The Hidden Engineering Behind Production AI

Description

## Event Overview Join the Scotland Applied AI Meetup at Barclays Eagle Labs in Glasgow for a technical deep dive into the real-world engineering challenges of building and deploying production AI systems. **Speaker:** [Colin Parry](https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-parry), Head at [Head for Data](https://headfordata.com/). **Chair:** [Michael Young](https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelyoung08/), CEO @ MBN. **Date & Time:** Wednesday, August 12, 2026, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM BST. **Location:** Barclays Eagle Labs, BECO Building, 58 Kingston St, Kinning Park, Glasgow. ## What to Expect Everyone can build an AI demo — but getting one into production is a very different challenge. Over the last year, Head for Data has built an AI-native support platform that integrates large language models into real operational workflows. In this talk, Colin Parry will share the hidden engineering decisions that don’t make the headlines: - **Protecting sensitive data** before it reaches an LLM - **Designing reliable event-driven architectures** - **Collecting user feedback** effectively - **Testing AI systems** whose behavior changes over time - **Deploying changes safely** into production Along the way, Colin will share practical lessons from real client engagements: including mistakes made, unexpected surprises, and why successful AI systems are often won or lost outside the model itself. ## Who Should Attend This talk is ideal for anyone building AI products, leading technical teams, or simply curious about what production AI really looks like. You’ll leave with a clearer understanding of what it takes to move beyond proof-of-concepts. ## Speaker Bio [Colin Parry](https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-parry) holds a BSc in Applied Physics and an MSc in Renewable Energy. With over 18 years in the data space, he has worked analyzing wave and wind data, led BI systems at Aggreko, served as Director of Data Science at a carbon reporting platform (with several patents), and founded [Head for Data](https://headfordata.com/) in 2023. He believes data and AI should empower businesses to do more with less. ## Register Now Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from real production experience. [Register on Meetup](https://www.meetup.com/scotland-data-science-technology-meetup/events/315772928/?recId=0ba2aedd-b4fd-45de-99f9-642058860a0c&recSource=event-search&searchId=8558b4bd-72bf-43ef-af51-ee61a881c188&eventOrigin=find_page%24all).