clear and easy to follow for everyone, but not too simple to avoid disappointment. So, I used a real-world problem of building a Q&A chatbot for internal documents about Mr. Kobayashi Taihei, CEO of Sun*. His illustrious past inspired me to create the data and complete the live demo for the audience.”

A huge of questions in Panel Discussion

Besides positive feedback from programmers inside and outside Sun* about the shared knowledge, TechUp #2 also impressed with its signature feature: Panel Discussion sessions with guest speakers after each part. The heat of the two Panel Discussion sessions remained “hot” with the presence of Faci Trần Đức Thắng (R&D Manager - Sun*, Founder - Viblo) and experienced guests Nguyễn Đăng Huy (Head of STV - Sun*) and Potter (Phúc) Lê (Head of AI - TECHVIFY). The credibility of the speakers, guests, and faci is said to be one of the main factors attracting talents to register and creating a tech-heavy sharing atmosphere at TechUp.

With the support of the Livestream hotline and the Live Q&A that helped sending questions at any time, many senior developers were able to meet with experts for consultation and discussion on specialized topics and ways to address their own technological issues. Within just four hours, TechUp #2 recorded impressive numbers:

“The event was organized on a grand scale, and it was the first time I saw a tech event where no one left halfway through. Even online viewers remained stable from start to finish. The audience listened attentively, and the discussion session was very lively. We received over 60 questions, and the speakers were always 'sold out' as there were too many questions to answer in the allotted time,” speaker Văn Toàn described about the event's atmosphere.

The thorough and on-point answers from experts inside and outside Sun* satisfied the audience, helping them solve tech problems in a timely manner. The TechUp #2 post-event survey hotline also received “fruitful” feedback from the audience and speakers:

• “The most impressive part, besides the knowledge on using AI, was the Q&A session with practical shares from the guests” (Văn Ngọc).
• “It was great to participate today and meet many people with the same mindset and ideas for product development. It felt like being part of a real learning playground” (Thế Nhân).
• “I enjoyed sharing knowledge and motivating everyone. I also made many new connections in my network, with many asking for my contact. Who knows, I might have the opportunity to collaborate with them in the future” (speaker Văn Toàn).
• “Helpful - Humorous - Enthusiastic exchange - Regret when time ran out are the keywords I remember about TechUp #2. Not only the audience, but I also learned a lot from their questions and the speakers’ answers, feeling happy to share what I love with everyone. Thank you, TechUp!” (speaker Quý Hải).

Right after this event, further in-depth discussions opened on the Viblo. TechUp #2 proved that when talents talk with talents, creative and breakthrough ideas continuously flourish. The "TechUp" event brand has gradually taken shape, and we look forward to even more wonderful things in future TechUp sessions!