RESEARCH · FIELD NOTES

Field Notes

Dispatches from the room — conferences, summits, and briefings

On-the-ground analysis from Google Cloud Next, KubeCon, AWS re:Invent, Davos, and analyst summits. What was said, what it means, and what the stage-managed version left out.

11 ENTRIES

The Standing Task: Google Moves the Agent Off Your Device

May 25, 2026

I/O 2026 was the second half of a sentence Google began at Cloud Next — and the real news sat in two quiet decisions: where the agent runs…

Google Cloud Next 2026 — The Move-In Is Complete. Who Holds the Keys?

Apr 30, 2026

Google Cloud Next ’26 and the three-year verdict on the agentic enterprise.

Google Cloud’s AI Story—Are the home interiors complete yet?

Apr 24, 2025

Reflections on Google Cloud Next ’25

CloudDon at Google Cloud Next 2025 — what am I looking for?

Apr 8, 2025

Disclaimer: Google Cloud is providing me with a conference pass and support for travel and accommodation, as with the cases with all…

CloudDon in Davos

Jan 17, 2025

I will be in Davos all of next week around the WEF annual meeting 2025 and will be focusing on/ talking about building responsible GenAI/…

AWS re:Invent 2024: Tyranny of OR vs Genius of AND

Dec 21, 2024

Every year, scores of startups find themselves to be replaced by feature announcements at AWS re:Invent 2024. Not this year — it was less…

Microsoft Ignite 2024 — Can Microsoft Sustain Its Lead in GenAI space?

Dec 4, 2024

Introduction

AWS Generative AI Analyst Summit: Differentiation through Innovations Across the Stack

Oct 22, 2024

AWS is innovating across its GenAI stack, but it’s Day 1.

Google Cloud’s AI Story: — Home is listed, Interiors Incomplete

May 9, 2024

Reflections on Google Cloud Next ’24

#RedisConf 2018 — Adoption, Caution, and Path Forward

May 30, 2018

Redis/ Redis Labs

AWS re:Invent: Customer Empathy, Commoditization, Coopetition, and Catchup

Dec 12, 2017

--- !(https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/00F8V60Dn0P7gQngq.jpg) AWS re:Invent(https://reinvent.awsevents.com/) was a well attended one with more than 43K attendees. Here are my observations from the event. Discla