Inside LLMs: How They Work and Why They Scale

Introduction & Programme

Deep learning has become the core engine of modern AI, enabling models to learn rich, non linear patterns directly from data. In recent years, this paradigm has scaled into a new generation of systems capable of generating text, solving problems, and interacting in natural language: Large Language Models (LLMs).

Participants will revisit, during this 3-hour online training, the core ingredients of deep learning, i.e. embeddings and non linear transformations, and see how these principles extend to models trained on massive text corpora. We then introduce the conceptual foundations behind modern LLM architectures, explaining at a high level how they process sequences, capture relationships between tokens, and scale with data and compute.

The web session highlights the key intuition behind the transformer framework without committing to a full technical deep dive. Attendees will gain a clear sense of why transformers replaced earlier approaches, how they enable efficient parallel processing, and discuss the practical implications of these models: what they are good at, where they struggle, and how their behavior is shaped by the underlying architecture.

The goal is to provide a compact, accessible, technically informed introduction to how modern language models work.

Preliminary Programme
Friday, 5 March 2027
09:30-10:30  Recap of relevant deep learning concepts, Introduction to the transformer architecture
10:30-10:45  Break
10:45-11:45  How to train LLMs at scale
11:45-12:00  Break
12:00-13:00  Why this architecture is the winner

All the above times are given in CET (Central European Time).

Learning Objectives & Approach

The objective of this 3 hour session is to build a solid, intuitive understanding of how modern Large Language Models (LLMs) are structured and why their architecture unlocks such powerful capabilities.

Participants

This session is fully theoretical and conceptual. No coding, software setup, or hands on exercises are required. The focus is on understanding the architectural ideas behind modern LLMs, not on implementing them.

Technical Requirements
Please check with your IT department if your firewall and computer settings support web session participation (the programme Zoom will be used for this online training). Please also make sure to join the web session with a stable internet connection.

Lecturers

Robin Van Oirbeek
Robin works as a Senior Data Scientist at Ageas Re. Before that, he worked as a statistician/actuary/data scientist for different insurance companies. He holds a Master and PhD in Statistics and a Master in AI (all from the KU Leuven). He is also a former invited lecturer at UCLouvain and UAntwerp.

Language & CPD Credits

The language of the web session will be English.

CPD Credits
For this web session, the following CPD credits are available under the CPD scheme of the relevant national actuarial association:

• Austria: 3 points
• Belgium: 3 points
• Bulgaria: 4.5 points
• Croatia: individual accreditation
• Czechia: 3 hours
• Denmark: 3 credits
• Estonia: 3 hours
• Finland: 3 points
• France: 18 points
• Germany: 3 hours
• Greece: 4 points
• Hungary: 3 hours
• Iceland: 3 credits
• Ireland: 3 hours
• Italy: GdLA individual accreditation
• Latvia: 3 hours
• Lithuania: 3 hours
• Netherlands: approx. 3 points (individual accreditation)
• Norway: 3 points
• Poland: 3 hours
• Portugal: 3 hours
• Serbia: 3 hours
• Slovakia: individual accreditation
• Slovenia: individual accreditation
• Spain: CAC: 3 hours, IAE: 3 hours
• Switzerland: individual accreditation
• USA: SOA (Section B): up to 3.6 hours

No responsibility is taken for the accuracy of this information.

Fees & Registration Details

Early Bird Registration Fee (until 22 January 2027):

• For private customers in the EU: €240.00 + VAT of the billing country (example Germany: €285.60 incl. 19% VAT)
• For private customers outside the EU: €285.60 (incl. 19% VAT)• For businesses within the EU (excl. Germany, with valid VAT ID): €240.00 (net, reverse charge applies)
• For businesses in Germany: €285.60 (incl. 19% VAT)

Regular Registration Fee (from 23 January 2027):

• For private customers in the EU: €315.00 + VAT of the billing country (example Germany: €374.85 incl. 19% VAT)
• For private customers outside the EU: €374.85 (incl. 19% VAT)
• For businesses within the EU (excl. Germany, with valid VAT ID): €315.00 (net, reverse charge applies)
• For businesses in Germany: €374.85 (incl. 19% VAT)

Important VAT Information:

• For private customers with a billing address in an EU country: VAT will be charged at the applicable rate in the country of the billing address. The final amount, including VAT, will be calculated upon invoicing.
• For customers with a non-EU (third country) billing address: Only a non-company billing address is accepted for VAT compliance reasons. 19% VAT applies to all non-EU private customers.
• For businesses within the EU (excluding Germany), Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, and the UK with a valid VAT ID: The reverse charge mechanism applies (net price; VAT will not be charged). Please ensure your valid VAT ID is entered correctly during registration.
• For all customers with a billing address in Germany: 19% VAT applies.

Please submit your registration using our online form below. Closer to the event, you will receive further login details to join the web session.

Your registration is binding. Cancellation is only possible up to 2 weeks before the first day of the event. If you cancel later, the full participation fee is due. You may appoint someone to take your place but must notify us in advance. EAA has the right to cancel the event if the minimum number of participants is not reached.

We will send you an invoice via email. Please allow a few days for handling. Please always give your invoice number when you effect payment. All bank charges are to be borne by the participant.

Registration is open until two working days before the web session. If registration has already been closed for this web session, please call us or send an email to contact@actuarial-academy.com in order to find out whether a late registration is still possible.