David Kjerrumgaard

Developer Advocate · StreamNative

Real-time data, decoded.

I help engineering teams design streaming systems that react in milliseconds — and I make the hard parts make sense, on stage and in code.

50
Talks delivered
31+
Conferences
2
Books authored
7 yrs
Pulsar committer
David Kjerrumgaard speaking

As seen at

  • ApacheCon
  • Current
  • Pulsar Summit
  • Berlin Buzzwords
  • Data Streaming Summit
  • NDC London
  • Community Over Code
  • Flink Forward
  • Iceberg Summit
  • Conf42
  • DataCon LA
  • DataWorks Summit
  • DeveloperWeek Austin
  • Embedded Fest
  • JDevSummit-IL
  • Open Source Analytics Conference
  • Budapest Data + AI Forum
  • AI DevWorld
  • Real-Time Analytics Summit
  • ScyllaDB Summit
  • P99 CONF

What I speak about

Signature topics

01

Real-Time, Event-Driven Architecture

Designing systems that react in milliseconds — event sourcing, broker-side filtering, and the patterns that make streaming reliable in production.

02

Apache Pulsar in Production

From core concepts to advanced patterns, drawn from "Pulsar in Action" and seven years as a project committer.

03

Cost-Efficient Streaming at Scale

Cutting the operational overhead and runaway bills of Kafka and Pulsar without sacrificing throughput or reliability.

04

Streaming Infrastructure for the AI Era

Turning data pipelines into context streams — feeding real-time, personalized data to AI agents and the systems that serve them.

About

I consider myself a globally recognized expert in the world of real-time data, messaging systems, and Big Data technologies. I am also a committer on the Apache Pulsar project, having provided invaluable contributions to the advancement of this groundbreaking event streaming platform over the past seven years.

My work traces back to the early days of the big-data ecosystem, where I helped organizations move away from traditional batch processing toward reliable edge-to-core streaming analytics — drawing on real-world architectural patterns proven while engineering solutions for Fortune 500 companies.

As an accomplished author, I have penned the highly regarded book "Pulsar in Action," which serves as a definitive guide for those seeking to master the intricacies of Apache Pulsar. I am also a co-author of "Practical Hive," adding to my list of notable publications.

With numerous speaking engagements around the world, my influence and expertise extend far beyond my written work. This site captures some of the captivating and informative talks I have delivered across the globe as an authority on topics related to real-time data and messaging technologies.

Books

Let's work together

Available for talks, workshops, panels, podcasts, video series.

From the blog

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