What we’re about
Practical AI Thessaloniki is a meetup dedicated to showing how AI addresses real-life needs with practical solutions. Each session tells a story, beginning with a real-world problem, planning a solution, and demonstrating AI tools—many from the open-source community—that are tested to meet the need. Attendees experience AI beyond theory, seeing it applied in practical scenarios. In some events, there will be the chance to explore these tools hands-on in collaborative sessions, making AI accessible and relevant.
What makes this event unique?
At Practical AI Thessaloniki, attendees witness a full end-to-end AI scenario unfold—from identifying a real-world need to building a solution using AI tools, many of which are open-source. Rather than just theoretical knowledge, attendees see the entire process in action and, in some events, can try these tools firsthand, gaining real experience in applying AI to practical challenges.
Who can attend the event?
Everyone is welcome! Whether you’re a professional, a student, or a hobbyist with an interest in AI, this event is designed to be accessible and engaging for all skill levels.
What should I bring to the meetup?
Just bring your laptop and a bit of Python knowledge to get the most out of the hands-on activities. Most importantly, come ready to learn, explore new tools, and dive into practical AI applications!
Upcoming events
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Meetup #4 - Hands-On MCP Server Building
fromScratch Design Studio, Themistokli Sofouli 70Α, Thessaloniki, GRMCP (Model Context Protocol) was released one year ago, and in that time it has made a huge difference in the way we use Large Language Models. So what better way to celebrate this anniversary than with our 4th Practical AI Meetup on Thursday, 18 December, at the fromScratch Studio HQ.
Savvas Papadopoulos from Geekbot will guide us through the basics of MCPs, what they are, how they work, and how they can help us. He will then demonstrate live how to build custom MCP servers for various use cases!
As always, the goal of this meetup is not just to learn new things, but to apply that knowledge and create something meaningful. So if you want to get your hands dirty and leave the event with a fully working custom MCP server, feel free to join!
What the Speaker
Savvas Papadopoulos is the AI Lead at Geekbot, bringing years of hands-on experience in AI, machine learning, and software engineering. He follows the fast-moving AI world closely and enjoys digging into data, experimenting with models, and writing code to turn ideas into practical, working solutions. His latest interests revolve around LLMs, agents, and knowledge graphs, exploring how they can power smarter, context-aware applications.
What to expect
This will be an almost 2-hour session. The first hour (or so) will be dedicated to learning the theory and seeing in practice how MCPs are built. During the remaining time, attendees will be able to start implementing one of the demonstrated use cases on their own. Savvas and the organizers will be there to help.
Stick around after the event for beers and networking!
Preparation
To get the most out of this session, we recommend having your setup ready beforehand. Please bring a laptop with the following:
- Python (at least v3.8)
- uv package manager
- LM Studio. Once installed, download the opensource (and lightweight) Qwen3-4b model. The model is small enough to fit even in 8GB of RAM and runs perfectly on CPUs (no GPU required)
- Free Trello account. We will use a Trello board to build our Project Management Tool. You’ll have to create a Trello API key and a token (it’s free). To do so, follow these instructions. Once you reach step 4, make sure to click on the `token` link to get your Trello token. we will need both to create our MCP server
Registration
We will meet from 19:00 to 21:00 at fromScratch HQ (Themistokli Sofouli 70Α). Don’t forget to RSVP to secure your spot!
Please note that all presentations and discussions will be conducted in Greek.
We look forward to seeing you there and exploring the world of AI together!34 attendees
Past events
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