Amara Okonkwo
ML Systems Engineer · Substrate
PROGRAM FORMAT
LAB_
DON'T JUST HEAR IT. TRY IT.
Workshops, live builds and experiments. Smaller groups, laptops open, questions encouraged.
LEARN + BUILD_SMALL GROUPS_LAPTOPS OPEN_
PROBLEM_
SETUP_
BUILD_
REVIEW_
TAKE IT FURTHER_
WHY IT MATTERS
SOME THINGSYOU ONLY LEARNBY DOING_
The Lab is a space to experiment, make mistakes, and build real skills. You don't just consume knowledge here — you put it to work.
TRY_
Hands on the keyboard. Not slides on a screen.
BREAK_
Make mistakes safely. Learn why things fail.
KEEP_
Leave able to do something you couldn't before.
SMALLEXPERIMENTSBIGGERTOMORROWS
TRY_
Hands on the keyboard. Not slides on a screen.
BREAK_
Make mistakes safely. Learn why things fail.
KEEP_
Leave able to do something you couldn't before.
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE LAB?
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE LAB?_
From live builds to security exercises, LAB_ turns an idea into something you can run yourself.
WORKSHOP_
A guided build, step by step,
with something working by the time it ends.
LIVE BUILD_
Watch something get built live,
then rebuild your own version of it.
SECURITY EXERCISE_
Attack a system, then defend it,
and see exactly what each side actually sees.
AI EXPERIMENT_
Try a model with your own hands,
and find out exactly where it breaks.
HARDWARE DEMO_
Real devices you can pick up,
not a photo of one on a slide.
RESEARCH WALKTHROUGH_
The method behind the result,
walked through, not just the headline finding.
UPCOMING LAB SESSIONS
UPCOMING LAB SESSIONS_
Workshops, live builds and experiments from upcoming HATCon events.
SAMPLE PROGRAM — labs are published as each city confirms
5 sessions shown
10:00
NOV 14
Wire an agent to real tools, add guardrails, watch it fail safely, then fix it. Bring a laptop with Python set up.
HATCon BengaluruWORKSHOP24 seats
13:00
NOV 14
CYBERTeams attack a deliberately weak internal app, then swap sides and defend it. Debrief on what each side missed.
HATCon BengaluruSECURITY EXERCISE30 seats
15:30
NOV 14
BLOCKCHAINWrite a small circuit, generate a proof and verify it — enough to see exactly what a ZK system does and does not guarantee.
HATCon BengaluruWORKSHOP40 seats
11:00
NOV 15
FRONTIERTrain a grasping policy in simulation, then find out on a real arm how much of it survives contact with the world.
HATCon New DelhiHARDWARE DEMO16 seats
14:00
NOV 15
CYBERFollow along as a misconfigured workload is hardened step by step — identity, network, secrets and logging.
OnlineLIVE BUILD120 seats
DIFFERENT WAYS TO BUILD IN THE LAB
DIFFERENT WAYSTO BUILD IN THE LAB_
Same goal. Leave able to do something new. The room you end up in depends on how you learn best.
WORKSHOP_
Guided steps, built together. A facilitator walks the room.
LIVE BUILD_
Follow along in real time. Code alongside the person building it.
FOUR DEPTHS. ONE LAB.
FOUR DEPTHS.ONE LAB_
Different domains. The same hands-on start. Four fields, each taken to its own depth, hands on.
AI_
48 LABS · 38% OF THE PROGRAMME
Systems that reason, act and build alongside us.
- Agents
- evals
- fine-tuning
Related circle: AI Infrastructure
CYBER_
41 LABS · 32% OF THE PROGRAMME
Defending the systems the world now runs on.
- Red teaming
- cloud
- detection
Related circle: Cloud Security
BLOCKCHAIN_
22 LABS · 17% OF THE PROGRAMME
Trust, identity and value as programmable primitives.
- ZK circuits
- identity
- contracts
Related circle: Zero Knowledge
PEOPLE IN THE LAB
PEOPLE IN THE LAB_
Nobody learns security from a slide. You learn it the first time your own system gives way.
DIFFERENT WAYS TO SHAPE
COME IN WITH A PROBLEM_
Real problems make the best labs.
AIDEBATE_
How do we evaluate an agent before it touches production?
2H AGO
BLOCKCHAINTHREAD_
What's the fastest safe way to prototype a ZK circuit?
1D AGO
CYBERTHREAD_
Which cloud misconfigurations are worth practising on first?
5H AGOAIDEBATE_
How much of a lab session should be scripted versus improvised?
3H AGOGO DEEPER FROM HERE
GO DEEPER FROM HERE_
Six formats. A bigger picture.
HAVE SOMETHING WORTH TEACHING?
Propose a lab for HATCon_
Host a lab, teach a workshop or bring a tool.
We're looking for hands-on sessions people can follow, with a clear setup and something working at the end.
HOST A LAB_CFP OPENING SOON_
- Pre-registration
HATCON_
THE BEST WAY TO LEARN ITIS TO BUILD IT_
SMALL GROUPS.REAL PRACTICE.SOMETHING NEW.