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I spent three incredible days at Jfokus in Stockholm. The venue was transformed into a Nordic winter realm, with speakers in Viking-inspired costumes, ancient runes inspired fonts, and the deep, rhythmic echoes of historical Norse music setting the stage.
It is clear the industry has moved beyond just writing code. We are now governing agents, managing costs, and scaling intelligent systems. Here is my daily recap of the journey, including some of the highlights that sparked my curiosity on where we are headed.
Day 1: Battle of Agents 🤖⚔️🤖 & Beyond AI MCP integration
I started with the critical side of AI, learning how to minimize Prompt Injection risks and going deep into MCP (Model Context Protocol) security and observability.
But the absolute standout was the “Battle of Agents” session featuring @Baruch Sadogursky and @Viktor Gamov.
It felt less like a tech talk and more like a magic show. Three different agentic platforms competed to solve unique problems with a tech stack chosen by the audience.
While the ‘Vibe Coding’ hype is unlikely to become a production reality, I’m officially sold on Spec-Driven Development (SDD). It is the best way to keep agents aligned with our vision without letting them go wild.
The session was so intense I actually had to go find a quiet spot just to let my brain cool down afterward!🍵
Finally, closing the day with @Josh Long talking Spring AI and MCP was promising. Java is ready for AI!
He is my favorite speaker for a reason, and I even managed to snag a selfie!
Day 2: Software Philosophy, Originals and Spring Boot 4 ☕
Day two was a heavy-hitting mix of deep tech and philosophical journeys. @Dan North’s keynote was a masterclass in technical philosophy, reminding us to build the “best simple system for now.”
I also explored “Tame your Llama, run AI in Java,” which covered how to manage local Llama models to get more personalized results with lower costs and better security. It was a fascinating session on how to bring AI closer to the local environment.
I spent time with the @Oracle Java Architects, just listening to the “originals” discuss the platform. Their thinking patterns and deep understanding of the language are incredibly inspiring, and the behind the scenes stories of Java’s evolution were a rare treat.
Of course, I couldn’t miss another session with @Josh Long, and seeing what is coming in Spring Boot 4 kept the excitement high.
Day 3: The Human Element & Future-Proofing 💡
The final day felt like a look into the soul of software engineering. Meeting @Brian Goetz again was a highlight, especially expert insights on evolving a language that powers the world,
Hearing his perspective on how even the smallest change can influence the evolution of a language and the immense responsibility that comes with those decisions was truly inspirational.
As the speaker suggested it’s more like writing all possible programs simultaneously. However,
Java is More Vibrant Than Ever ☕
Career Growth with @Bruno Souza’s talk on the “Reputation Formula” was a powerful reminder to stay open to new career pathways.
Seeing Intelligent JVM Monitoring with AI felt like a bridge to my past. I experimented with Agentic Software observability during my PGDip days, and seeing how LLMs now allow for entirely new monitoring paths was an incredible moment.
Finished with @Redis Agentic Memory and the secrets of memory management. They walked us through several patterns for handling memory, each with its own strengths and trade-offs.
What is an agent without memory? Without it, it’s just a very fast but very forgetful assistant 😀
Final Thought
The industry has shifted. I see it maturing toward governed agentic systems, moving away from experimental tools and toward the reliable, production-ready architectures and development practices that enterprises need.
Stockholm, the energy was electric even if it was freezing cold ❄, the “Java originals” were inspiring and full of AI, and my Obsidian notes are full. Now, it is time to take these forged ideas back to the IDE!
#Jfokus #Java #SpecDrivenDevelopment #SpringAI #LLM #JVM #StockholmTech #SoftwareEngineering
