The Columbia AI for Good Hackathon

The Columbia AI for Good Hackathon, hosted by the Technology in Business Association (TIBA) at Columbia University, brings together top student talent to build AI-driven solutions with real-world social impact.

Build what should exist. Make it real.

The world has no shortage of problems. What we need are builders who are willing to show up and do the work.

Your challenge: design and build a product that meaningfully improves people's lives. Not as a concept, not as a pitch deck, but as a working system you can demo live.

This is about founder-level thinking:

Pick a real problem that matters
Build something ambitious
Use AI where it genuinely creates leverage
Ship a product that could exist beyond this hackathon

You do not need to be an AI expert. Great products come from clarity, taste, and execution, not from model complexity.

If you have ever thought, “someone should build this,” trust that you are capable of being that person.

Format & Timeline

8-days Hybrid hackathon. 150+ builders. Teams of 2.

Week 1 (Feb 18-20):

Online Onboarding

Vibeflow (YC S25) workshop on Wednesday, Feb 18th (online)
Friday, Feb 20 (2:30pm-7pm): In-person Build Day at Columbia : Workshops, Networking and Challenge Announcement. We’ll provide food, so you don’t have to worry 🍕🥤

Week 2 (Feb 21-27): Building & Finals

Remote building period , Feb 21-25
Team submissions due Feb 22
Projects submissions due Feb 25
Judging day, Feb 26
Friday, Feb 27 (3-6pm): In-person Demo Night & Awards at Columbia University

Teams

Teams of 2 (exceptional teams of 3 if justified). Apply solo or with a teammate, Matchbox will help match participants with complementary skills.

What You Could Build

Healthcare — Access, prevention, mental health, clinician workflows

Education — Personalized learning, skill building, accessibility

Environment & Climate — Behavior change, resource optimization, practical sustainability

Accessibility & Inclusion — Language, disability support, underserved communities

Civic & Social Systems — Public services, coordination, community tools

Arts & Culture — Creative expression, cultural access, storytelling, heritage preservation

If your product helps people, creates leverage, or removes friction from real life, it belongs here.

Partner Tools

VibeFlow (YC S25) — Build full-stack apps with agentic workflow. Dedicated prize track.

Standout.work — Hiring platform. Dedicated prize track.

ElevenLabs — Free voice and audio AI credits. Dedicated prize track.

Matchbox — Team matching.

Mentormates — Software partner & project submission platform.

GymText— Personalized workouts and coaching via simple daily texts.

Coueus Colective - A venture studio unlocking GTM opportunities for early-stage startups.

Cliqk -Unified distribution for your marketing ecosystem.

VibeCoding Workshop with Adalbert de la Cruz

Product strategist, founder, and educator focused on helping people turn ideas into products using AI and vibe coding. He’s the founder of Clarity, a voice-first productivity companion designed to reduce mental overwhelm and help people move forward without pressure.

We will have invited professors from Columbia University

Prizes

🏆 VibeFlow (YC S25) Powered Prize

🏆 ElevenLabs Voice AI Prize

🏆 MentorMates AI Prize

🏆 Standout Prize

🏆 General Winner

This hackathon is presented in collaboration with FOMO, a builder-first community and venture studio that runs execution-driven hackathons across top universities and tech hubs.

This hackathon is designed to feel like a mini-accelerator.

Build something bold. Demo it live. Make it real.