The July 16th Detroit Software Developers Meetup brought together an enthusiastic and growing community of builders, technologists, and newcomers eager to break into tech. Hosted at RIVET Work HQ in Downtown Detroit, the evening served as an accessible entry point for those looking to understand how modern technologies like APIs, AI, and smart contracts are powering real-world tools.
This wasn’t just a meetup for seasoned engineers—it was a welcoming space for first-time developers, no-code tinkerers, and anyone curious about the future of software.
The event opened with Amy Hang, Detroit’s Chainlink Community Developer, introducing Chainlink’s role in connecting smart contracts with external data. She highlighted how Chainlink Functions allow developers to bridge blockchain and real-world APIs—a topic expanded later in the night by a Chainlink Developer Expert.
Phil Borel, Engineering Manager at Rivet and co-organizer of the Detroit Software Developers Meetup, introduced the night's speakers and shared Rivet’s mission in construction tech. His vision for the meetup is simple: give local devs a place to learn, grow, and build together—especially those just getting started.
Umelo Onyejiaka, founder of DevOps Detroit, shared the goals of his group and the importance of uniting Detroit’s diverse tech talent across cloud, DevOps, backend, and more. His next meetup takes place August 14 at Detroit Shipping Company, and he made one thing clear:
“People are sleeping on Detroit Tech—and they shouldn’t be.”
Bryant Dumas Jr. delivered a beginner-friendly explanation of APIs and Cloud API Gateways using one of the evening’s most memorable analogies: ordering food at a restaurant. In this model, the API is like the waiter who takes your request (a GET or POST), delivers it to the kitchen (the backend system), and returns with your food (the response). He walked attendees through how API Gateways work in AWS, how they route traffic to Lambda functions, and how to log and debug those workflows.
Phil Borel walked us through Rivet’s journey building RosieBot, an AI-powered assistant developed using the Model-Context Protocol (MCP). He broke down the full architecture, from frontend prompt capture to backend API orchestration using Claude. The big lesson? AI-powered features can expose gaps in product usability and also inform future design—if you’re willing to embrace inconsistency, accuracy trade-offs, and prompt engineering headaches.
Patrick "Barba" Carneiro (of 77 Innovation Labs) introduced the crowd to Chainlink Functions, showing how smart contracts can connect to any external data source—even APIs with password protection—through off-chain computation. His live demo using the Chainlink Playground made it easy to understand how data flows from a smart contract to a JavaScript function and back. He also previewed upcoming Chainlink products like ACE (on-chain identity) and CRE (low-code orchestration), hinting at a future where blockchain development becomes even more accessible.
The night wasn’t just about code—it was about connection. One attendee, Rochelle Stevenson, shared how she’s learning how to leverage Web3 and API's to enhance her services. She prototyped her first app using Replit and AI tools and now attends events like this to deepen her understanding of APIs and backend systems.
“Everything is explained in such a techy way,” she said, “so it’s important to have people who can break it down—use visuals, analogies, real-life examples. That’s what helps people understand and feel included.”
As the night closed, the organizers shared their hopes for the future. Dave Koziol, a longtime Google Developer Group mentor, reminded us that events like this only work because of people who care about passing the torch:
“I want to impart all of my experience into a variety of brains so that people keep building the community. I’d like to retire one day—but not before the next generation of organizers is ready to lead.”
And if there’s one thing this night made clear, it’s this:
Detroit’s tech ecosystem is growing—and people are sleeping on it. They shouldn’t be.
Thanks for coming out. And if you missed it, no worries—this is just the start. Stay tuned for detailed recaps of each talk, speaker spotlights, and more community stories like Rochelle’s.
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