LLM vs SLM: Building and Evaluating Agentic and RAG Systems

Hack Session

About the session

This session provides a hands-on, engineering-focused comparison of Large Language Models (LLMs) and Small Language Models (SLMs) in real-world applications. Participants will see both models implemented side by side across two key paradigms: Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and agentic workflows. We start by building a RAG pipeline with an LLM and replicate it using an SLM, comparing performance across quality, latency, cost, and consistency. The session then extends to a simple multi-agent workflow (planner–executor), evaluating both approaches on reasoning, tool usage, and robustness, along with the impact of optimizations like prompt design, fine-tuning, and memory. By the end, participants will gain a practical framework for choosing between LLMs and SLMs based on use case, constraints, and scale. 

Speaker

Download Brochure