Make Hosts First AI Hackathon in São Paulo, Promotes New AI Agent Platform.

Make held its first AI Hackathon on April 15 in São Paulo, Brazil, bringing together builders to convert real business challenges into working AI prototypes using the automation platform. The event marked the company's first community-focused hackathon, centered on hands-on development connecting AI models to Make's workflow automation capabilities.

Participants worked from scratch to build functional solutions, competing to create prototypes that addressed actual business problems. The event featured judges Emília Thaynnara Alexandre Aguiar and Romualdo da Silva, who evaluated submissions based on practical implementation and business value.

The hackathon coincides with Make's broader push into AI-powered automation. The company announced its next generation of AI Agents earlier this year, designed to help businesses automate complex workflows while maintaining visibility into how decisions are made and how systems connect.

Make AI Agents, available across all pricing tiers, allow users to build AI-powered workflows that orchestrate processes across more than 3,000 connected apps. The platform emphasizes transparency, giving teams visibility into AI decision-making within visual automation scenarios.

The agents combine adaptive AI decision-making with traditional automation, allowing businesses to handle more complex work while maintaining control over how processes execute. Make positions the feature as a way to move AI from experimentation to production use cases where reliability and auditability matter.

Make's approach differs from black-box AI tools by integrating agents directly into its scenario builder, where users can see step-by-step execution and modify behavior. As the company explained, this transparency is critical for businesses that need to understand and control automated decisions.

The platform recently added support for OpenAI GPT-5.5 models, enabling more sophisticated agent capabilities for multi-step reasoning and task execution. Make also introduced a real-time chat interface for testing AI agents during development, allowing builders to validate agent behavior before deployment.

The São Paulo hackathon represents Make's strategy to build community engagement around AI and automation capabilities. By hosting hands-on events where participants build real solutions, the company aims to demonstrate practical applications of its AI Agent platform beyond marketing claims.

Make competes with platforms like Zapier and n8n in the workflow automation space, but has positioned itself as particularly strong in visual workflow design and AI integration. The company's recent product releases, including Make Grid for visualizing automation landscapes and scenario recovery features, show continued investment in making complex automation more accessible.

The Brazil event targeted a market where automation adoption is growing among small and medium businesses. Make's LinkedIn post promoting the hackathon included a direct link to try the AI Agent feature, suggesting the event served both community-building and product marketing goals.

Companies using Make AI Agents include BambooHR, Bolt, and Tally, according to the platform's website. Make plans to host its annual Make Waves conference in Prague on October 19-20, where the company is expected to announce further AI and automation capabilities.