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APRIL 23–24, 2026 • EVENT COMPLETE

GIES
AI FOR IMPACT CHALLENGE

Gies College of Business • University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  • 72Students
  • 22Agentic AI systems
  • 24Hours, non-stop
  • 5Business tracks
Read the Impact Report See Winners

CHAMPIONS

2026 Build-a-Thon Winners

Congratulations to the teams who shipped the future on April 23–24.

1st Place
007
Business Technology
2nd Place
Geese
HR
3rd Place
YTBD
Marketing
4th Place
MindMatrix
General Innovation
5th Place
Herledger
Finance & Accounting

All five finalists are also champions of their respective tracks.

Read the impact report →

ABOUT

Build Something That Matters

A weekend of innovation at the intersection of business and technology.

The Gies Buildathon is a 24-hour innovation sprint exclusively for Gies College of Business students. Whether you're an undergrad or grad student — consultant, financial analyst, or business strategist — this is your launchpad.

Compete across five focused tracks, work alongside industry mentors, and present your solutions to a panel of expert judges from leading companies. No coding experience necessary — just ambition and a willingness to build.

Who

Gies undergraduate and graduate students. All majors within Gies welcome. Solo hackers and teams alike.

What

A 24-hour buildathon where teams create innovative solutions for real business problems across five industry tracks.

Why

Network with industry leaders, sharpen your skills, and launch ideas that could shape the future of business.

COMPETE

Competition Tracks

Choose your arena. Each track features expert judges evaluating innovation, feasibility, and impact.

Finance & Accounting

Reimagine financial workflows, automate accounting processes, and build tools that transform how businesses manage money.

2–3 Judges

HR

Create solutions for talent acquisition, employee experience, workforce analytics, and the future of work.

2–3 Judges

Marketing & Sales

Build tools that revolutionize customer engagement, analytics, personalization, and go-to-market strategies.

2–3 Judges

Business Technology

Develop infrastructure, automation, and enterprise solutions that power modern business operations.

2–3 Judges

General Innovation

Got a bold idea that defies categories? This open track welcomes any innovative solution that pushes boundaries and challenges the status quo.

Open Track

PROCESS

How It Works

Three steps from idea to impact — here’s how it ran.

1

Registered

Students signed up as individuals or teams — open to all on-campus Gies undergrad and grad students.

2

Built

Teams chose a track and spent 24 hours building an agentic AI solution with mentorship and resources.

3

Pitched

Teams presented to industry judges. Top teams won scholarships and connected with industry leaders.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Prizes

Cash scholarships awarded to every member of a winning team, applied directly to your student account.

1st Place
$500
per team member
2nd Place
$300
per team member
3rd Place
$200
per team member
Track Winners
$100
per team member

Teams of up to 4 members. Up to $2,000 per winning team. Track winners are awarded separately from overall placement.

KEYNOTE

Opening Night Speaker

Paul Hsu, Managing General Partner at Decasonic

Paul Hsu

Managing General Partner, Decasonic

“The Modern VC Firm: AI Teammates, Augmentation, and Why Builders Win”

How venture capital is being reshaped by AI agents — and why students who can rapidly prototype, iterate, and deploy ideas gain a decisive advantage over those focused only on theory.

Thursday, April 23 6:15 – 7:00 PM Deloitte Auditorium

EVENT SCHEDULE

24 Hours, Start to Finish

Check-in Thursday evening. Ship Friday afternoon. Here’s the full run-of-show.

Day 1

Thursday, April 23

  • 4:30 – 5:00 PM

    Student Check-In

    BIF West · beside the coffee shop

  • 5:00 – 5:45 PM

    Networking & Team Formation

    Atrium · welcome, rule flyers, final team registration

  • 5:45 – 6:00 PM

    Move to Deloitte

  • 6:00 – 7:00 PM

    Opening Ceremony

    Deloitte · welcome from Gies leadership, challenge & mentor intros, keynote speaker

  • 7:00 – 9:00 PM

    Dinner, Initial Planning & Meet Mentors

    Atrium · dinner from Moe’s delivered ~6:45 PM · mentors available 8:00 – 9:00 PM

  • 9:00 PM – 11:00 PM

    Hacking Session 1

    BIF 2001, 2007, 2011 · mentors and snacks available

  • 11:00 PM – 6:00 AM

    Building Closed

    BIF is closed from 11 PM–6 AM

Day 2

Friday, April 24

  • 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM

    Hacking Session 2

    Breakfast from Panera at 8:00 AM in the BIF Atrium · Project Champion / mentor office hours 9:00 – 11:00 AM

  • 12:00 – 1:00 PM

    Lunch & Submission Preparation

    Lunch from Panera delivered ~11:45 AM

  • 1:00 – 3:00 PM

    Project Submissions & Round 1 Preliminary Judging

    BIF 3001 & BIF 3003 · 7-minute presentations in parallel across 5 tracks · 5 finalists selected by 2:30 PM

  • 3:15 – 4:00 PM

    Final Judging

    Deloitte (BIF 1001) · top 5 finalists present to a combined panel · 5-minute pitch + 3-minute Q&A

  • 4:00 – 5:00 PM

    Awards Ceremony & Closing

    Deloitte Auditorium · winner announcements, prize distribution, closing remarks

PREPARE

Pre-Build-a-Thon Workshops

In the three weeks before the build, five free workshops equipped students with the skills and frameworks to hit the ground running.

01

Human-Centered Design Thinking & Need Finding

Thursday, April 2nd In-Person 1 Hour
  • Introduction to design thinking for AI-powered business solutions
  • Need finding techniques: empathy interviews, observation, and identifying real business pain points
  • Framing problem statements and opportunity areas for AI agent development
  • Mapping Gies business unit challenges to potential AI workflow solutions
View on Luma
02

Introduction to AI Agents & Vibe Coding Tools

Thursday, April 9th In-Person 1 Hour
  • Overview of no-code AI development platforms
  • Hands-on tutorial with selected vibe coding tools
  • Understanding business workflow automation fundamentals
View on Luma
03

Building Your First Agent

Friday, April 10th In-Person 1 Hour
  • Setting up your first AI agent from scratch
  • Connecting agents to APIs and data sources
  • Prompt engineering fundamentals for agent behavior
  • Testing and iterating on agent responses
View on Luma
04

Pitching & Presenting Your Project

Thursday, April 16th In-Person 1 Hour
  • Structuring a compelling hackathon pitch
  • Storytelling techniques for technical demos
  • Presenting to judges: what they look for
  • Live demo best practices and backup plans
View on Luma
05

Building Advanced Workflows with Multi-Agents

Friday, April 17th In-Person 1 Hour
  • Designing multi-agent architectures and orchestration patterns
  • Agent-to-agent communication and task delegation
  • Building complex business workflow automations
  • Debugging and monitoring multi-agent systems
View on Luma
06

Build-a-Thon Info Night

Wednesday, April 22nd In-Person 1 Hour
  • Meet the Gies staff organizing the event
  • Q&A session — get all your questions answered
  • Event schedule, rooms & logistics walkthrough
  • Tips & tricks to prepare for the Build-a-Thon
View on Luma

QUESTIONS

Frequently Asked Questions

The Gies Buildathon is a 24-hour innovation competition exclusively for Gies College of Business students at the University of Illinois. Teams build solutions to real business challenges across five industry tracks, with mentorship from industry professionals and judging by experts.
The Gies Buildathon was open to all currently enrolled on-campus Gies College of Business undergraduate and graduate students — spanning finance, marketing, IS, accountancy, MSBA, and more.
Not at all! Teams need diverse skills — business strategy, design, research, presentation, and user testing are just as valuable as coding. We also offer beginner-friendly workshops and AI tools to help everyone contribute.
Teams had 2 to 4 members — solo participation was not allowed. Students could register with a pre-formed team or sign up individually, and a team-forming mixer at the start of the event helped people find teammates with complementary skills.
Anything that solves a business problem within your chosen track! This could be a web app, mobile prototype, AI tool, data dashboard, or even a well-researched business model with a demo. Creativity and impact matter most.
No. Teams must be composed entirely of Gies College of Business students. All team members must be currently enrolled on-campus Gies undergrad or grad students.
No — the Gies Buildathon was completely free to attend. Meals, snacks, swag, and all the resources needed for the 24 hours were provided.

SUPPORT

Sponsored By

Brought to You By

Magelli Office of
Experiential Learning

That’s a Wrap.

24 hours. Five tracks. One unforgettable build. Thank you to everyone who shipped, judged, and showed up.

See you next year.