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# Production AI Is a Systems Problem: How ML Breaks at Scale and How to Prevent It


- **Date:** Thursday, Jul 9, 2026
- **Time:** 10:50–11:20 (30 min)
- **Room:** Stage 6 - powered by Microsoft
- **Event:** World Congress 2026 Europe

## Description

Machine learning systems rarely fail because of bad models. They fail because they are treated as isolated components instead of what they really are: distributed systems.

In this talk, we’ll look at production AI through a systems engineering lens. We’ll explore the failure modes that only appear once ML systems are deployed at scale—partial outages, data inconsistencies, version skew, silent performance regressions, and feedback loops that break assumptions over time.

Drawing on real-world production patterns (presented in a generalized and anonymized way), I’ll show how applying classic distributed systems principles—such as graceful degradation, backpressure, observability, and clear contracts—can dramatically improve the reliability and maintainability of AI systems.

This session focuses less on model architecture and more on how ML systems interact with data pipelines, APIs, infrastructure, and downstream services. Attendees will leave with a practical mental model for designing, operating, and scaling AI systems that survive real-world conditions, not just demos.

## Speaker

### [Elle S](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/@anaelle-sikich)

JOBTITLE at COMPANY


## Related talks at this congress

- [Unlocking the AI Black Box: Building Trust in the Era of Agentic Production](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-europe/sessions/1445-unlocking-the-ai) — Jemiah Sius, Harry Kimpel
- [What Production Knows: Closing the Loop Between AI Agents and the Systems They Build](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-europe/sessions/1470-what-production) — May Walter
- [Your Distributed System Just Got a Brain. Now What?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-europe/sessions/1003-your-distributed) — Marcin Makowski
- [Beyond the Benchmark: How to Evaluate AI Agents in the Real World](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-europe/sessions/1311-beyond-the-benchmark) — Taylor Jordan Smith