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# David vonThenen
Senior AI/ML Engineer at NetApp building scalable models and resilient architectures.

## About

David vonThenen develops machine learning solutions within the Office of the CTO at NetApp. He focuses on making AI architectures scalable and resilient, helping engineering teams move past simple vector search into robust Hybrid RAG implementations.

His background spans conversational AI, Kubernetes, and storage firmware. Today, he regularly explores the security side of machine learning—showing developers how to use adversarial techniques for digital anonymity, and identifying typing sounds through acoustic model vulnerabilities.


## Upcoming Sessions

### World Congress 2026 North America · September 23, 2026
San José, CA
- [KV Cache Is Not About Speed: It's About Surviving Inference Costs](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-north-america/sessions/1668-kv-cache-is-not)


## Past Sessions

### World Congress 2026 Europe · July 8, 2026
Berlin, Germany
- [From Vector Search to Better Understanding: How Hybrid RAG Improves Answers, Not Just Matches](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-europe/sessions/968-from-vector-search) · 120 min
- [The Sound of Your Secrets: Teaching Your Model to Spy, So You Can Learn to Defend](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100357-the-sound-of-your-secrets-teaching-your-model-to-spy-so-you-can-learn-to-defend) · 30 min · 🎥 Watch recording

### World Congress 2025 · July 9, 2025
Berlin, Germany
- [Confuse, Obfuscate, Disrupt: Using Adversarial Techniques for Better AI and True Anonymity](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1456-confuse-obfuscate-disrupt-using-adversarial-techniques-for-better-ai-and-true-anonymity) · 30 min · 🎥 Watch recording



## Videos

- [The Sound of Your Secrets: Teaching Your Model to Spy, So You Can Learn to Defend](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100357-the-sound-of-your-secrets-teaching-your-model-to-spy-so-you-can-learn-to-defend) · David vonThenen
- [Confuse, Obfuscate, Disrupt: Using Adversarial Techniques for Better AI and True Anonymity](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1456-confuse-obfuscate-disrupt-using-adversarial-techniques-for-better-ai-and-true-anonymity) · David vonThenen


## Links

- [X](https://twitter.com/davidvonthenen)
- [LinkedIn](https://linkedin.com/in/davidvonthenen)
- [Blog](https://davidvonthenen.com)