AWS re:Invent 2023: 5 recorded sessions to check out

With all the typical re:Invent keynote announcements and noise around new services like Amazon Q, it can be easy to forget about all the other great presentations that were made. That's why Pluralsight's senior AWS Training Architect Craig Arcuri has made a list of some stand-out recordings to check out now the fuss has died down.

This year at re:Invent, the term "Generative AI" was on everyone's lips --- you'd be hard pressed to find anyone in Vegas who would have bet on you being to get around without hearing it! It was both shocking and amazing to see how many presentations there were on GenAI at re:Invent this year, but not so shocking to learn AWS is all over and on top of this topic. Below are some of those presentations worth checking out.

This is a great presentation to start out with --- it starts at a practical level, and you don’t need 8 AWS certifications to understand it all. It kicks off with a humorous interaction between the presenter and Alexa, and discusses how to integrate AI into your products and experiences. This presentation also answers a specific answer to common questions such as "What is Artificial Intelligence?" and "What is Machine Learning?", both terminologies that tend to trip beginners up.

There are an abundance of presentations on Generative AI at re:invent 2023, and a wise approach might be to watch a presentation such as this one, and put some thought into what you would like to know next about Generative AI. Based on your own questions and a foundational understanding gained from this presentation, select a few more Generative AI presentations that you feel may be relevant to your work environment. 

This presentation digs a little deeper into the nuts and bolts of Generative AI, but still remains accessible to someone new to the topic. The presentation goes on to talk about Amazon Bedrock, which is in layman’s terms, an AWS service which helps you build generative AI applications. Watching this presentation will give you a gentle introduction to Amazon Bedrock. But the best way to learn is to get hands-on with it. Go into Amazon Bedrock and play around with the Text Playground. You’ll be Generative AI’ing in no time!

And if this peaks your interest in Amazon Bedrock, we have a video from our great Faye Ellis (Principal Training Architect) titled ‘Amazon Bedrock in Under 5 Minutes’. And who doesn’t have 5 minutes?

It’s safe to say that Generative AI was the star of the show at re:Invent 2023, but there is so much more than that. What about key services such as Amazon EventBridge? EventBridge replaced CloudWatch Events a couple years ago, but it is so much more than just a substitute. Check out this particular presentation to see the full power of EventBridge and how to harness it.

Shifting gears (pun intended), anybody with an interest in cars might find this presentation to be eye-catching. The automotive industry is changing rapidly, and we might initially think of hybrid and full EV cars. But what about the software that is in cars? A study shows that by 2030, 45% of a cars value will be software driven. This was only 5% in 2010! This presentation discusses steps companies are taking to reach these goals of having ever increasing software-defined vehicles.

The great thing about AWS is that it changes so rapidly, and it is impossible to learn everything that is available. Certainly we should stretch ourselves and keep pace with change, but there are certain fundamentals such as security that we should always hold our focus. Are you looking for one tool --- a "hub" if you will --- to maintain the security posture across your AWS accounts? If so, check out this presentation on AWS Security Hub.

If you want to go a little deeper, check out my own course on AWS Security Hub with over four hours of learning and four hands-on labs.

So that’s what has caught my eye at re:Invent 2023, and I think these videos are a great place to start. Make no mistake, Generative AI is here, and you would be well advised to get yourself into the game. Take it a step at a time and you’ll be surprised how far you can progress in a few short months!