All Things Open AI: A Playbook for AI Adoption

A packed audience of builders, decision-makers, and AI practitioners gathered at the Carolina Theater in Raleigh, N.C., on March 18 for the inaugural All Things Open AI — a new event focused on the tools, people, and processes shaping the future of artificial intelligence. Among the featured speakers was Calvin Hendryx-Parker, CTO of Six Feet Up and AWS Hero.

Calvin’s opening line set the tone for the next 40 minutes: “This isn’t magic. It’s math. You’re capable of this.”

In a space that’s often overwhelmed with hype and abstraction, Calvin’s talk — “Rolling Out Enterprise AI: Tools, Insights & Team Empowerment” — was a breath of fresh air. Part strategic guide and part live demo, his talk focused on what it actually takes to bring AI into production inside organizations — and how to do it responsibly.

The message resonated. This wasn’t a generic overview. It was a real-world playbook built for tech leaders navigating the complex realities of adoption, scale, compliance, and cross-functional team dynamics.

Can My Team Actually Build This?

The presentation covered a lot of ground — and fast.

Calvin walked attendees through the end-to-end architecture of deploying AI inside enterprise systems, from choosing the right large language models (LLMs) and vector databases to strategies for managing feedback loops and safeguarding sensitive data.

A standout moment was a live demo using ChromaDB and Llama 3, running entirely on his 4-year-old MacBook. The demo featured an internal chatbot that crawled a messy conference website, cleaned up the data, enriched it with speaker bios from LinkedIn, and returned intelligent, relevant answers — all without relying on the cloud.

The performance was so smooth, even Calvin briefly assumed it was running on OpenAI. It wasn’t — it was fully local.

That moment answered a question many attendees were quietly asking: “Can my team actually build this?”

Calvin’s message: Absolutely.

Insights You Can Use

Calvin didn’t just talk about tools — he gave attendees a mental model for how to approach AI integration responsibly and iteratively.

• Don’t default to fine-tuning. Use RAG (retrieval-augmented generation) to keep data fresh and reduce hallucinations.
• Prioritize your data. Model quality matters — but messy, inconsistent data will derail even the best LLM.
• Leverage internal feedback loops. Calvin showed how observability and user feedback can continuously improve accuracy over time.
• Start small, then scale intentionally. Avoid over-engineering. Use just enough framework to get traction, but don’t be afraid to go back to first principles as your project matures.
• Choose tools with community support. Calvin encouraged attendees to pick open-source tools with vibrant ecosystems to avoid dead ends or orphaned tech.

No Single Path to AI Adoption

For organizations exploring AI, the path forward can be complex. Calvin didn’t present a one-size-fits-all solution — and that was intentional.

Instead, he addressed the real challenges head-on: data privacy, infrastructure needs, cost, and internal readiness. His message wasn’t just about tools — it was about building confidence to take the next step.

“Set up an internal AI guild. Build a center of excellence,” he urged. “And challenge your team to use the tools.”

Calvin emphasized that success with AI comes from thoughtful implementation, not shortcuts — and that every organization can find a path that fits.

Watch the Full Session

Catch Calvin Hendryx-Parker’s talk, “Rolling Out Enterprise AI: Tools, Insights & Team Empowerment,” from the All Things Open AI conference.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

If Calvin’s talk sparked ideas or echoed the challenges your team is facing — you’re not alone. Whether you’re tackling data quality, comparing LLMs, or building your first AI-powered tool, Six Feet Up is here to help.

Let’s explore what’s possible and build something impactful together.