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PyConZA 2026

Zero Dependencies, Including the AI: Coding Python on a Local Model

Speaker Andre van Zuydam
Track Data Science and Engineering
Type Normal Talk

Abstract

We've quietly made our development loop depend on everything. A package registry that can pull a library overnight. A cloud AI that needs a key, a connection, and your code sitting on someone else's server. Pull the cord, and what's left?


This talk is a push toward zero. Zero third-party dependencies in the code, and an AI assistant that runs on your own machine instead of a data center. I'll share what it takes to make a local model genuinely useful for day-to-day Python work: the setup, the hardware reality, where a local model already holds its own, and where it still falls short of the cloud giants.


We'll look at the real trade. You give up some raw model quality. You get back privacy, no rate limits, no monthly bill, no code leaving your laptop, and an environment that still works on a plane with the wifi off.
You'll leave knowing whether zero-dependency development and a local coding model fit your work, and how to try it this week without buying a server.

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