Mentoring and Judging the VSLive! AI Hackathon

I am genuinely excited to participate as a mentor and judge at the Visual Studio Live! 2026 Microsoft AI Hackathon right on the Redmond, Washington Microsoft HQ campus. I get to spend two evenings in a room full of developers, helping them turn their ideas into AI solutions. Then after they’re done building, I’ll have the fun and hard job of judging what they create.

That is my favorite kind of event. I love the energy of a hackathon, the pressure of a deadline, and the moment a rough idea turns into something that actually runs. I cannot wait to see the ideas, products, and solutions that developers bring to life, and to help however I can along the way.

But I want to be clear about something up front. This is not just a competition. It is one of the best learning opportunities you will find anywhere in AI development right now. Where else do you get to spend two nights building real AI solutions on the Microsoft campus, side by side with Microsoft engineers, Microsoft MVPs, Microsoft Regional Directors, entrepreneurs, and other serious developers, with a shot at real cash prizes on top of it? That combination is genuinely rare.

If you are a developer building in the Microsoft ecosystem, you should be there. Let me tell you why.

A rare chance to learn AI by building it

The fastest way to learn AI development is by building something real, under pressure, with experts sitting next to you. That is exactly what this hackathon gives you.

Over two evenings you will get hands-on experience designing and shipping AI solutions with Microsoft’s modern AI stack including Microsoft Foundry, Azure OpenAI, Microsoft Copilot, AI agents, Azure, and .NET. You will move past ideation, the proof-of-concept stage, and actually deliver something that works. And you will do it alongside industry experts and a room full of other developers who are pushing on the same problems you are.

That is the part I want to underscore. Opportunities to learn by doing, with this caliber of mentors in the room and on a campus like this, do not come around often. You walk out of these two nights a better AI developer than you walked in. The prizes are the icing. The experience and the learning are the real prize.

About the VSLive! AI Hackathon

The Microsoft AI Hackathon runs alongside Visual Studio Live! @ Microsoft HQ 2026, which takes place July 27-31, 2026 at Microsoft Headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The format is exactly what I want out of a build event. You learn during the day in the conference sessions, then you build at night, on the Microsoft campus, with Microsoft engineers, MVPs, and industry leaders in the room with you.

Here is the hackathon schedule:

• Tuesday, July 28, 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM - kickoff, team formation, and your first sprint
• Wednesday, July 29, 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM - final build time and submissions
• Thursday, July 30, 11:00 AM - awards ceremony, right before the keynote

It all happens at the Microsoft Commons Mixer in Building 98 on the Redmond campus. This is an in-person only event. There is no virtual option, which is part of what makes it special. You are building shoulder to shoulder with other developers and mentors, not through a screen.

Teams can be a solo hacker up to a group of four developers. If you are showing up alone, that is totally fine. You can form a team onsite, and honestly some of the best hackathon teams I have seen came together the night of the event.

A few practical notes so you can plan ahead. Everyone on a team registers individually, so just list your teammates during registration and they will group you together. On night two you will submit your code along with a short demo video, so leave yourself time to record it.

One thing to note about eligibility: Microsoft employees and contractors, along with event speakers, exhibitors, and sponsors, are not eligible to compete in the hackathon.

What you can build

The hackathon is focused on AI, and the challenge themes give you a lot of room to be creative:

• Best Azure OpenAI / LLM-Powered App
• Best Microsoft Copilot Integration
• Best AI Agent or Workflow Automation
• Microsoft .NET Powered Business Applications
• Creative Applications

Projects get evaluated on the things that actually matter when you ship software:

• Relevance to real problems
• Architecture and design
• Safety and security
• Creativity
• User experience
• Overall impact

You will declare one primary category, and you can optionally declare a secondary category too, so a strong project can compete on more than one front.

Existing frameworks and tools are fair game, but the project itself needs to be started at the event. And to be clear, you keep full ownership and rights to your project intellectual property (IP). What you build is yours.

I want to see people take a real business problem and turn it into something practical using Microsoft AI technologies. If you build something clever, useful, and well thought out, it will stand out. That is the part I am most looking forward to as a judge.

Win cash from a $25,000 pool

Let’s talk about the prizes, because they are real money, and there are a lot of them.

There are 18 cash prizes on the table, drawn from a $25,000 prize pool, headlined by a $6,000 Grand Champion award. That is not a single winner-take-all trophy. It is 18 different chances to walk away with cash.

Top awards

• Grand Champion — $6,000 — the overall best project across innovation, execution, and impact
• Best Team Build — $2,000 — the strongest project from a team
• Best Solo Hacker — $2,000 — the strongest project from an individual

Think about that for a second. With 18 prizes across three top awards and five categories, the odds of leaving with cash are genuinely good, especially for a focused, two-night build. Whether you are rolling in with a full team or going it alone, there is a real prize with your name on it if you build something great. That is a strong reason to bring your best idea and give it everything for two nights.

Who is judging and mentoring

I am proud to be part of a great group. Alongside me, the confirmed judges and proctors include Brian Randell, Phil Japikse, Allen Conway, and Microsoft representatives. Having Microsoft engineers and MVPs in the room means you are not just building in isolation. You can ask questions, get unstuck, and get real feedback while you work.

Come find me during the event. Seriously. That is what I am there for. If you are stuck on an idea, wrestling with an architecture decision, or just want a second set of eyes on your approach, grab me. Helping developers build is the whole reason I said yes to this.

Register for the conference and join the hackathon

If you can attend Visual Studio Live! @ Microsoft HQ, do it. Five days of deep technical training on the Microsoft campus, across tracks like Modern Software Engineering, The Core of .NET, Full Stack Web Development, Cloud and Microservices, Cutting-Edge AI, Data and Analytics, and DevOps. You will get the latest on .NET 10+, ASP.NET Core, Blazor, C#, GitHub Copilot, and AI-powered development, and then you get to put it straight to work in the hackathon.

Participation in the hackathon is free for everyone registered for the conference. So if you are already coming to VSLive!, there is no reason not to join. You are on campus, you are learning all day, and the hackathon is the perfect way to turn that learning into working code.

You can register and find full details here:

• VSLive! @ Microsoft HQ 2026 registration
• VSLive! @ Microsoft HQ 2026 home
• Hackathon details
• My sessions at VSLive!

Can’t attend the full conference?

Here is the part I really want to make sure you catch. You do not have to register for the full conference to join the hackathon.

If you cannot attend the conference but you are in the Seattle and Redmond area, you can join just the hackathon for $50. That is it. Fifty dollars gets you two nights on the Microsoft campus, mentors and Microsoft engineers in the room, a shot at up to $25,000 in prizes, and the experience of hacking at Microsoft HQ.

That is one of the best deals in tech events right now, and you should take it. Spots are limited and it is in-person only, so if you are local, claim your spot and join us.

I hope to see you there

Whether you come for the full week of Visual Studio Live! or just for the hackathon, get registered and bring your best idea.

If you come, find me. I would love to hear what you are working on.

Let’s build.