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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.

Made possible by:

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

Ask the Experts: Solve Your Middleware Challenges

Bring your IBM MQ, ACE, Kafka, integration, governance, monitoring, or automation questions to an open forum with experienced middleware experts.

Whether you are troubleshooting a specific issue, planning a modernization effort, or looking for a better way to manage complexity, this session gives you direct access to practical guidance from people who have solved these challenges in real enterprise environments.

Have a Middleware Challenge You Want Answered?

Submit your IBM MQ, ACE, Kafka, integration, governance, monitoring, or automation question in advance. We’ll review submissions before the event and bring selected questions into the live Ask the Experts discussion.

Can’t attend in person? Submit your question anyway. If it’s addressed during the panel, we’ll follow up after the event with the expert response.

Submit Your Question

Experts Include

Nicholas Glowacki
Nicholas GlowackiExecutive IT Specialist, IBM Evangelist for IBMs integration portfolio, IBM
Nick is a technical evangelist for IBM’s integration portfolio working as a technical specialist exploring current trends and building leading edge solutions. He has spent the last 5 years working in the field and guiding a series of teams through their microservices journey. Before that he spent 5+ years in various other roles such as a developer, an architect and a IBM DataPower specialist. Over the course of his career he’s been a user of node, xsl, JSON, Docker, Solr, IBM API Connect, Kubernetes, Java, SOAP, XML, WAS, Docker, Filenet, MQ, C++, CastIron, IBM App Connect, IBM Integration Bus.
Sudhakar Bodapati
Sudhakar BodapatiIntegration Technical Specialist / Customer Success Engineer, IBM
Sudhakar serves as an Integration Technical Specialist / Customer Success Engineer at IBM, where he has been employed for over 15 years. He possesses more than 25 years of experience in integration, having worked as both an integration developer and architect. Currently, he is a member of the IBM Technical Sales team, specializes in Cloud Pak for Integration, which encompasses its range of Integration products, as well as the webMethods and Sterling portfolios.
Gregory Hanson
Gregory HansonInfrastructure Principal, The Options Clearing Corporation
A software architecture specialist with expertise in Middleware and database interfaces, Gregory has served as CTO at numerous organizations and overseen IBM MQ implementations, expansion projects, and re-architectures with clustering and HA.
Keith McAuliffe
Keith McAuliffeCTO and Head of Artificial Intelligence, Ironside
Keith McAuliffe is the Chief Technology Officer and Head of Artificial Intelligence at Ironside, an IBM Platinum Business Partner. A former IBM Distinguished Engineer and Global Client Director, Keith brings decades of deep enterprise experience to the IBM Middleware Mashup panel. Under his technical leadership, Ironside partners with organizations to seamlessly transition from integration modernization strategy to execution, building secure, scalable foundations for automation and AI-ready integration.
Bill Karounos
Bill KarounosCEO, Founder, & Principal Consultant at TransformaTech, Inc
Bill Karounos is a Senior Manager, Principal Consultant, and Technical Lead with a strong background in Project Management, Enterprise Architecture, Systems Integration, and Development. His experience spans multiple industries, including Healthcare, Insurance, Retail, Financial Services, Government, Chemical, and Utilities.

He currently leverages his business, management, and technical expertise to lead and grow TransformaTech, Inc., where he is focused on helping clients effectively use IT to run their businesses more efficiently. TransformaTech’s core areas of expertise include Project Management, Systems Integration, Cloud Integration, Architecture, and Development, with a strong emphasis on IBM Integration technologies and solutions.

Specialties: IBM App Connect Enterprise / IBM Integration Bus, IBM MQ, Systems Integration, EDI/X12, Project Management, Architecture, Design, Development

Peter D'Agosta
Peter D'AgostaCo-Founder and Chief Product Manager, Avada Software
Peter D’Agosta has been in IT for 35 years. Cofounder/COO and Product Manager at Avada Software, his background includes application and systems programming, enterprise architecture, consulting, management, analysis, strategic 24/7 systems including airline, banking, and internet, as well as technology innovation. Peter oversaw infrastructures for airlines, branch banking, and online service companies before moving into the software vendor arena where he worked with new innovations in email, messaging, portal and web service technology. Interspersed with engagements for some of the world’s largest companies, Peter’s varied background provides him a unique perspective in applied technology.

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.

Made Possible With Support From

Middleware Mash-Up Philadelphia 2026 is brought to life with the support of organizations that understand the importance of secure, reliable, and modern enterprise integration.

About TransformaTech

TransformaTech, Inc. is an IBM Business Partner and Authorized IBM Software Reseller that helps organizations improve IT and business performance through specialized expertise across the IBM Integration portfolio. The company supports clients working with IBM App Connect Enterprise, IBM MQ, DataPower, Cloud Pak for Integration, and related systems integration initiatives. Through consulting, project management, development, performance engineering, monitoring, and managed service offerings for ACE and MQ environments, TransformaTech helps organizations reduce risk, improve efficiency, and strengthen operational reliability. Its certified consultants bring deep technical knowledge, practical delivery experience, and a commitment to helping clients build secure, scalable integration environments that support modernization, automation, and long-term business goals.

Visit Website

About Ironside

Ironside, an IBM Platinum Business Partner and reseller, helps enterprises move from integration modernization strategy to execution. In partnership with TransformaTech, we support clients modernizing IBM App Connect Enterprise, IBM MQ, and IBM Cloud Pak for Integration environments, including containerized deployment patterns on Red Hat OpenShift or AWS ROSA. Ironside brings the advisory, licensing, governance, and delivery discipline needed to align modernization with business priorities, compliance requirements, and long-term platform strategy, while TransformaTech brings deep technical expertise across IBM’s integration portfolio. Together, we help organizations reduce risk, accelerate delivery, and build a secure, scalable foundation for automation, event-driven architecture, and AI-ready integration.

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About Avada Software

Avada Software helps enterprises simplify the management, monitoring, and administration of complex middleware environments. Its flagship platform, Infrared360®, supports teams responsible for IBM MQ, IBM App Connect Enterprise, Apache Kafka, and other JMS-based middleware across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid infrastructures. Through centralized visibility, secure delegated administration, synthetic transaction testing, auditing, automation, and agentless monitoring, Infrared360 helps organizations reduce operational complexity while maintaining the governance and control required for business-critical systems. Avada Software helps middleware, DevOps, and operations teams move faster, strengthen reliability, and build a more secure, AI-ready integration foundation without creating new silos or sacrificing oversight.

Visit Website

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.

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