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Zero to Production: A GIS Professional's Process for Building Real Apps with AI
Wednesday May 20, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm PDT
401-402
Since December, I have been building open-source GIS tools on my own time, learning what it actually takes to deliver production-ready applications using AI. I started as a GIS developer. Today I am a manager. Both perspectives matter here, but this talk is not about management. It is about process.

The most important thing I learned was the difference between "vibe coding," where AI drives, and you follow, and Vector Coding, where the human provides clear architectural direction and the AI executes it. That distinction is what turns an interesting demo into something you can actually ship.

With that process in place, FeedSimple went from idea to production-ready widget in four days: a universal XML parser, real-time search, map integration, spatial joins, and 137 unit tests.

I will walk through the process that made that possible:

* The Anatomy of the Prompt: How to structure AI conversations for intentional, architectural results
* The Guardrails: How specs, plans, and code reviews keep a codebase honest across a long build
* Course Correction: How to spot when AI is solving the wrong problem and redirect it without losing momentum
* The Human Moat: Why domain expertise remains the most important thing in the room, regardless of coding role

AI is the tool. You are the Architect.
Speakers
avatar for Adam Cabrera

Adam Cabrera

Map and AI Whisperer, MapSimple
Adam Cabrera is a GIS professional with 30 years of experience spanning the full arc of the industry, from command-line tools to modern web frameworks. He serves as Geo Engineering Manager at the King County GIS Center, where he leads a team building public-facing geospatial appl... Read More →
Wednesday May 20, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm PDT
401-402
  Technology, AI

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