Running this workshop
Thanks for running this workshop with your community! This section has everything you need: timing plans, a checklist, notes for each module and promo copy.
The workshop in one paragraph
Section titled “The workshop in one paragraph”Attendees build an AI agent from scratch in Python, without a framework, for a made-up conference called the Lumen AI Summit. They then write evals to measure it, attack it in a capture-the-flag game, and defend it with five layers of security. Everything runs on attendees’ laptops with a free open model through Ollama, or on any OpenAI-compatible provider. No accounts, API keys or credits are required.
Who it’s for
Section titled “Who it’s for”- Developers new to AI. Some Python experience is enough. No AI background needed.
- Developers who already use AI frameworks. They will see what’s under the hood and pick up evals and security, which most tutorials skip.
- Not ideal for complete beginners to programming. For them, the facilitator can live-code Modules 1 to 3 while the room follows along.
How it fits with other workshops
Section titled “How it fits with other workshops”This workshop is vendor neutral and framework free on purpose. It pairs well with workshops on MCP, LangChain and the Microsoft Foundry Toolkit: run this one first to teach the fundamentals, then one of those to go deeper on a specific stack.
What you need
Section titled “What you need”| Facilitator | One person who has run through all modules at least once. See the facilitator notes. |
| Helpers | Ideally one per 10 to 15 attendees, mostly for setup problems in the first half hour |
| Room | Tables, power sockets for everyone, a projector |
| Network | Wifi is only needed for setup. Once the model is downloaded, everything works offline. |
| Attendees | A laptop with 8 GB of RAM or more and Python 3.10 or newer |
Pick your format
Section titled “Pick your format”The workshop is modular. Run all of it in a day, or pick parts for a shorter event. See Formats and timing.
Presenting
Section titled “Presenting”The site is designed to be projected. Open each module page and walk through it with the room. The diagrams, tables and code blocks work as slides. Use the browser zoom (Ctrl or Cmd and +) so the back row can read it.
Make it yours
Section titled “Make it yours”Translate it, swap the example data for a local event, or add a module. It’s all Markdown. See Contributing, and please send improvements back so every chapter benefits.
After your event
Section titled “After your event”Share photos and highlights with your community, and send feedback or suggestions through GitHub issues. Feedback from organizers is how this workshop gets better.