🛠️ Build, Innovate, and #Hacktogether! 🛠️
2025 is the year of AI agents! But what exactly is an agent, and how can you build one? Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting out, this FREE three-week virtual hackathon is your chance to dive deep into AI agent development.
🔥 Learn from 20+ expert-led sessions streamed live on YouTube, covering top frameworks like Semantic Kernel, Autogen, the new Azure AI Agents SDK and the Microsoft 365 Agents SDK.
💡 Get hands-on experience, unleash your creativity, and build powerful AI agents—then submit your hack for a chance to win amazing prizes! 💸
Key Dates
- Expert sessions: April 8th 2025 – April 30th 2025
- Hack submission deadline: April 30th 2025, 11:59 PM PST
For even more AI learning opportunities, join us on April 8th in an attempt at a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for "most users to take an online multi-level AI lesson" in 24 hours.
Registration 🎟️
Register now! That form will register you for the hackathon. Afterwards, browse through the live stream schedule below and register for the sessions you're interested in.
Once you're registered, introduce yourself and look for teammates!
Project Submission 🚀
Once your hack is ready, follow the submission process. 📝
Prizes and Categories 🏅
Projects will be evaluated by a panel of judges, including Microsoft engineers, product managers, and developer advocates. Judging criteria will include innovation, impact, technical usability, and alignment with corresponding hackathon category.
Each winning team in the categories below will receive a prize. 💸
- Best Overall Agent - $20,000
- Best Agent in Python - $5,000
- Best Agent in C# - $5,000
- Best Agent in Java - $5,000
- Best Agent in JavaScript/TypeScript - $5,000
- Best Copilot Agent (using Microsoft Copilot Studio or Microsoft 365 Agents SDK) - $5,000
- Best Azure AI Agent Service Usage - $5,000
Each team can only win in one category. All participants who submit a project will receive a digital badge.
Stream Schedule 📅
The series starts with a kick-off for all developers, and then dives into specific tracks for Python, Java, C#, and JavaScript developers. The Copilots track will focus on building intelligent copilots with Microsoft 365 and Copilot Studio.
English
Week 1: April 8th-11th
| Day/Time | Topic | Track | Resources |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4/8 09:00 AM PT | AI Agents Hackathon Kickoff | All | - |
| 4/9 09:00 AM PT | Build your code-first app with Azure AI Agent Service | Python | - |
| 4/9 12:00 PM PT | AI Agents for Java using Azure AI Foundry | Java | - |
| 4/9 03:00 PM PT | Build your code-first app with Azure AI Agent Service | Python | - |
| 4/10 09:00 AM PT | Build and extend agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot | Copilots | - |
| 4/10 12:00 PM PT | Transforming business processes with multi-agent AI using Semantic Kernel | Python | - |
| 4/10 03:00 PM PT | Build your code-first app with Azure AI Agent Service (.NET) | C# | - |
Week 2: April 14th-18th
Week 3: April 21st-25th
| Day/Time | Topic | Track | Resources |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4/21 12:00 PM PT | Knowledge-augmented agents with LlamaIndex.TS | JS | - |
| 4/22 06:00 AM PT | Building a AI Agent with Prompty and Azure AI Foundry | Python | - |
| 4/22 09:00 AM PT | Real-time Multi-Agent LLM solutions with SignalR, gRPC, and HTTP based on Semantic Kernel | Python | - |
| 4/22 10:30 AM PT | Learn Live: Fundamentals of AI agents on Azure | - | - |
| 4/22 12:00 PM PT | Demystifying Agents: Building an AI Agent from Scratch on Your Own Data using Azure SQL | C# | - |
| 4/22 03:00 PM PT | VoiceRAG: talk to your data | Python | - |
| 4/23 09:00 AM PT | Building Multi-Agent Apps on top of Azure PostgreSQL | Python | - |
| 4/23 12:00 PM PT | Agentic RAG with reflection | Python | - |
| 4/23 03:00 PM PT | Multi-source data patterns for modern RAG apps | C# | - |
| 4/24 06:00 AM PT | Engineering agents that Think, Act, and Govern themselves | C# | - |
| 4/24 09:00 AM PT | Extending AI Agents with Azure Functions | Python, C# | - |
| 4/24 12:00 PM PT | Build real time voice agents with Azure Communication Services | Python | - |
Week 4: April 28th-30th
| Day/Time | Topic | Track | Resources |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4/29 01:00 PM UTC / 06:00 AM PT | Irresponsible AI Agents | Java | - |
| 4/29 04:00 PM UTC / 09:00 AM PT | Securing AI agents on Azure | Python | - |
| 4/29 12:00 PM PT | Bringing robots to life: Real-time interactive experiences with Azure OpenAI GPT-4o | Python | - |
| 4/29 10:00 PM UTC / 03:00 PM PT | Evaluating Agents | Python | - |
Spanish / Español
See all our Spanish sessions on the Spanish landing page. Consulta todas nuestras sesiones en español en la página de inicio en español.
Portuguese / Português
See our Portuguese sessions on the Portuguese landing page. Veja nossas sessões em português na página de entrada em português.
Chinese / 简体中文
See our Chinese sessions on the Chinese landing page.
请在 中文落地页 查看我们的中文课程。
Office Hours 🕒
For additional help with your hacks, you can drop by Office Hours in our AI Discord channel.
Here are the Office Hours scheduled so far:
| Day/Time | Topic/Hosts |
|---|---|
| Every Thursday, 12:30 PM PT | Python + AI (English) |
| Every Monday, 03:00 PM PT | Python + AI (Spanish) |
| Thursday, April 10th, 2:05 PM PT | Java + AI (English) |
| Monday, April 21st, 3:00 PM PT | C# + AI (English) |
Code Samples
One of the best ways to get started with AI agents is to use GitHub Models, since it allows anyone with a GitHub account to use powerful, free LLMs.
Check out the following repository to see how to use popular Python AI agent frameworks with GitHub Models: https://github.com/Azure-Samples/python-ai-agent-frameworks-demos
In addition, all of the speakers will be sharing code samples during their sessions to demonstrate their topics. Note that Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Models, and Azure AI Agents service are all paid services, so you will need an Azure subscription to use them. Here are tips for minimizing costs when using Azure:
- Azure free trial: For developers who are new to Azure, you can sign up for a free trial that includes $200 in credits for the first 30 days.
- Azure for students
- Free tiers: Many Azure services offer free tiers that allow you to use a limited amount of resources without incurring any charges.
We are not providing free credits for this hackathon, so you will need to use the options above to minimize costs.
Learning Resources 📚
Join TheSource EHub to explore top picks including trainings, livestreams, repositories, technical guides, blogs, downloads, certifications, and more, all updated monthly. The AI Agent section offers essential resources for creating AI Agents, while other sections provide insights into AI, development tools, and programming languages.
You can also post questions in our discussions forum, or chat with attendees in the Discord channel.