Join the AI Builders Challenge, sponsored by IBM SkillsBuild, a global program designed for university students in computer science, engineering, data science, and related fields to build real-world AI solutions using IBM technologies.
Through a series of innovation challenges, hands-on learning labs, and a collaborative community on GitHub and Discord, you’ll gain practical experience, strengthen your technical skills, and showcase your work to a global audience.
Each month, take on a new challenge inspired by real-world industries and global moments, with themes spanning racing, football, space exploration, and extreme weather. Build portfolio-ready projects, gain recognition, and earn the opportunity to showcase your work at IBM stages.
To be eligible to enter the Contest, you must be a student enrolled at an institution of higher education, you must be a legal resident of; United States of America, Canada (excluding Quebec), United Kingdom (England, Ireland, Scotland) or India.
Getting Started
To begin building your solution:
Complete the hands-on learning lab available on GitHub to get familiar with the tools and concepts
Join the Discord community to connect with mentors and other participants
Explore IBM technologies and resources available on the challenge platform, create your team, and submit your project
These GitHub-based labs provide guided, practical exercises using IBM and open source technologies, allowing you to experiment, learn, and apply concepts in a real-world context. Whether you’re getting started or looking to deepen your experience, the labs are designed to support your learning and help you build stronger solutions.
The AI Builders Challenge includes hands-on learning labs designed to help you build the skills needed to succeed in both challenges.
These challenges are designed for university students with a technical background who want to build real-world AI projects using IBM technologies. Open to university students globally across technical fields, including:
Who Should Participate
Developers & Technical Students
Computer Science, Data Science & Engineering Students
Juniors, Seniors & Graduate Students
AI & Data-Focused Students
Team size is 1–5 participants, solo participation is also allowed.
Benefits of Participation
Build real-world AI experience, strengthen your technical skills, and be part of a growing global developer community.
Build
Real-World AI Projects with IBM Technologies
Learn
through Exclusive Hands-On Labs, Live Webinars, and Resources
Join
the growing IBM SkillsBuild Developer Community on Discord
Compete
for a $15,000 Prize Pool Across Two Innovation Challenges
Showcase
your work to IBM, potential employers, and a global audience
Prizes
Join each challenge for the opportunity to compete for a share of the $15,000 total prize pool, including a Grand Prize for the top project across both challenges. Top teams will also gain recognition from IBM and the opportunity to showcase their work.
Each challenge awards:
1st Place
$ 2,250 USD
Runner Up
$ 1,250 USD
Most Innovative
$ 750 USD
Best Use of Technology
$ 750 USD
Grand Prize — $5,000
Awarded to the top project across both challenges based on technical execution, innovation, challenge fit, and real-world impact.
June Innovation Challenge: AI Inside the Match
The World Cup is more than a tournament. It’s the anticipation before kickoff, the tension of a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) decision, and the shared emotion of billions of fans watching every game-changing moment unfold in real time. Inspired by the speed and passion of the world’s biggest stage, your challenge is to build an AI-powered solution that helps people experience and understand the game before, during, or after the match.
Your solution can focus on areas such as tactical explainability, trust and transparency, fan understanding, or human performance under pressure, but it must use AI as a core component along with at least one of the required technologies (see below). Whether you are explaining tactical shifts, helping fans understand VAR decisions, or creating more engaging and accessible match experiences, your goal is to demonstrate how human-centered, explainable AI can improve understanding, trust, and accessibility at global scale.
Building Your Solution & Examples
To build your solution, you must use at least one of the following technologies:
IBM Granite
Docling
Langflow
Context Forge
IBM Bob
You can approach this challenge from multiple angles across the soccer and World Cup ecosystem. Consider building a solution in one of the following areas, or explore your own idea that aligns with the challenge:
Understanding & Explanation: AI match explainers, tactical shift analysis, momentum visualization tools
Fan & Learning Experiences: Personalized AI World Cup companions, multilingual tactical explainers, “teach me the game” assistants
Human Performance & Behavior: Fatigue and stress-aware match analysis, leadership insights, emotion-driven performance interpretation
June Learning Lab: Predict World Cup Match Outcomes with AI
As part of the June Challenge, you’ll have access to a hands-on learning lab designed to help you get started. Explore soccer analytics and AI-powered data science workflows using IBM Bob and Jupyter notebooks.
Starting from a guided baseline notebook, you’ll experiment with predictive analytics, explore real-world soccer match data, and learn how AI can support sports analysis and decision-making while building skills you can apply directly to your challenge solution.
Use of at least one IBM AI-supported technology (e.g., Granite, LangFlow, Docling, or related tools)
A public GitHub repository& a functioning prototype or proof of concept
All project submissions must be completed and submitted through the challenge platform. Submissions will be evaluated based on technical execution, innovation, challenge fit, and feasibility.
To complete each challenge, your team must provide:
3.
4.
A clear README that includes:
The problem you are solving
Your AI/technical approach
Why your solution matters in the context of the challenge
Submission on the challenge platform, including:
Project and team member details
Link to your GitHub repository
A demo video (3 minutes max)
Organized by
Sponsored by
IBM SkillsBuild is a trademark or registered trademark of IBM Corp., in the US or other countries or both.
BeMyApp is the official organizer of the AI Builders Challenge, overseeing participant experience, platform management, and challenge execution.
BeMyApp Community Partners
Special thanks to our BeMyApp Community Partners for helping connect students, developers, and innovators from around the world to this program.
