DevOps Exchange @ Monzo

Last night, the DevOps Exchange took over Monzo’s HQ, and not a single seat was left empty as we welcomed a full house for an evening of powerful insights.

From the future of AI development with Docker, to scaling internal platforms without overwhelming teams, to unlocking real business value with Cloud Native tech, our three expert speakers delivered a lineup of talks that sparked lively conversation across the room.

Ivan Pedrazas from Docker delivered a talk on the evolving role of AI agents in development and platform engineering. He introduced key initiatives like the Docker Model Runner for running LLMs locally with GPU support, and “Gordon”, an autonomous AI agent designed to optimise Docker files and perform complex development tasks.

Ivan also explored Docker’s work on the Model Context Protocol and the challenges of building reliable, agentic systems, from prompt engineering to testing unpredictable outputs. The key takeaway? The future of AI in DevOps lies in blending autonomy with actionable constraints, enhancing existing systems with intelligent, rule driven agents that are flexible, extendable and ready for production.



Paula Kennedy from Syntasso spoke on the evolution of platform engineering and the need to switch to “multiplayer mode.” She traced the journey from DevOps to today’s platform challenges, highlighting how growing complexity and cognitive load demand a more collaborative approach.

By empowering specialist teams to contribute components, like databases, security, and networking into a shared internal platform, companies can boost developer velocity and reduce pressure on core platform teams.



Simon Forster from Stackegy delivered a business focused talk on bridging the gap between engineering innovation and executive buy in for cloud native adoption. Tackling common concerns like cost, complexity, and perceived lack of ROI, Simon showed how to reframe cloud native initiatives around tangible business outcomes; developer efficiency, risk mitigation, and cost control.



Through real case scenarios, he demonstrated how faster feature delivery can reduce churn, resilient infrastructure can prevent downtime and fines, and modernisation can shift CAPEX to OPEX for greater agility.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped make this event happen. Our speakers, the team behind the scenes and of course, our hosts at Monzo.

We will be back in June, this time at Zühlke Engineering, and we look forward to welcoming you again. Keep an eye on our Meetup page for updates and event announcements.

Interested in getting involved? Whether you'd like to speak, sponsor, or host a future DevOps Exchange event, we’d love to hear from you, submit your details here.

See you all next month!