Welcome to the 2026 GIS in Action Annual Conference hosted by the Oregon & SW Washington Chapter of the Geospatial Professional Network & Cascadia ASPRS.
What happens when a software developer who works with GIS decides to learn about AI agents -- not through courses or certifications, but by simply trying to build something? What started as a straightforward goal to learn about AI became something unexpected that is actively being used across the company to help our GIS developers. AI helped create the lesson plans, walking me through unfamiliar concepts like RAG, agents, and MCPs, then became a collaborator during development -- and eventually a user of what we built together, operating ArcGIS Pro the way any analyst would. Attendees will come away with a better understanding of what these AI terms actually mean, why they matter for GIS professionals and developers, and how conversational AI can become a genuine learning and collaborative partner rather than just a search engine or code resource. No prior AI experience or specific language required. Expect false starts, course corrections, and the unexpected ways that learning by building takes you further than you planned -- and we'll let AI take a test drive with ArcGIS Pro to show the audience what it can do.
