In 2026, GitHub Copilot Dev Days set out to help developers build with AI. It did that — and then it did something bigger. It reminded a global
community that the fastest way to grow isn't a download link or a documentation page. It's the people around you who are building the future alongside you. Across 58 countries, 294 community-led events brought 22,042 developers together face-to-face — not just to learn a tool, but to experience turning their own ideas into working software with AI. And behind it, in large part, were Microsoft MVPs who carried that experience straight to the places where developers live, learn, and build.
The People at the Center of It All
Trace the success of Dev Days back to its source and you don't find a content package — you find people. Organizers pointed again and again to one advantage above all: partnership with Microsoft MVPs and GitHub Stars, who were already embedded in their local ecosystems and knew how to bring developers together around something new.
MVPs organized 104 of the 301 events worldwide — more than a third of the entire global series.
But they did far more than host. They recruited attendees, localized the message, mentored newcomers, and kept the conversation alive long after the last session. That's the one thing a centralized program can't manufacture: trust. When developers show up to create alongside someone they already know from their local user group, they don't just attend — they build.
One Global Template, Hundreds of Local Stories
A developer in Seoul had a different night than one in Kampala, Mumbai, Lagos, or Lima — yet every event stood on the same foundation. Dev Days gave organizers a repeatable “event-in-a-box” so they could stop building slides from scratch and start building community. Many remixed the content into something entirely their own. The result was a campaign that scaled globally while still feeling unmistakably local — communities from South Korea to Pakistan, Norway to the Philippines, each bringing their own character to the same goal: helping developers turn imagination into reality with AI.
Voices From the Community
The real proof is in the words of the people who showed up to build — from Dublin to Seoul. MVP names link to their Microsoft MVP profiles.
Dublin, Ireland: Over 40 developers packed the room to explore Copilot's agentic capabilities — and the energy stole the night.
“The energy in the room was unreal — great people, great conversations.” — Hugo Barona, MVP, Dublin
Norway: A community-run Dev Day at Enora drew a full house, co-hosted by MVP Johan Ludvig Brattås and fellow MVPs. The loudest message wasn't about any single tool.
“I intentionally didn't mention a single AI tool by name.” — Maxim Salnikov, speaker, Norway
Chennai, India: 100+ developers, packed sessions, and unstoppable energy — with a hands-on build of a Social Bingo game in Agent Mode.
“We're not just hosting events — we're building a movement around AI-first development.” — Saravanan Ganesan, MVP, Chennai
Nairobi, Kenya: In Nairobi, developers didn't just learn — they walked out with a fully offline, on-device AI health assistant running on their own machines.
“Prompt engineering is the infrastructure.” — Edgar McOchieng, MVP, Nairobi
Toronto, Canada: A full house of 250+ packed Microsoft's Toronto HQ for sessions on agentic workflows and CI/CD that thinks.
“AI tools are evolving quickly, but the real advantage comes from communities that experiment, share lessons learned, and help each other deepen their expertise in building AI-powered solutions through local events such as GitHub Copilot Dev Days and practical hands-on labs..” — Jack Lee, MVP, Toronto
Sahiwal, Pakistan: Dev Days didn't only land in the biggest hubs. In Sahiwal, students left thinking less about tools and more about how to lead them.
“We have to be the driver — not let AI drive.” — Eman Tahir, attendee, Sahiwal
Manila, Philippines: Hosted by DEVCON Philippines, Manila's developers saw hands-free, agent-powered development live — led by MVP Ziggy Zulueta.
“Hands-free development isn't about replacing developers — it's about amplifying them.” — Ziggy Zulueta, MVP, Manila
Seoul, South Korea
Two tracks and four sessions showed how one Copilot subscription follows you across every editor — co-led by MVPs Kim Jinseok and Bora Lee, with Microsoft's Justin Yoo.
“The only instruction I needed was: ‘upgrade it.’” — Kim Jinseok, MVP, Seoul
Why This Matters More in the Age of AI
Here's the lesson under all the numbers. AI is changing how we build faster than anyone can keep up with alone. The developers who thrive won't be the ones reading every release note in isolation — they'll be the ones plugged into a community that learns and builds out loud, together.
That's what Dev Days revealed. The technology opened the door; the community — the MVP who answered “wait, how did you do that?”, the peer whose idea sparked yours — is what turned a one-time demo into the confidence to build something real.
In the AI era, community isn't a nice-to-have on top of learning. It is the learning.
The Event Is Over. Your Creating Isn't.
The best community events don't end — they start something. Dev Days as a live series has wrapped, but every workshop, lab, and resource is still live, still free, and still waiting for you. You don't need an event on the calendar to keep building. You need an hour, your favorite IDE, and the same content thousands of developers just used to bring their own ideas to life.
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Start (or continue) at the central hub
Everything is here: 12 hands-on workshops across 6 languages and 6 IDEs. Pick your stack and build something real:
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- New to Copilot? Start free and self-paced with the GitHub Learn Labs at learn.github.com/skills.
- Go deeper: the Agent Labs (Python, TypeScript, Java, .NET) and Copilot CLI workshops take you from first prompt to real workflows.
- Your IDE, your way: dedicated labs for Visual Studio 2026, JetBrains / IntelliJ, and Xcode.
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Keep the resources close
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- Content Kit & organizer repo: github.com/github/GitHub-Copilot-Dev-Days
- Copilot Docs: docs.github.com/en/copilot
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The real secret — keep creating with your local community
Self-paced content teaches you the what. Your local MVPs and User Groups teach you the how, the why, and the shortcuts nobody wrote down.
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- Find your local User Group on the Microsoft Tech Community User Groups directory and show up to the next meetup.
- Follow the MVPs who hosted Dev Days in your region — they're still posting, teaching, and building.
The workshops are the map. Your community is the guide.
Thank You, MVP Community
Every city was a different story — a local organizer who spent their evenings on logistics, a speaker who volunteered a Saturday, a community leader who helped someone build their very first thing with AI. From Nairobi to Toronto, from Dublin to Seoul, from Chennai to Manila, MVPs showed the world what community-led creativity can do.
Dev Days may have started as a global initiative, but its success was built one local community at a time — and that success belongs to the MVPs who made it happen.
The events are over. The community is just getting started. Come build with us.
Start a workshop today · Find your local User Group · Follow your local MVPs