NextGen AI 2025 Hackathon
Event description
NextGen AI Hackathon — Kick-off Saturday 23 Aug, 1 PM
Ready to trade pitch decks for real-world building? Come spend a week with us (23 – 30 Aug) at World Trade Center and turn messy, authentic problems into working AI demos.
What’s Happening
Sat 23 Aug, 1 PM – Check in, grab a name tag and welcome pack, meet the other builders.
1 : 30 PM – Quick intro: how the hack works, the challenges, judging, and prize details. https://www.ainextgen.com.au/chanllenge
Challenge 1 Antler
"Surfacing Emerging AI Founders in Australia"
• 1:1 coach session
• Residency Opportunities
Challenge 2 StarPlan
"AI-Powered Job Seeker APP"
• $640 cash
• Internship opportunities
Challenge 3 Heart Bloom AI
“From Wishes to Actions: Designing An Empathy & Growth Companion”
• $400 cash
Challenge 4 NUVC
“Legacy Guardians – Empower Teens with AI-Powered Wealth Adventures”
• $800 cash
• job opportunities
Challenge 5 Heidi Health
“Designing Smart Voice Agents in Healthcare”
• $800 cash
• Full-time job opportunities
Challenge 6 NexusMD
“AutoMBS — AI-Powered Medicare Benefits Schedule Coding Assistant”
• $800 cash
• Full-time job opportunities
Sponsorship
2 PM – Lightning talks
Shawn Li – Solution Architect of Alibaba Cloud International
Dr. Lukas Wesemann — AI Researcher @ Maincode, Co-founder @ MLAI
2:30 – 4 PM – Mingle, brainstorm, whiteboard.
4 – 5 PM – Lock in your squad (max 5) and submit a short plan of attack.
24 – 29 Aug – Open venue all week: code, test, get mentor help, drink too much coffee. (24, 27, 28 August with Advisor Talks)
Yifei Wang: Founder and CEO of AIBUILD Pty Ltd. Yifei Wang is a recognised leader in artificial intelligence, infrastructure innovation, and sustainable technology, with a strong track record of delivering investment-driven growth across industry, government, and research sectors.
Chunhua Liu: Chunhua Liu is a Research Fellow in NLP at The University of Melbourne, working with Prof Eduard Hovy on topics under the umbrella of disinformation. Interested in building more reliable, inclusive and collaborative AI systems that align with the diverse cultures and values of global human societies.
Donghao Zhang: Dr Donghao Zhang is a self-driven learner and has a strong background in data science, machine learning, computer vision and natural language processing.
Yicheng Guo: Yicheng is a machine learning engineer at REA Group, where he builds AI-driven solutions that power Australia’s largest real estate platform. With a background in cloud and DevOps, he now specialises in scaling ML platforms, bridging business needs with practical AI, and turning research into products used by millions.
Sat 30 Aug – Your own booth place and showcase your demo in your way!
Sat 30 Aug – Every challenge winner team announced.
Thu 5 Sep @ NextGen AI Conference – Final live pitches; top winner team will achieve AUD 3000 cash prize from NexuMD.ai.
Who Should Join
Developers, designers, researchers, students, recent grads, or that friend who can’t stop tinkering with new models. If you like turning tough problems into working prototypes (and meeting the people who care about them), this is your week.
Why It’s Worth Your Weekend
Real challenges from real companies.
Advice from people who’ve shipped serious AI systems.
A shot to pitch on stage at the NextGen AI Conference.
New friends, caffeine, and plenty of networking.
Brought to you by
ByteDance · Antler · NexusMD· StarPlan · Heidi Health · Chinese AI Community · AI Development Group · MLAI· Melbourne Venture Club · Seeya Melbourne· Cambridge Homerton EdTech Society (HETS)
Spots are limited. Grab your ticket, bring your laptop, and let’s build something useful.
Cohost
Collaborator