Zero to Agents Addis Ababa - My Second Event, Global Winners, and the Power of Local Builders

A few weeks ago, in May 2 2026, I hosted Zero to Agents Addis Ababa in collaboration with Vercel and honestly, I didn’t expect my second event ever to turn into something this big.

What started as a local builder event around AI agents and modern tools eventually led to participants from Addis Ababa placing #1 and #2 globally in the hackathon.

Even now, it still feels unreal to say that.

Starting with an idea

The goal of the event was simple: Bring together builders, students, developers, and curious people who wanted to experiment with AI agents and actually build things.

I’ve always believed there are many talented builders locally who just need the right environment, community, and opportunity to showcase what they can do.

So I started organizing.

I used my community channels, shared announcements online, invited people from different builder spaces, and slowly the event started gaining momentum.

For me, the most exciting part wasn’t just hosting the event — it was seeing people genuinely interested in creating real projects.

Not just consuming AI content. Not just watching trends. Actually building.

Hosting is harder than it looks

Since this was only my second event, I learned very quickly how much work happens behind the scenes.

As attendees, people usually only see the exciting part: the talks, projects, demos, and final results.

But organizing an event means constantly solving problems in real time.

Managing communication, helping participants, coordinating schedules, answering questions, handling unexpected issues, and keeping the energy alive throughout the event became a huge learning experience for me.

There were stressful moments. Things didn’t always go exactly as planned. But honestly, that’s what made the experience valuable.

It taught me adaptability, patience, and how important community management really is.

Watching builders grow in real time

One of the best parts of the event was seeing how quickly people evolved once they started building together.

Some participants joined with only rough ideas. Some had never worked with AI agents before. Others simply came to explore and learn.

But as the event continued, people started collaborating, helping each other, sharing ideas, debugging projects together, and pushing their builds further.

The atmosphere slowly became more than just a hackathon.

It became a real builder environment.

The moment everything changed

Then came the final announcement.

Out of nearly 8,000 builders across 40+ countries, projects from our Addis Ababa event placed #1 and #2 globally.

That moment honestly changed how I see local community events.

Seeing builders from Ethiopia compete — and win — on a global stage was incredibly inspiring.

It proved that talent exists everywhere. People just need access, exposure, and opportunities.

Final reflection

Hosting Zero to Agents Addis Ababa taught me that community building is not just about gathering people in one room.

It’s about creating momentum, encouraging people to experiment, and building spaces where others feel motivated to create.

For my second event ever, this experience taught me more than I expected about leadership, execution, communication, and the power of local builder communities.

Huge appreciation to everyone who joined, built, supported, and helped make the event possible.

This is only the beginning.