Lunch & Learn: Small Models, Big Impact, A Builder’s Guide to Small Language Models
Join us for our monthly Lunch and Learn at the DOCK for an intro session on Small Language Models (SLMs) presented by Zaid Marji from Sapient Advisors.
Connect with other technologists and founders while enjoying lunch on us and learning all about SLMs.
In this session you'll learn:
What small language models (SLMs) are and how they work
Why builders use them instead of large models: cost, performance, and control
The kinds of problems SLMs are best suited to solve
Real-world examples and architectures
Hands-on demo: build or customize an SLM on the spot
About Zaid Marji | CTO Sapient Advisors
Zaid is a builder, strategist, and systems thinker with 20 years experience at the frontier of technology, partnering with teams that aren’t just scaling or building — they’re redefining how things work.
He has led the development of products responsible for over $100M in revenue, delivering across startups, deep tech, and complex data environments. His focus is on spotting emerging patterns early and translating vision into well-architected, scalable systems.
His recent work centers on AI-native product strategy, LLM-powered workflows, and the infrastructure needed to support intelligent, human-centered software. He helps organizations rethink what’s possible with AI — not as a buzzword, but as a tool for meaningful, lasting innovation.
As a CTO and innovation partner, he brings structure to ambitious ideas, momentum to execution, and long-term resilience to the systems he helps build.