We Came for the Engineering, Stayed for the Philosophy

This week we finally got to scratch an itch that had been bugging us in Bogotá for some time.

Through conversations throughout the year, and from attending local events, it was clear there’s a real appetite for spaces to discuss AI in all its glory: the good, the ugly, the amazing, the scary, the worrying and even the downright philosophical.

So we set up an invite-only event for our local network of professionals, both within and beyond our industry. The turnout was superb, roughly split as follows:

• 70% — Software Engineers & Architects
• 15% — Product (Creative, UX, Product Engineering, Product Management, etc.)
• 15% — Finance (CFOs, accountants) and others

The chosen format was Lean Coffee, a brilliant un-conference format born from the informal, and often more interesting, coffee conversations that happen between conference sessions. The format was new to most attendees and needed some explaining, but it simply Just Worked™.

But here’s the shocker: despite an engineering-heavy crowd, the most-voted topics weren’t deep engineering ones. Even with time-boxing, the first topic ran for quite a while, getting technical at times but mostly philosophical. With a full 60 minutes on the clock, we only got through 3 of the 14 topics in the backlog.

This was an experiment to see whether the event would gather interest and momentum, and we’re already set for a second edition to tackle the rest of the backlog. What’s powerful about this format is the sense of ownership that comes from voting on the topics yourself.

And for those asking for a link to join from the comfort of your home: it’s designed to be face-to-face only. These spaces and interactions are missing. With AI, teams are getting smaller, solopreneurs are multiplying, and the need for purposeful connection has never been louder.