Build an AI-Ready Middleware Environment Without Adding Complexity, Risk, or New Silos

IBM MQ, ACE, Kafka, CP4I, and AI initiatives are becoming more connected than ever. The challenge is making them work together securely, reliably, and intelligently without losing visibility, governance, or control.

Middleware Mash-Up Philadelphia 2026
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
Topgolf, King of Prussia, PA
Free to attend. Meals and Topgolf gameplay included.

Reserve Your Spot

Space is limited at the venue. Register early to secure your seat.

A Practical Technical Event for the Next Stage of Enterprise Integration

Modernization is no longer just about updating platforms or moving workloads.

Middleware teams are now being asked to support AI initiatives, event-driven systems, cloud-native integration, DevOps self-service, and always-on operations, while still protecting the IBM MQ and ACE environments that the business already depends on.

Middleware Mash-Up Philadelphia 2026 is built to help teams think through that reality.

You’ll hear from middleware experts, integration architects, and technical practitioners on how organizations can connect IBM MQ, ACE, Confluent Kafka, CP4I, OpenShift, MCPs, and Agentic AI initiatives while maintaining the security, governance, testing, and operational control required in complex enterprise environments.

When & Where

Date: Wednesday, June 10, 2026

Time: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Followed by networking and Topgolf gameplay

Location: Topgolf, King of Prussia, Greater Philadelphia Area

Address: 588 N Gulph Rd, King of Prussia, PA 19406

Cost: Free to attend. Admission, meals, and golf are included.

Register Now

What You’ll Learn

Middleware Mash-Up is designed for technical professionals who need practical insight into where enterprise integration is heading and how to prepare their environments for what comes next.

Build AI-ready integration environments

Explore how IBM MQ, ACE, Kafka, CP4I, OpenShift, and Agentic AI can fit together without creating new operational silos.

Strengthen governance around AI and MCPs

Learn how custom MCPs and secure prototyping environments can help teams explore Agentic AI while protecting enterprise data and infrastructure.

Connect MQ and Kafka more effectively

Understand how trusted transactional messaging and event streaming can work together to support real-time analytics and AI-driven insight.

Modernize integration with ACE v13 and CP4I

See how containerized integration patterns, accelerators, and automated code generation can support a more scalable integration foundation.

Enable secure DevOps self-service

Explore access models that give DevOps teams the autonomy they need while maintaining governance, visibility, and administrative control.

Improve operational confidence

Learn how monitoring, testing, automation, access control, and governance can help reduce risk across complex middleware estates.
Reserve Your Spot

Featured Sessions

Secure AI Governance: Building Custom MCPs with IBM BOB

Gregory Hanson, The OCC

Relying on out-of-the-box MCPs for your critical infrastructure exposes your rapidly evolving AI initiatives to severe governance risks. Trusting unverified, generic services with your enterprise data is as risky as handing the keys to your Ferrari over to an acknowledged high-end car thief. This interactive session provides the definitive solution, guiding you through building a custom MCP server, client, and AI Agent using IBM’s BOB—engineered specifically to satisfy your organization’s strictest security requirements without risking your core infrastructure.

By the end of this highly interactive session, attendees will:

  • Design a custom MCP architecture that aligns perfectly with your enterprise’s unique AI governance policies.
  • Deploy a sample application pattern within a risk-free prototyping environment for immediate governance review.
  • Integrate IBM TechZone, MQ, OpenShift, and BOB into a cohesive ecosystem to accelerate your operational efficiency.

Join us to see how organizations can reduce AI governance risk by building custom MCPs that align with their own security requirements, using IBM BOB, TechZone, MQ, and OpenShift in a safe prototyping environment. Don’t miss this interactive session.

Register today to reserve your spot.

Building a Unified Data Backbone: Orchestrating IBM MQ and Confluent Kafka

Nick Glowacki, IBM

Your business-critical data is currently trapped in isolated messaging silos. When IBM MQ and Confluent Kafka operate independently, your enterprise cannot leverage AI to extract real-time insights from daily business events, effectively stalling your journey toward an intelligent enterprise. This session provides the architectural blueprint for unifying these powerhouse platforms into a single, cohesive data backbone. Stop managing disconnected streams and start transforming your data into actionable intelligence.

By the end of this session, attendees will:

  • Contrast the specific, high-ROI enterprise use cases for IBM MQ versus Confluent Kafka.
  • Design an integrated data architecture that seamlessly bridges both messaging platforms.
  • Apply AI-driven analytics to combined data pipelines to extract real-time business insights.

Nick’s session will show how organizations can move beyond disconnected messaging silos and start building a unified data backbone that supports both trusted transactional communication and high-value streaming analytics

Don’t miss this session. Register today

Architecting the AI-Ready Integration Hub: ACE v13 and CP4I

Bill Karounos, TransformaTech

Legacy integration layers acting as simple message routers are actively bottlenecking your enterprise’s shift to a “Zero-Friction” model. Without an intelligent, containerized business nervous system, your infrastructure cannot support high-velocity, automated logic or Agentic AI interactions. This session provides a practical roadmap to modernize your infrastructure, establishing a highly scalable, AI-ready foundation using the latest advancements in IBM ACE v13 and Cloud Pak for Integration (CP4I).

By the end of this session, attendees will:

  • Map a definitive migration strategy from legacy systems to a containerized CP4I environment running ACE v13.
  • Design critical data conduits utilizing IBM MQ and ACE to securely power Agentic AI interactions.
  • Deploy integrations exponentially faster by leveraging built-in accelerators and automated code generation.
Secure Your Seat

Governed Self-Service: Empowering DevOps Without the Risk

Peter D’Agosta, Avada Software

Modernizing IBM MQ and ACE environments requires DevOps to move fast, but granting broad administrative access forces a dangerous trade-off between deployment velocity and enterprise security. Relying on traditional access models exposes your critical infrastructure to compliance failures and operational bottlenecks. This session demonstrates how to eliminate this friction using true Governed Self-Service. Discover how to leverage Infrared360 to empower your teams with secure, delegated administration—combining OAuth2, SSO, MFA, and advanced role-based access—without sacrificing centralized control.

By the end of this session, attendees will:

  • Compare traditional access methods against modern security models utilizing OAuth2, SSO, and MFA tailored for integrated middleware environments.
  • Construct segmented, role-based access control (RBAC) models that grant DevOps complete operational autonomy while maintaining strict administrative governance.
  • Implement true Governed Self-Service strategies to accelerate daily middleware operations across IBM MQ and ACE without compromising enterprise security.
Unlock Secure Self-Service

Who Should Attend

Middleware Mash-Up Philadelphia 2026 is built for professionals who work with, manage, modernize, or depend on enterprise middleware environments.

This event is a strong fit for:

  • IBM MQ administrators and architects
  • ACE and integration specialists
  • Middleware operations teams
  • Platform, infrastructure, and DevOps teams
  • IT leaders responsible for modernization, resilience, automation, or AI-readiness
  • Teams evaluating how MQ, Kafka, ACE, CP4I, OpenShift, and AI initiatives fit together
  • Organizations looking to improve governance, visibility, and control across complex integration environments

The Official Middleware Mash-Up Afterparty at Topgolf

After a full day of technical sessions, stick around for food, drinks, conversation, and casual Topgolf gameplay.

The afterparty is a chance to keep the discussion going with speakers, peers, and industry experts in a relaxed setting. Whether you golf regularly or have never picked up a club, the experience is built for everyone to enjoy.

Never been to Topgolf? Learn more about what to expect.

Want to Speak at Middleware Mash-Up?

We are currently accepting speaker abstracts for future Middleware Mash-Up events.

If you have a technical deep dive, customer story, IBM MQ or ACE insight, event streaming perspective, or Agentic AI use case to share, we’d like to hear from you.

Submit Your Speaker Application

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Middleware Mash-Up Philadelphia 2026 is free to attend. Admission, meals, and Topgolf gameplay are included.

This event is designed for IBM MQ administrators, ACE specialists, middleware architects, integration teams, operations teams, DevOps teams, platform teams, and IT leaders involved in modernization, automation, event streaming, governance, or AI-ready integration initiatives.

Yes. Middleware Mash-Up is designed to provide practical, technical insight from experienced middleware, integration, and automation professionals.

Current session topics include AI governance, custom MCPs, IBM BOB, IBM MQ, Confluent Kafka, ACE v13, CP4I, OpenShift, Agentic AI, governed self-service, DevOps access, RBAC, OAuth2, SSO, MFA, OWASP vulnerability testing, and automated certificate approvals.

It is a middleware and integration event focused on how enterprise teams can prepare for AI-ready operations. The sessions connect AI topics to real middleware environments, including IBM MQ, ACE, Kafka, CP4I, OpenShift, governance, access control, and operational visibility.

After registering, you will receive event updates and be notified when the official session agenda becomes available.

Capacity at the Topgolf venue is limited. Registering early helps secure your spot and ensures you receive agenda updates as soon as they are released.

Reserve Your Spot for Middleware Mash-Up Philadelphia 2026

Join middleware, integration, DevOps, and operations professionals for a full day of technical sessions, expert discussion, networking, food, drinks, and Topgolf gameplay.

The event is free to attend, but venue capacity is limited. Register today to secure your place.