Brent Laster - Biography - No Fluff Just Stuff

Brent Laster

Global author, trainer and founder of Tech Skills Transformations LLC

Hi, I'm Brent Laster - a global trainer and book author, experienced corporate technology developer and leader, and founder and president of Tech Skills Transformations LLC. I've been working with and presenting at NFJS events for many years now and it is always exciting and interesting.

Through my decades in programming and management,I've always tried to make time to learn and develop both technical and leadership skills and share them with others Regardless of the topic or technology, my belief is that there is no substitute for the excitement and sense of potential that come from providing others with the knowledge they need to help them accomplish their goals.

In my spare time, I hang out with my wife Anne-Marie, 4 children and 2 small dogs in Cary, North Carolina where I design and conduct trainings and write books. You can find me on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/brentlaster), Twitter (@brentclaster) or through my company's website at www.getskillsnow.com.

PRESENTATIONS

Advanced GitHub Copilot: Tips and tricks to make the most out of your AI assistant
AI 3-in-1: Agents, RAG and Local Models
AI 3-in-1: Agents, RAG and Local Models
AI 3-in-1: Agents, RAG and Local Models
AI Agents and RAG for DevOps Pipelines (Format: Half-day workshop)
AI for DevOps: A Full-Day Hands-On Workshop
AI for IaC and SRE: Intelligent Analysis, Alerting, and Escalation (Format: 9
An Overview of GitHub Copilot
Containers Demystified! - Hands-on approach to understanding container mechanics, standards, and tooling.
Containers in depth – understanding how containers work to better work with containers
DIY Gen AI: Running LLMs locally with LM Studio and Ollama
DIY Gen AI: Running LLMs locally with LM Studio, Hugging Face, and Ollama
DIY Gen AI: Running LLMs locally with LM Studio, Hugging Face, and Ollama
Gen AI: Adding AI into your Software Development Processes
Gen AI: AI Agents - Making LLMs work together in an organized way
Gen AI: Automating Testing with GitHub Copilot
Gen AI: Creating GitHub Copilot Extensions
Gen AI: Creating GitHub Copilot Extensions
Gen AI: Creating GitHub Copilot Extensions
Gen AI: Testing with GitHub Copilot
Gen AI: Testing with GitHub Copilot - hands-on workshop - bring a laptop
Gen AI: Understanding and Using RAG - Making LLMs smarter by pairing your data with Gen AI (1/2 day)
Gen AI: Understanding and Using RAG - Making LLMs smarter by pairing your data with Gen AI (1/2 day)
Gen AI: Understanding AI Agents
Gen AI: Understanding AI Agents
Gen AI: Understanding and Navigating the LLM Landscape
Gen AI: Understanding and using Codeium - the free AI Coding and Chat alternative to Copilot
Gen AI: Understanding and Using RAG - Making LLMs smarter by pairing your data with Gen AI
Gen AI: Working with GitHub Copilot Workspace
Gen AI: Working with GitHub Copilot Workspaces
Gen AI: Working with Hugging Face - the "GitHub" for Large Language Models
Gen AI: Working with Hugging Face - the "GitHub" for Large Language Models
Gen AI: Working with Hugging Face - the "GitHub" for Large Language Models
Generative AI for Developers – Deep Dive
Generative AI for Developers – Deep Dive
GitHub Actions Deep Dive
GitHub Copilot - The Complete Course
GitHub Copilot Deep Dive
GitHub Copilot for DevOps
GitHub Copilot for DevOps
GitHub Copilot Jumpstart
Hands-On FastMCP for AI-Augmented DevOps Tools (Format: half-day workshop)
Incorporating AI into your SDLC
Incorporating AI into your SDLC
Incorporating AI into your SDLC
Introduction to GitHub Actions - How to easily automate and integrate with GitHub
Introduction to GitHub Actions - How to easily automate and integrate with GitHub
Kubernetes for Developers Deep Dive
Understanding and Using GitHub Security
Understanding and Using GitHub Security
Understanding MCP (Model Context Protocol)
Understanding MCP (Model Context Protocol) - A hands-on guide
Understanding MCP (Model Context Protocol) - A hands-on guide
What's new and exciting with GitHub Copilot?

EVENTS

Gateway Software Symposium April 4 - 5, 2025 St. Louis, MO
New England Software Symposium May 2 - 3, 2025 Boston, MA
ÜberConf July 15 - 18, 2025 Denver, CO
Central Iowa Software Symposium September 5 - 6, 2025 Des Moines, IA
Twin Cities Software Symposium September 12 - 13, 2025 Minneapolis, MN
Northern Virginia Software Symposium September 19 - 20, 2025 Reston, VA
Pacific Northwest Software Symposium October 10 - 11, 2025 Seattle, WA
DevOps Vision December 1 - 3, 2025 Clearwater, FL
ÜberConf July 14 - 17, 2026 Denver, CO

BOOKS

Jenkins 2 - Up and Running

All about Jenkins 2, Pipelines-As-Code, CI/CD, etc.

Professional Git

Leverage the power of Git to smooth out the development cycle

Professional Git takes a professional approach to learning this massively popular software development tool, and provides an up-to-date guide for new users. More than just a development manual, this book helps you get into the Git mindset—extensive discussion of corollaries to traditional systems as well as considerations unique to Git help you draw upon existing skills while looking out—and planning for—the differences. Connected labs and exercises are interspersed at key points to reinforce important concepts and deepen your understanding, and a focus on the practical goes beyond technical tutorials to help you integrate the Git model into your real-world workflow.

Git greatly simplifies the software development cycle, enabling users to create, use, and switch between versions as easily as you switch between files. This book shows you how to harness that power and flexibility to streamline your development cycle.

  • Understand the basic Git model and overall workflow
  • Learn the Git versions of common source management concepts and commands
  • Track changes, work with branches, and take advantage of Git's full functionality
  • Avoid trip-ups and missteps common to new users

Git works with the most popular software development tools and is used by almost all of the major technology companies. More than 40 percent of software developers use it as their primary source control tool, and that number continues to grow; the ability to work effectively with Git is rapidly approaching must-have status, and Professional Git is the comprehensive guide you need to get up to speed quickly.