Master AI-Assisted Development with GitHub Copilot

AI-assisted development is no longer a novelty. it’s becoming a core skill for modern developers. GitHub Copilot can dramatically accelerate how you write, review, and refactor code, but only if you know how to use it well.

This hands-on workshop goes beyond autocomplete and demos. You’ll learn how to use GitHub Copilot as a true AI pair programmer, one that understands context, follows your intent, and helps you write cleaner, more secure, production-ready code.

Through real-world examples and guided exercises, you’ll explore Copilot’s capabilities, Agent Mode, and advanced prompting techniques, while learning practical guardrails for security and maintainability.

By the end, you’ll know how to work faster without sacrificing code quality and how to confidently use Copilot in real projects.

What You’ll Get

• 🧑‍💻 65% hands-on learning with real coding exercises in Python and C#
• ⚡ Live demos + guided practice using GitHub Copilot
• 🧠 Clear mental models for how Copilot works under the hood
• 🔐 Best practices for secure, responsible Copilot usage
• 🤖 Hands-on experience with Copilot Agent Mode & integrations
• 🛠️ Mini end-to-end project to apply everything you learn
• 📚 Curated resources & further learning links
• 💬 Live Q&A and peer discussions

Who Should Attend?

This workshop is ideal for:

• Intermediate developers (Python, C# or JavaScript) who want to work faster with AI
• Developers curious about AI-assisted coding beyond basic autocomplete
• Engineers using (or planning to use) GitHub Copilot in real projects
• Teams evaluating how Copilot fits into production workflows
• Developers who want to understand best practices, limitations, and risks of AI-generated code

You don’t need to be an AI expert — just comfortable with coding fundamentals and eager to level up how you build software.

What Will I Be Able to Do After This Workshop?

After completing this workshop, you’ll be able to:

• Use GitHub Copilot confidently as an AI pair programmer, not just an autocomplete tool
• Write, refactor, and document code faster using effective prompting and context engineering
• Understand when and how to use Copilot Chat vs Agent Mode
• Scaffold real-world components (APIs, modules, tests) with Copilot assistance
• Apply security and quality guardrails when working with AI-generated code
• Review Copilot suggestions critically and adapt them to your coding style
• Integrate Copilot into daily development workflows with confidence

Walk away knowing how to turn Copilot into a productivity multiplier, without losing control of your codebase.

Meet Your Instructor

Michelle Sandford

Developer Engagement Lead at Microsoft

Michelle is a Developer Engagement Leader who builds with GitHub and Azure AI and learns in public. A community builder and technical storyteller, she connects developers, MVPs, and ecosystems while shaping clear, practical conversations around AI-powered engineering. Michelle focuses on shipping real solutions, designing scalable developer programs, and bridging the gap between engineering teams and the field, so developers feel supported from first line of code to production.