The Journey to Kiu: From an Idea to a Global Solution
Have you ever wanted to build a virtual assistant but felt overwhelmed by AI and serverless concepts?
Published Feb 3, 2025
Last Modified Feb 8, 2025
For months, I was on that same path. Through trials, errors, and a lot of experimentation, I managed to create something that today connects thousands of people worldwide: Kiu, a virtual assistant for AWS communities. And the best part is, I want to share every step of this process with you, so you too can build something amazing.
If you're interested in learning about serverless architectures, integrating Generative AI models with Amazon Bedrock, their advantages, challenges, and everything it takes to bring an open-source application to life, this article series is for you.
Kiu is much more than a virtual assistant. It’s a bridge between technological innovation and passionate AWS communities around the world. Designed with Amazon Bedrock and a serverless architecture, its purpose is to connect, inspire, and empower those who seek to learn and share knowledge.
- Deliver real-time information about AWS User Groups and their events.
- Facilitate connections within the tech community.
- Demonstrate that with the right tools, there are no limits to what we can achieve.
Oh, and by the way, it’s also a very friendly virtual quetzal. 🦜💡
It all started about 7 months ago when I set out to learn more about Generative AI. I had experimented with Amazon Bedrock, but I wanted to go further—not just explore its console, but build something functional and real that solved a concrete problem.
As a community leader, every year I faced the same challenge: answering countless questions about the AWS Community Day in Guatemala.
- Where will the event be held?
- How can I become a sponsor?
- How do I become a speaker?
Additionally, many of these inquiries came from people who were just discovering the community and wanted to know how to join, access resources, or get certified.
That's when I thought:
"What if I create a virtual assistant that can efficiently answer all these questions?"
And thus, the first version of Kiu v1.0 was born.
Image not found
With high motivation, I set out to build the first version during a week of nightly development. After 10 intensive hours, with the support and advice of Elizabeth Fuentes, I managed to connect an Amazon Bedrock agent with WhatsApp using CDK.
- Essential concepts:
I won’t lie—at first, the documentation was overwhelming. I felt lost. But with each reading, I understood more and more. If you feel the same way, believe me, you are not alone.
The first version of Kiu covered the essentials:
- Providing information about communities and events, using only four services: Amazon API Gateway, Amazon Bedrock, AWS Lambda, and DynamoDB.
Image not found
With this setup, I launched it as the assistant for the AWS Community in Guatemala and showcased it at the AWS Summit Mexico.
Image not found
In Mexico, the big question arose:
"How can Kiu reach other communities?"
That question marked the beginning of Kiu v2.0, where Ana Barragán and Alexandra Fernández helped me expand it to Colombia, integrating Sessionize for event session management.
One of the first changes was creating an automated registration system so communities could register without relying on a manual process.
How did Kiu evolve into a global solution?
From its first version, Kiu has grown significantly in scope and functionality. Initially conceived as a virtual assistant to answer questions about events and communities, new needs and challenges soon arose, driving its evolution.
To make Kiu a more robust and flexible assistant, it was necessary to improve its infrastructure and adopt a more scalable architecture.
Image not found
Some of the most important changes included:
- Automated community registration: Previously, adding a community required manual intervention. Now, with an API Gateway, AWS Lambda, and DynamoDB-based registration system, communities can self-manage within the platform.
- Expansion of communication channels: Initially, Kiu was only integrated with WhatsApp, but to improve accessibility, it now supports web platforms using React and Amplify.
- Support for multiple languages: With the help of advanced Prompt Engineering techniques and Amazon Bedrock's natural language processing capabilities, Kiu can now answer questions in different languages.
- Cost Optimization: Thanks to adopting an event-based model with Amazon EventBridge, we reduced unnecessary Lambda invocations, minimizing operational costs.
As more communities began using Kiu, the need arose to integrate the assistant with other platforms that are part of the events and community management ecosystem. Key milestones include:
- Integration with Meetup and Sessionize: This allows organizers to automatically import events and improve talk and speaker planning. Alexandra Fernández wrote an article about her experience creating the integration with Sessionize, which you can read here: https://community.aws/content/2sYaliat3cCNISUcV5R78pB9Frq/kiu-y-sessionize-transforming-event-management-in-aws-user-groups
- Use of Cognito for authentication: This facilitated access management and permissions within the Kiu platform.
Thanks to these changes, Kiu has become a key tool within the AWS User Groups ecosystem in Latin America and beyond. Currently, the assistant is active in Guatemala, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Panama, and Great Britain, with plans to expand to more regions.
Kiu has not only simplified event management and information dissemination within communities, but it has also inspired other leaders to explore AI and serverless-based solutions for their own projects.
This is just the beginning. In the upcoming articles, we will explore:
- How to connect a Bedrock Agent with WhatsApp.
- The challenge of integrating Sessionize and Meetup into an AI agent.
- Prompt Engineering and multi-language support.
- Performance and scalability.
- Observability and monitoring.
- Cost and optimization.
Kiu continues to evolve and grow. At re:Invent 2024, it made many friends, and hopefully, it will soon reach your city.
Image not found
If you're passionate about serverless, generative AI, and scalable architectures, join me in this series where I'll share every technical detail and lesson learned.
See you in the next article. 🚀🔥
Comments
Log in to comment