From Chef to AI Consultant

Breaking into AI isn't always a straight path. In this session, I will break down my unconventional journey from culinary arts to becoming a an AI consultant delivering production-grade GenAI solutions & Agentic systems for clients across verticals.

Drawing from real engagements, I'll explain how modern GenAI solutions move from PoC to scalable, ROI generating platforms. We'll cover lessons learnt from deploying RAG architectures, multi-agent workflows and low-latency embedding pipelines. Including all the juicy failures and the brilliant success but most importantly how to design for business impact from day one.

This talk is both a career story and a practical guide, aimed at practitioners who want to bridge the gap between technical delivery and commercial outcomes, whether you're early in your AI journey or already building in production.

After delivery of this session the aim is for attendees to: Understand how real-world GenAI systems move from PoC to production. Identify common problems when deploying modern GenAI solutions. Learn how to align technical delivery with business outcomes.