Partner case study Β· CAMP / RUN Β· DEVCON Manila with Avtica and Amihan

At the frontier: the Philippines’ first Hermes Agentic Code Camp and Hackathon

2026 Β· National office beta

Built withHermes Agent by Nous Research

Preparing Filipino builders for what’s next, and showing partners what DEVCON can do with their tool. We took Nous Research’s open-source Hermes Agent from first test to a national code camp beta in two weeks, and 30+ young builders shipped working agents on it in a single night. The beta ran at the national office, hosted by Amihan and Avtica, and is ready to scale nationwide with your support.

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Builders, speakers, mentors, and organizers of CAMP / RUN together at the Avtica Office, under the CAMP / RUN and DEVCON 17 screens
The CAMP / RUN builders, speakers, and organizers Β· October 2, 2026 Β· Avtica Office, GF Salcedo Towers
What you get as a partner

Speed, skill, energy, and scale, working for your tool

Partner with DEVCON and your technology reaches builders who move fast, build for real, and live in every region of the country.

  • 2 weeksSpeed: from first test of your tool to a national code camp beta
  • 3 layersDepth: builders used the tool end to end, not just a demo
  • 30+Energy: young Filipino builders shipped 7 working submissions
  • 13Reach: DEVCON locations ready to run your next camp
Watch

The night, in under a minute

The first Hermes Agent hackathon in the Philippines, and what it opens up for Filipino builders.

You join a proven partner stack

Partners who built this with us

A tech company, an AI firm, government, and a volunteer community each carried a layer of the night. Your organization slots into the same model.

  • Avtica

    Co-hosted the national office beta at the Avtica Office in GF Salcedo Towers, and CTO Dexter John Genterone judged the builds.

  • Amihan Global Strategies

    Co-hosted the national office beta, taught Hermes Agent fundamentals (Vince Miguel Rosit), ran the live technical demo and built the challenge kit (Karen Pearl Pabilando), and judged.

  • DEVCON Manila and DEVCON HQ

    Organized the camp with a 13-role volunteer team. Founder Winston Damarillo gave the keynote, and Executive Director Dom De Leon kicked off Forge63.

  • Government and cloud

    DOST-ASTI’s Elmer Peramo shared Agham na Ramdam, the agency’s AI initiatives, alongside a session on running agents in AgentCore.

Overhead view of the full room: DOST-ASTI speaker on stage while builders work on laptops at long tables, with the Hermes Setup Guide QR on screen
DOST-ASTI’s Agham na Ramdam talk, with the Hermes Setup Guide on screen and every table building.
The frontier

Your tool, in builders’ hands first

AI is moving from answering questions to taking action. Partners at that frontier need developers who adopt early and build for real. Hermes Agent, an open-source agent from Nous Research, turns a plain-language request into real changes in real systems, through GitHub, Google Workspace, Vercel, Neon, and Supabase.

At CAMP / RUN, developers didn’t just try it. They learned it, built with it, ran it, and proved it works, all in one night.

Hermes Agent

The tool: Hermes Agent by Nous Research. Open source, runs on your own laptop or a small server, works from the CLI, a desktop app, or Telegram, and connects to real systems through MCP.

Amihan software engineer Karen Pearl Pabilando presenting the Hermes Agent technical demonstration to a room of builders
The Hermes Agent technical demo by Amihan’s Karen Pearl Pabilando.
We do the enablement for you

From install to a connected agent in one night

Your onboarding is handled before builders arrive. Every developer set up Hermes on their own laptop, then built on a shared sandbox: Suki Mart, a fictional Filipino retail business.

Our team wrote an 18-page Hermes Agent Complete Setup Guide and a nine-step workshop deck, so a first-time builder goes from zero to a fully connected agent in one sitting. We do the same for your tool.

  1. Install the CLIOne command installs uv, Python, and the launcher; verify, set up a model, health-check.
  2. Desktop appA native window on the same backend; settings and secrets kept in separate files.
  3. Telegram gatewayThe same agent from a phone, locked to one allowed user.
  4. Local hostingRuns as a background service, always on.
  5. Pick a VPSEight providers compared, including free tiers.
  6. Deploy to a VPSNon-root user, firewall, true 24/7 uptime.
  7. MCP serversVercel, Neon, and Supabase from the catalog.
  8. GitHub and Google WorkspaceScoped tokens and OAuth; secrets never in config.
  9. Verify the whole setupCLI, Desktop, Telegram, and five MCP servers, checked.
Setup guide step 1: install the Hermes CLI
Setup guide step 7: how MCP servers connect
Setup guide step 9: verify the whole setup

The challenge: build all three layers, connected

Build all three layers, connected: MCP server, skill, and desktop plugin
  • The hands (MCP server): wrap the Suki Mart sandbox in domain-specific tools.
  • The playbook (skill): teach Hermes a multi-step workflow using those tools.
  • The face (desktop plugin): a pane or command in Hermes Desktop that runs it.

Connected means a GUI action β†’ skill β†’ MCP β†’ real data back in the GUI. Teams picked a track: Business Operations, Customer Experience, or Open Innovation. AI-assisted coding was allowed.

Judging: 100 points

The three layers carry 60 points; relevance and uniqueness carry 25. Ties go to integration, then relevance.
CriterionWhat judges look forPoints
MCP serverTools run correctly on the sandbox and are domain-specific, not a generic passthrough.20
SkillChains MCP tools into a real multi-step workflow that triggers reliably from a natural prompt.20
Desktop pluginWorks inside Hermes Desktop, is usable, and looks native.20
End-to-end integrationGUI action β†’ skill β†’ MCP β†’ real data back in the GUI.10
RelevanceSolves an actual Business Operations or Customer Experience problem.15
UniquenessAn original idea, not a copy of another team or an existing plugin.10
Demo and pitchClear problem β†’ solution β†’ live proof within five minutes.5
Total100
Proof your tool works

What they shipped in two hours

Seven submissions from six teams, each a working use case built on the partner’s tool and solving a real Suki Mart problem. Several are still live today, ready to showcase.

  • A team demos its Hermes build live on the big screen while the hosts look on
  • Builders celebrate together, holding up a DEVCON sign under the CAMP / RUN screen
We run the event, end to end

One room, one night, every minute planned

Venue, run of show, judging, branded materials, and a 13-role volunteer team: partners show up and their tool shines. The national office beta, hosted by Amihan and Avtica at the Avtica Office in GF Salcedo Towers, ran the full program from a 10 AM team call to an 11:30 PM egress, with team keys released on cue and every demo timed from the first word.

  1. 10:00 AMTeam call, setup, and final practice
  2. 3:00 PMRegistration and team grouping
  3. 4:00 PMOpening and pre-event survey
  4. 4:10 PMKeynote: Winston Damarillo
  5. 4:20 PMHermes Agent fundamentals
  6. 5:10 PMAgham na Ramdam: AI initiatives by DOST-ASTI
  7. 5:40 PMRunning agents in AgentCore
  8. 6:10 PMHermes Agent technical demo
  9. 7:00 PMBuild challenge briefing and rubric
  10. 7:10 PMTwo-hour team build (the clock runs through dinner)
  11. 9:10 PMBuild freeze and judges
  12. 9:20 PMFive-minute live demos
  13. 10:25 PMForge63 kickoff
  14. 10:45 PMWinners and photos
  15. 11:30 PMEgress
CAMP / RUN sticker sheets: Build Agentic, Agent Mode On, Go Agentic with Hermes, Learn Build Run, and DEVCON 17
Custom sticker sheets: “Build agentic,” “Agent mode on,” and “brb, my agent is building.”
CAMP / RUN key visual: Go agentic with Hermes Agent, workshop and mini hackathon
The CAMP / RUN key visual, presented by Avtica, Amihan, and DEVCON.
Your next 13 cities

Proven at the national office, ready for 13 locations

The beta ran at the national office, hosted by Amihan and Avtica, and is ready to scale nationwide with your support. Back one camp and the playbook runs in every region. DEVCON’s chapter network reaches 13 locations across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, a 60,000+ strong community, and 120+ free events every year, run by local volunteer officers. What partners get:

  • A playbook, not a one-off: a setup guide, a challenge kit and sandbox, a 100-point rubric, and a named role sheet, rebuilt around your tool.
  • Low barrier to entry: Hermes runs on the participant’s own laptop, with a free local option and a phone-ready Telegram gateway.
  • Repeatable format: learn, build for two hours, demo in five minutes. The same run of show works in any city.
  • A next step: builders move on to Forge63, so the momentum continues after the night ends.
What is next: Forge63 kickoff. Learn, build, demonstrate, Forge63
For global partners

Help us bring this agentic training nationwide

Beta at the national office, hosted by Amihan and Avtica, and ready to scale nationwide with your support. Open-source AI labs, platforms, and funders: back the next run and reach builders in all 13 locations. We bring the playbook, the people, and the community. You bring the tool and the mission.

  1. Bring your tool or themeAn agent framework, a platform, or a mission.
  2. We build the kitSetup guide, sandbox, challenge, and rubric.
  3. We run it nationwideAcross DEVCON locations, with local officers.
  4. You see the resultsBuilders, shipped projects, and an impact report.
Help us bring this agentic training nationwideSee partnership options
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Help scale the Hermes Agentic Code Camp nationally, across 13 locations and beyond the capital.

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