Block at RenderATL 2025: AI Innovation and Community Impact
At RenderATL 2025, Block showed up in full force for developers and sellers in Atlanta.
Our developer relations team led five sessions on the future of AI development through a series of workshops and speaking engagements focused on goose, an open-source AI agent developed by Block engineers, and the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open standard developed by Anthropic that we’ve closely partnered on developing. We also hosted several initiatives to empower local sellers in the area,
The conference marked our third consecutive year as an official partner, with expanded programming that reached developers, entrepreneurs, and the broader Atlanta tech community.
AI Agent Development and Education
Angie Jones, Ebony Louis, and Adewale Abati from Block Developer Relations delivered five sessions on AI agent development, attracting standing-room-only audiences throughout the conference. The centerpiece was a hands-on workshop titled "Building Apps with AI Agents and MCP," where approximately 150 developers built 10 functional apps in 3 hours using goose.
Adewale Abati's main stage presentation, "Plugging AI Into Everything: MCP Simplified," explained how developers can make existing APIs AI-ready without major code rewrites.
Angie Jones moderated a main stage fireside chat titled "AI is Everywhere… Now What?" with Dana Lawson (CTO, Netlify) and Chance Strickland (Senior Engineer, WorkOS), addressing practical applications of AI in software development.
Ebony Louis delivered a lightning talk on "Vibe Coding with MCP," demonstrating real-world applications of AI agent-based development workflows.
Community Engagement - Empowering Sellers in ATL
Block showed up for Atlanta through multiple initiatives:
The Square x Citizen Supply Takeover at Ponce City Market drew over 1,300 RSVPs, establishing it as one of the largest launch events of the conference week. This activation showcased the beautiful artisan marketplace while driving significant foot traffic to the venue.
Square's Seller Empowerment Session provided practical tools and demonstrations for local entrepreneurs, and resulted in over $1,000 in hardware donations through our Social Impact program.
Growing our community of talented developers
Block sponsored over 30 employees to attend RenderATL from AfroBlock: a community within Block that was founded in 2015 with the mission to create a safe space for Black employees and to support their growth, retention, and career development. The conference provided valuable opportunities for our employees to grow their knowledge of AI, technology trends, and career advancement.
Our Atlanta office also hosted an invite-only networking event featuring goose demonstrations, attracting over 100 attendees from engineering, design, product, and hardware backgrounds.
Looking Forward
Block's participation at RenderATL 2025 demonstrated our commitment to advancing AI development tools while maintaining strong community connections. The enthusiastic response to goose and MCP validates our approach to making AI agent development accessible to the broader developer community. We look forward to joining the ATL developer community in 2026!
At RenderATL 2025, Block showed up in full force for developers and sellers in Atlanta.
Our developer relations team led five sessions on the future of AI development through a series of workshops and speaking engagements focused on goose, an open-source AI agent developed by Block engineers, and the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open standard developed by Anthropic that we’ve closely partnered on developing. We also hosted several initiatives to empower local sellers in the area,
The conference marked our third consecutive year as an official partner, with expanded programming that reached developers, entrepreneurs, and the broader Atlanta tech community.
AI Agent Development and Education
Angie Jones, Ebony Louis, and Adewale Abati from Block Developer Relations delivered five sessions on AI agent development, attracting standing-room-only audiences throughout the conference. The centerpiece was a hands-on workshop titled "Building Apps with AI Agents and MCP," where approximately 150 developers built 10 functional apps in 3 hours using goose.
Adewale Abati's main stage presentation, "Plugging AI Into Everything: MCP Simplified," explained how developers can make existing APIs AI-ready without major code rewrites.
Angie Jones moderated a main stage fireside chat titled "AI is Everywhere… Now What?" with Dana Lawson (CTO, Netlify) and Chance Strickland (Senior Engineer, WorkOS), addressing practical applications of AI in software development.
Ebony Louis delivered a lightning talk on "Vibe Coding with MCP," demonstrating real-world applications of AI agent-based development workflows.
Community Engagement - Empowering Sellers in ATL
Block showed up for Atlanta through multiple initiatives:
The Square x Citizen Supply Takeover at Ponce City Market drew over 1,300 RSVPs, establishing it as one of the largest launch events of the conference week. This activation showcased the beautiful artisan marketplace while driving significant foot traffic to the venue.
Square's Seller Empowerment Session provided practical tools and demonstrations for local entrepreneurs, and resulted in over $1,000 in hardware donations through our Social Impact program.
Growing our community of talented developers
Block sponsored over 30 employees to attend RenderATL from AfroBlock: a community within Block that was founded in 2015 with the mission to create a safe space for Black employees and to support their growth, retention, and career development. The conference provided valuable opportunities for our employees to grow their knowledge of AI, technology trends, and career advancement.
Our Atlanta office also hosted an invite-only networking event featuring goose demonstrations, attracting over 100 attendees from engineering, design, product, and hardware backgrounds.
Looking Forward
Block's participation at RenderATL 2025 demonstrated our commitment to advancing AI development tools while maintaining strong community connections. The enthusiastic response to goose and MCP validates our approach to making AI agent development accessible to the broader developer community. We look forward to joining the ATL developer community in 2026!