An unforgettable adventure in Las Vegas - Ai4 Conference

Imre Szűcs Head of AI & Data at TestIT, traveled from Budapest to one of the world’s largest artificial intelligence conferences, Ai4, in Las Vegas. This event represents a significant milestone for the company, as it marks our entry into the U.S. market. The conference was fascinating for several reasons: on the one hand, we were curious to see how we would perform in such an international environment, and on the other hand, we aimed to validate whether our business concepts align with industry practices. 

Being proud of our Hungarian roots, we wanted to bring something that represented our homeland beyond the professional sphere. That’s how we ended up choosing the world-famous Rubik’s Cube, the iconic Unicum, and, of course, some classic pálinka.

Arriving at the Ai4 conference

We arrived in Las Vegas with excitement, capturing every moment—including landing.Imre traveled from Budapest to Las Vegas' vibrant venue. Was such a long trip really worthwhile for a conference? The answer is definitely YES! After all, where else could we cross path with the future Nobel Prize winner in Physics , Geoffrey Hinton, than at one of the world’s leading AI conferences?

The future of AI

The conference venue was truly impressive. Hosting 5,000 attendees was seamless, thanks to exceptional organization. The atmosphere struck a perfect balance between professionalism and enjoyment, fostering meaningful networking and valuable exchanges while maintaining a polished and engaging experience throughout. 

Day O: Focus on AI trainings

The conference kicked off with a "Day 0," setting the stage for three days of learning and connection. This opening day was all about engaging in hands-on training sessions and networking with professionals from around the world who share a passion for AI. One major insight from our team was how consistently large organizations everywhere face the same challenge with AI: ensuring reliability. And with reliability comes the bigger question of real-world applicability—an issue our team’s multi-agent AI solutions are uniquely designed to solve.  

After the initial professional discussions, the first evening event took participants to The Sphere, an iconic venue. Here, Imre had an exciting and innovative conversation with Aura, one of the world’s most advanced humanoid robots. Aura’s capabilities left even our AI-savvy colleagues in awe. To top it off, Aura concluded the interaction with a special greeting for the TestIT team!

Day 1: AI Challenges and Multi-Agent AI Systems

Day one started on an exciting note: Imre Szücs had the opportunity to appear on the highly acclaimed “The Disruption is Now” podcast,where he shared TestIT’s vision and insights on the challenges surrounding AI.

Arguably the most captivating speaker of the day was Geoffrey Hinton , Geoffrey Hinton , often referred to as the “Godfather of AI,” a nickname that honors his undeniable contributions to artificial intelligence research. A particularly thought-provoking part of his presentation was when he highlighted the potential dangers of AI. Hinton emphasized that researchers must dedicate more attention to exploring and managing the possible impacts on humanity before we take further significant technological leaps in artificial intelligence. For us, his message was especially powerful. Testing AI systems is a key step in minimizing these risks, and at TestIT, risk mitigation is part of our DNA. 🙂

Another keynote speaker, Matt Wood from AWS, emphasized the potential of multi-agent AI systems and the business opportunities they enable. He noted that we are still in the early stages of AI adoption, far from reaching its peak. According to him, the path forward lies in developing more reliable multi-agent AI systems.

Praneet Dutta from Google DeepMind delivered a compelling presentation on the company's groundbreaking projects in energy conservation and climate modelling. These initiatives highlight the role of artificial intelligence in tackling some of the world's most pressing challenges. Interestingly, this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded for research closely tied to AI, with one of the recipients being Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind. This achievement underscores Google’s leadership in advancing AI for societal benefit, from sustainability to scientific breakthroughs. We’re honoured to align with this vision, leveraging Google Cloud Platform’s AI solutions to empower our clients with cutting-edge tools and technologies that drive meaningful impact. 

Throughout the day, we attended numerous insightful talks on ROI calculations for AI projects and the validation of generative AI developments. 

Day 2: AI validation and cybersecurity

The second day focused on more detailed presentations, centering around two main areas: AI validation and cybersecurity.  

• David Howard's presentation on evaluating large language models emphasized the need for more independent and thorough evaluations in this field.  

• A panel discussion featuring Shafik Q. (The New York Times), Will Liang (Vanguard), and Ameya Diwan (Rocket Mortgage) explored the challenges of monitoring GenAI applications.  

• Cybersecurity, which is heavily influenced by AI, was another major topic. We heard presentations on protecting data assets, GenAI infrastructure, and software. While the speakers' concerns are valid, it was reassuring to learn that they had not experienced any major incidents involving GenAI applications in their careers.

During the day, we had the chance to test Google Cloud Vertex AI and IBM Watson AI services—both truly impressive.

Since we were in Vegas, some of our colleagues couldn’t resist testing their luck at the casino. Without AI to guide them, the odds were less than favourable, and they came close to losing to the machines. Fortunately, self-restraint kicked in, and they wisely returned to their area of expertise—a win for everyone in the end!

Final thoughts

The AI4 conference was a truly remarkable milestone for us. It provided not only valuable professional experiences and inspiring ideas but also the opportunity to showcase TestIT's spirit of innovation on an international stage. We are even more sure that our role in the field of artificial intelligence is not only important, but also looks to the future thanks to the information we have shared and the new ideas we have discovered. We returned home enriched with experiences and new opportunities, determined to leverage them for the benefit of our clients and partners.