Skills sticks when you actually use them
Watching is not the same as doing. This is where you point what you’ve learned at real work — either quietly on your own with hands-on scenarios, or competitively by building something and entering the Agent-a-thon.
Practise on your own, or build to compete
Both routes use the same skills. One is low-pressure and self-paced; the other has a deadline, judges and prizes.
Try it yourself
Choose a practical scenario and complete the hands-on task at your own pace. Submit your work for a chance to win a Microsoft-branded T-shirt.
Agent-a-thon & contests
Build an agent that solves a real problem and put your skills to the test. Enter the competition for a chance to win a Surface Go
TRY IT YOURSELF
Hands-on scenarios to work through
Pick one that looks like your own work. Each takes fifteen minutes to an hour, and each ends with something you could genuinely use.
Catch up
Get on top of what you missed.
Behind on a conversation or coming back to a pile of notes? Start here.
Create & communicate
Turn information into something useful.
Shape rough inputs into an update, story or message someone can actually use.
Prepare
Walk in ready.
Bring together context, open questions and useful background before the conversation starts.
Research & analyse
Go from question to insight.
Investigate a topic or make sense of information and data.
Hand it off
Stop doing the same thing again.
Find work an agent could take on, then check whether the output is good enough to trust.
Build & improve
Make something that works for you.
Build an agent around a real problem, try it, break it and make it better.
Win a Microsoft-branded T-shirt
Try any of the scenarios below and submit two screenshots: one showing your prompt in the selected app and one showing your final output. We’ll review all submissions for compliance, and the first 300 eligible entries will receive a Microsoft-branded T-shirt. T&C apply.
Agent-a-thon & contests
Build agents that solve real-world problems and win prizes such as a Surface Go. Registration is now open. Join us on 3 December
Each event aligns to different agent tools and build depths, helping you choose what’s right for you—and build solutions you can use right away at work.
Pick a real problem
Choose something that genuinely annoys you or your team every week. The best entries solve a small problem properly.
Build your agent
Use the tools you learned in Learn. Solo or in a small team. Start from scratch.
Submit your entry
Share what you built, the problem it solves and a short demo.
Judging and prizes
Reviewers score real-world usefulness and originality. Winners take prizes and get their work showcased.
Thank you! Your details have been submitted successfully.
Catch up
When the work has moved on without you. Choose a scenario that looks familiar and try it for yourself.
I’m 40 messages behind
You’ve landed in a busy thread. Pull out what was decided, what’s still open and who owes what.
My meeting notes are a mess
Turn rough notes into something stakeholders can read and act on.
Create & communicate
When the work has moved on without you. Choose a scenario that looks familiar and try it for yourself.
One message, three audiences
Take the same update and make it work for an employee, manager and executive.
Find the executive story
Turn detailed information into the part leadership actually needs.
Turn an idea into something shareable
Start with a rough idea and shape it into structured content others can respond to.
Prepare
When the work has moved on without you. Choose a scenario that looks familiar and try it for yourself.
Prepare for a customer conversation
Pull together context, open items and useful questions before a call.
Walk into a meeting ready
Turn pre-reading and context into the things worth knowing and discussing.
Research & analyse
When the work has moved on without you. Choose a scenario that looks familiar and try it for yourself.
Investigate a business question
Give Researcher a real question and push beyond the first answer.
Find the story in the data
Give Analyst a dataset and look for patterns worth investigating.
Hand it off
When the work has moved on without you. Choose a scenario that looks familiar and try it for yourself.
This task comes back every week
Pick one recurring piece of work and explore whether an agent could take on part of it.
Could an existing agent do this?
Start with the job, not the technology. Work out whether an available agent fits.
Build & improve
When the work has moved on without you. Choose a scenario that looks familiar and try it for yourself.
Build your first agent
Give an agent one clear job, ground it in useful knowledge and test it with realistic questions.
Build a Skilling Advisor
Create an agent that helps someone navigate approved learning based on their needs.