Speaker · ClueCon 2027

Alex Balashov

Alex Balashov is the Principal of Evariste Systems, an established VoIP engineering consulting company founded in 2007, based in northeast Georgia, USA. His expertise is focused on open-source infrastructure and platform-building for SIP service providers, chiefly with Kamailio, but has diverse interests, from UI development to AI to road cycling and racing.

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On the agenda

Alex Balashov's sessions

August 12, 2026

11:15 am

Alex Balashov: Navigating AI and open-source with sanity

The last year has seen a tremendous amount of change in the world of LLMs ("AI"), some good, a good bit of it bad. The year of Claude Code has also reverberated throughout open-source projects, giving developers an unwelcome taste of the societal and occupational impact of LLMs. This potpourri presentation will digest the most important takeaways: what's possible, what's new, and most vitally, what not to do. It will touch on open-source slop PRs, local models, GPU rental, vibe coding, tokenmaxxing, and much more.

Roundtable: Is AI Voice Ready for the Real World?

AI voice is moving fast, but production is a very different test than a polished demo. Real-world voice applications have to handle latency, interruptions, call transfers, unreliable networks, legacy telecom systems, compliance requirements, and human escalation without breaking the experience. This roundtable will explore what it really takes to make AI voice work beyond the demo, from infrastructure and architecture to interoperability, reliability, and trust. Panelists will discuss where AI voice is working today, where it still falls short, and what builders need to solve next to make real-time AI communication ready for production.

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Chicago · August 9–12, 2027

See you in the room.

Talks, the Coder Games, and a different Chicago night out every evening.