From Tokens to GPT: How LLMs Actually Work | Agentic AI Workshop — S1

From Tokens to GPT — the foundations session of our 4-part Agentic AI Workshop Series. Before you can build an agent, you need to understand how the model underneath actually thinks. This session takes you from "what is a token?" all the way to the transformer mindset that powers every modern LLM. No black boxes. We cover the real mechanics — how AI works for developers, not just prompt tricks — and set up everything we build on in Sessions 2–4. 🧠 What this session covers Why AI matters from the product & startup side — where this actually creates value Machine-learning foundations: the perceptron → RNNs → LSTMs Intro to AI system design — thinking in systems, not snippets What is a token? NLP basics, hands-on Beyond the Prompt: how LLMs really work for developers Open Q&A Material : https://drive.google.com/drive/folder... ➡️ The transformer deep-dive and building/training a GPT from scratch in TensorFlow continue in Session 2 — make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss the build. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 — Intro: what to expect . Abdalla 02:30 — AI from the product & startup side · Ahmed Sallam 37:40 — Machine-learning basics: Perceptron → RNNs/LSTMs · Abdalla 1:15:00 — Intro to AI system design · Abdelrahman Soliman 1:48:00 — What is a token? NLP basics · Abdalla 2:19:00 — Beyond the Prompt: how AI works for devs · Mostafa Ashraf 👥 Led by Abdalla — Senior AI Engineer @ DataCamp · ex-founding R&D engineer @ Stakpak (Silicon Valley) · ex-founding AI engineer @ Seqoon Mentors & practitioners Mostafa Ashraf — CTO & Co-Founder @ 3BONT · ex-Stakpak · ex-Reflexer Labs Ahmed Sallam — Tekunda · ex-Stakpak · ex-Orange Abdelrahman Soliman — Founder @ perceptr · Senior SWE @ Tether.io 📚 The full series S1 — Foundations: From Tokens to GPT (this session) S2 — The Agent Stack: tools, MCP, context engineering — build your own coding agent S3 — Production Agents: evals, memory & self-improvement — build your own CLI agent S4 — The Agent Hackathon: teams ship, mentors stress-test, open discussion 🎟️ Organised & sponsored by Bareq · Venue partner: Soil Spaces 🔔 Subscribe and turn on notifications for Sessions 2–4. #AgenticAI #LLM #GPT #MachineLearning #AIEngineering #Transformers #BuildYourOwnGPT #AIagents #NLP #DeepLearning