Open-Source AI in Practice: Building, Evaluating, and Sharing Agentic Tools

About this event

# **Open-Source AI in Practice: Build and Evaluate Agentic Tools with OpenLLM** Join Coffee & Code Philadelphia and OpenLLM for a hands-on workshop focused on building, evaluating, and contributing to open-source AI tools. This session is designed for developers who want practical experience working with open-source models, agentic workflows, and the infrastructure required to operate AI systems reliably. Rather than spending the day on high-level presentations, we will focus on one technical theme, a live demonstration, and a guided exercise that participants can follow or adapt to their own projects. ## **What We’ll Cover** During the workshop, participants can expect: * A practical introduction to OpenLLM and the problems it helps developers solve * A live demonstration of an open-source AI model, tool, or agent workflow * A guided exercise to build or modify a small AI application * Techniques for evaluating agent behavior, reliability, and output quality * Discussion of safety, deployment, and operating open-source AI in real projects * Examples of how developers can contribute code, documentation, integrations, testing, and feedback * Open Q&A with the OpenLLM team and Philadelphia builders The exact technical focus and exercise will be announced closer to the event. ## **Who Should Attend** This workshop is intended for: * Software engineers * AI and machine learning builders * Technical founders * Researchers and students * Open-source contributors * Developers experimenting with AI agents, models, evaluation, or infrastructure Participants of different experience levels are welcome, but basic programming experience will be helpful for the hands-on portion. ## **What to Bring** Please bring: * A laptop * A development environment you are comfortable using * A GitHub account * Any installation instructions or prerequisites announced before the event You are also welcome to bring an existing AI or open-source project you are working on. ##…