MUG London October 2026: Building a Cloud-Native Data Stack with MongoDB
London MongoDB October 2026
Fewer Moving Parts, Smarter Data: Building a Cloud-Native Data Stack with MongoDB 🚀
Join us for a MongoDB User Group meetup in London 😎
Modern applications can quickly accumulate more infrastructure than they need: databases, data pipelines, synchronization services, search engines, queues, connectors, and the operational work required to keep everything running together.
In this meetup, we’ll explore a simpler approach to building and working with modern data applications.
We’ll start with MongoDB Senior Solutions Architect Ricardo Villanueva, who will look at the hidden cost of every moving part in a cloud-native data stack and how teams can decide when simplifying their architecture can reduce operational overhead, improve reliability, and accelerate delivery.
We’ll then move from architecture to hands-on data engineering with a guided MongoDB Fundamentals of Data Transformation Skill Badge session. Using MongoDB’s Aggregation Framework, we’ll explore how data can be filtered, grouped, reshaped, and analyzed directly within MongoDB.
Whether you’re new to MongoDB or looking for practical ways to simplify how your applications store, process, and work with data, you’ll leave with useful concepts, hands-on experience, and a chance to connect with the London MongoDB community.
Grab a drink, meet fellow developers, and explore what becomes possible when your data stack has fewer moving parts.
Agenda
18:00: Arrival, Food and Networking
18:45: Fewer Moving Parts, Lower Cloud Costs: Building a Cloud-Native Data Stack for Beginners
19:30: Break
19:45: Fundamentals of Data Transformation Skill Badge
20:30: Event Close
Session Details
1) Fewer Moving Parts, Lower Cloud Costs: Building a Cloud-Native Data Stack for Beginners
Ricardo Villanueva, Senior Solutions Architect, MongoDB
A modern application often accumulates more infrastructure than it needs: a database, a search engine, a synchronization pipeline, queues, connectors, and the operational burden of keeping everything consistent.
This session introduces a beginner-friendly way to evaluate a cloud-native data architecture through one question: what are we paying to operate every moving part?
Using MongoDB Atlas examples, Ricardo will explore how a document database, integrated search, and managed operations can help reduce duplication, failure modes, and time spent maintaining glue code.
Ricardo will present a practical framework for deciding when fewer components mean lower cost, faster delivery, and a more reliable service.
Speaker bio: Ricardo Villanueva is a Senior Solutions Architect at MongoDB based in London. He brings more than 15 years of distributed-systems design experience and a background spanning software engineering, media technology, and cloud-native solutions architecture. Ricardo helps engineering teams make pragmatic architecture choices that support resilience, developer productivity, and efficient operations.
LinkedIn: villanuevaricardo
2) Fundamentals of Data Transformation Skill Badge
Marcus Peck, London MongoDB User Group Co-Lead & MongoDB Lead Certification SME
Once you have simplified where your data lives, the next question is: how much can you do with that data without introducing another processing layer?
In this guided MongoDB University Skill Badge session, we’ll explore MongoDB’s Aggregation Framework and learn how to process and transform data directly within the database.
We’ll work through the fundamentals of building aggregation pipelines, including how individual stages work together to progressively filter, group, reshape, and analyze data.
You’ll learn how to:
Understand the role of MongoDB’s Aggregation Framework
Build aggregation pipelines using common stages such as
$match,$group, and$projectSort and limit results to produce useful application and analytical outputs
Work across collections using
$lookupUnderstand why pipeline stage ordering matters
Use explain plans to examine how an aggregation pipeline is executed
The session is designed as a practical introduction for developers who want to move beyond basic MongoDB queries and start processing data more effectively within MongoDB.
We’ll work through the learning material together, followed by the MongoDB University Skill Check for those who want to earn the Fundamentals of Data Transformation Skill Badge.
Speaker bio: Marcus Peck is a Co-Lead of the London MongoDB User Group and a MongoDB Lead Certification Subject Matter Expert. He was an alternate finalist in the London MongoDB Hackathon: Agentic Evolution in May 2026. Marcus has spoken at MongoDB User Groups in other regions, and is also a Microsoft Certified Trainer.
LinkedIn: marcuspeckcuhk