Docling: Insights & Lessons from Building an Open-Source AI Standard for Unstructured Data

Join this session from the core Docling team to learn more about this emerging open-source AI project and go behind the scenes with insights into its journey.

We will start by exploring what Docling is and how it can help address key unstructured data use cases — ranging from RAG and information extraction to broader document-related agentic workflows. Beyond current capabilities, we will also provide a sneak peek of exciting upcoming developments on our roadmap.

Moreover, we will share key learnings from the Docling journey: the challenges and opportunities of open-sourcing a research-driven project, the process of growing and nurturing an ecosystem, and the experience of donating the project to the LF AI & Data Foundation as part of a broader push toward open standardization.

The talk will highlight what it takes to cultivate an active contributor community, balance innovation with governance, and evolve a research technology to a trusted industry standard — along with practical lessons relevant to anyone building sustainable open-source AI infrastructure.