Sure, you can wait a few weeks and watch the Next ’26 keynotes on YouTube at 1.5x speed. So why get on a plane to Las Vegas?
Because even though there’s never been a more exciting time to be a developer, the day-to-day work of software engineering is shifting rapidly. The best way to figure out the new baseline, from putting AI agents in your CI/CD pipelines to modernizing legacy architecture, isn’t by watching a stream. It’s by getting together with thousands of other developers, swapping notes and slinging some code together.
Google Cloud Next ’26 is the largest annual gathering of developers building on Google Cloud, and this year in Las Vegas (April 22-24), the focus is squarely on the building blocks of the future: agentic AI, modern infrastructure, and hands-on problem-solving.
And it’s not just about what happens on the main stage; it’s about the hallway track, the whiteboards, and the serendipitous “Aha!” moments you only get when you are in the room. Here is a look at why you need to be there in person, and a sneak peek at the technical sessions we have lined up.
Technical sessions you can’t miss
Spotlight on builders
Whether you are building for a startup or a global enterprise, put this Spotlight session on your radar. In Beyond the hype: Orchestrating end-to-end developer workflows with agents (SPTL008), you’ll see how AI tools are blurring the lines between traditional roles giving you the autonomy to expand into areas like ML and infrastructure design without waiting on other teams.
Ryan J. Salva and Aaron Wanjala will live-code a modern application directly atop a legacy system to show you how to increase your autonomy and reach with agents.
It’s the perfect primer for these 10 breakout sessions worth checking out:
Breakouts that go deep into building the agentic applications
- What’s New with Gemini from Google DeepMind (BRK2-084): A look at multimodal breakthroughs and the workflows designed to scale agentic applications.
- The Gemini 3 Playbook: Optimizing for Quality, Cost, and Scale (BRK2-086): Architecture insights on keeping Gemini applications enterprise-grade without burning your budget.
- Build Production-Ready Agents on Google Cloud: An Opinionated Guide (BRK2-091): This is an architect-level guide to hardening agents into core business assets.
- Real-Time Multimodality: Building Seamless Experiences with Gemini Live API (BRK2-087): A hands-on look at streaming simultaneous audio, video, and text processing in real-time.
- From Prototype to Production: 45 Minutes to a Reliable Vertex AI Agent (BRK2-014): A masterclass on turning a prompt script into a reliable, enterprise-ready tool.
In-depth breakouts on modern engineering at scale
Core infrastructure and platform engineers should check out these sessions.
- Architect Zero-Trust Security with Cloud Run (BRK2-076): A look at how to establish identity-based, zero-trust foundations for private enterprise applications on serverless infrastructure.
- How Go Code Gets Faster and More Efficient Over Time (BRK2-078): A deep dive into the Go runtime and how to leverage backend language upgrades for immediate performance gains.
- Path to Production: Improve and Scale Quality with OpenTelemetry (BRK3-001): Close the gap between local development and production. Learn how to wire robust observability throughout the entire application lifecycle.
- Accelerating Velocity: How Citibank Consolidated Observability for Global Scale (BRK2-224): A look at the infrastructure challenges and solutions behind running observability at massive, global engineering scale.
- Vibe from Code to Cloud: Create and Deploy Apps Directly from your IDEs (BRK2-221): A live teardown of streamlining the pipeline straight from the IDE to deployment.
The in-person advantage
The best interactions at Google Cloud Next rarely happen while you’re simply sitting and listening. As we shared in our preview of What to expect at Developer Meetups, this year we are doubling down on dedicated spaces and times where you can grab a coffee and pull up a chair with peers and Googler experts to discuss common challenges, share strategies and learn from others in the trenches.
We’ve packed the schedule with 20+ meetups this year serving all communities, so there is definitely something for everyone. Check out the full list of Developer Meetups
And if you’re like me and think a “live demo feels too polished without enough opportunities for things to go wrong”, check out Full stack improv: from idea to app in 45 minutes, because we should remember to have some fun too.
See you in Vegas
Yes, many sessions will be recorded. But the conversations, the connections, and the breakthrough ideas generated over a shared whiteboard? Those only happen in Las Vegas. Register now for Google Cloud Next ’26 before passes sell out.
We can’t wait to build with you.
https://developers.googleblog.com/you-cant-stream-the-energy-a-developers-guide-to-google-cloud-next-26-in-vegas/
