The JavaScript AI Build-a-thon

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM (UTC)

In this session, we explore the end-to-end journey of designing and developing AI solutions with Microsoft Foundry models. The session is structured around four key phases of the model development journey. We begin with Model Understanding, where you discover the Foundry model catalog and build intuition around core model capabilities. Next is Model Selection, focusing on how to choose the right model for a given use case using benchmarks, evaluations, and leaderboards. We then move into Model Customization, covering how models can be adapted through techniques such as context engineering, fine‑tuning, and compression to better meet application needs. Finally, we close with Model Observability, highlighting how evaluations, tracing, and monitoring help ensure models behave safely, reliably, and effectively at scale. The Java Script AI Build-a-thon

5:00 PM - 6:00 PM (UTC)

This session breaks down advanced RAG patterns, from chunking and embeddings to similarity metrics, vector storage, retrieval strategies, and LLM chain responses. We’ll also explore streaming, chat history, and where GraphRAG fits in. You’ll leave with a clear blueprint for building accurate, optimized RAG pipelines for personal or enterprise-scale scenarios. Guided project: You’ll build a local serverless RAG chat app using CodeTours covering architecture, ingestion, Cosmos DB/FAISS storage, retrieval, and response generation. By the end, you’ll have a working repo plus practical intuition for tuning chunking, similarity, and evaluation. The Java Script AI Build-a-thon

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (UTC)

Get a practical introduction to building AI agents using the AI Toolkit Extension for VS Code. We’ll walk through agent design (core architecture), prompt engineering, function calling and MCP-powered tool use, tracing and evaluation using the extension. Expect a focused, actionable session that shows how to build agents that are reliable, observable, and ready for real-world scenarios. The Java Script AI Build-a-thon

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (UTC)

In this session, you’ll explore how to design scalable and reliable multi‑step AI agents by combining agentic RAG techniques, MCP‑based tool use, and proven agent design patterns. We’ll break down how these components work together to create agents that reason effectively, coordinate tasks, and integrate seamlessly with external systems. Through practical examples and reusable patterns, you’ll learn how to build agents that can scale across teams, extend to complex workflows, or be adapted for your personal projects. You’ll leave with a toolkit of approaches you can immediately apply to accelerate your agent development journey. The Java Script AI Build-a-thon

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (UTC)

In this livestream, we officially kick off the Global Buildathon Hack, bringing builders from around the world together to apply what they’ve learned throughout the series and turn ideas into real, working AI solutions. We’ll walk through the hackathon theme, structure, timelines, and judging criteria, highlight the tools and resources available to participants, and share what success looks like - from learning outcomes to real‑world impact. The Java Script AI Build-a-thon