Vibe Coding: Collaborative Prototyping in Practice @ AI CoLab
Important!: Bring your laptop to get hands-on with the tools, and have registered Google account.
What happens when a room of mixed backgrounds—policy, tech, delivery, curious newcomers—start building together with AI, rather than just talking about it?
What this session does
This is a hands-on, low-barrier workshop exploring “vibe coding” as a way of thinking, prompting, and prototyping in real time. Instead of polished demos, the focus is on live assembly—testing ideas, iterating quickly, and learning through doing.
What you’ll get out of it
You’ll leave with a clearer sense of how to:
move from curiosity to creation using simple AI tools
prototype ideas quickly without deep technical setup
work collaboratively across disciplines in real time
see what holds up (and what doesn’t) when ideas meet practice
Who it’s for
People working across government, industry, academia, and community who want to get practical with AI—especially those who are curious but haven’t yet found a way in.
Format
Interactive, participatory, and lightly structured. Expect small group activity, shared experimentation, and visible iteration rather than step-by-step instruction.
Facilitators
Eric Nguyen (ACS BEC Member)
Eric Nguyen is an experienced tech professional with over 20 years in the industry. As a member of the ACS Branch Elected Committee, he combines his background in management consulting with expertise in using emerging technologies to improve processes and engage teams within large organisations.
Eric is passionate about giving back to the community by sharing knowledge and creating opportunities locally and globally. He currently serves as:
-Gartner Peer Ambassador (IT) at Gartner
-Responsible AI Lead Assessor at IEEE Standards Association
-Industry Advisor at the Open Source Institute – University of Canberra
Robbie Slape is an is AI CoLab convenor, bringing together people across government, industry, academia, and community to explore practical, public-purpose uses of AI. With a Master of Technology Governance from ANU and as a Government Fellow with the Future Government Institute, Robbie works at the intersection of technology, governance, and cross-sector collaboration.
Robbie is particularly interested in creating accessible, hands-on ways for people to move from discussion to experimentation. Through AI CoLab, helps build spaces where mixed groups can test ideas, learn by doing, and develop more confident, grounded approaches to AI in practice.
AI CoLab events are intentionally open and collaborative. We capture photos, audio, and AI-generated transcripts so we can remix key insights for the AI CoLab Alliance community. This is always done in line with the Charter’s values; transparent, ethical innovation and knowledge sharing to accelerate collective learning (see join.aicolab.org). By participating in an AI CoLab event, you agree to your contributions being captured and shared in accordance with this policy.