NYC Build With AI Hackathon | Google Cloud Labs x Columbia Business School - I

About this event

Day 1:

March 7th 2026 | Evening Kick Off Event

Location: Columbia University | Columbia Business School | 665 130th street - Cooperman Commons Date & Time: Saturday, March 7 | 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

🎤 Keynote & Labs Evening Session

Get ready to build! This evening session is designed to provide the technical foundation and inspiration needed for a successful hackathon. Attendees will receive direct guidance on Google Cloud tools and Gemini APIs.

Agenda:

7:00 PM – 7:30 PM: 👋 Check-in & Welcome Refreshments

7:30 PM – 7:45 PM: 🎤 Keynote: The Future of Gemini & AI. Meet the judges and explore the technical possibilities of the hackathon theme.

7:45 PM – 8:00 PM: 🛠️ Environment Setup & API Access. We will ensure all participants have their credentials and dev environments ready to go.

8:00 PM – 8:45 PM: 💻 Guided Labs: Building with Gemini. A hands-on walkthrough of core tools and sample code featuring a live demo.

8:45 PM – 9:00 PM: ❓ Q&A and Team Formation. Final technical questions and an opportunity for solo hackers to find teams.

Workshop Guidelines:

https://codelabs.developers.google.com/way-back-home-level-0/instructions#0

https://codelabs.developers.google.com/way-back-home-level-1/instructions#0

https://codelabs.developers.google.com/way-back-home-level-3/instructions#0

https://codelabs.developers.google.com/way-back-home-level-4/instructions#0
Step out of the traditional "text box" paradigm and build AI that truly connects. This hackathon challenges you to create immersive, multimodal AI agents using Google Cloud and Gemini.

Participants will leverage the speed of the Gemini Live API and the power of Google’s GenAI SDK/ Agent Development Kit  to build solutions in one of two categories:

The Live Agent: Build real-time, voice-and-vision enabled agents that can converse naturally and handle interruptions (e.g., real-time translators, vision-enabled tutors).

The Creative Storyteller: Build agents that generate rich, interleaved outputs—seamlessly mixing text, audio, and visuals into a cohesive narrative flow.

The Mission: Don’t just build a chatbot. Build an experience that sees, hears, speaks, and creates.

Prizes:
$30,000 in Google Cloud Credits

Up to 4 tickets to Google I/O - 2026 - the ultimate annual showcase of AI breakthroughs and invite-only event on May 19-20 at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, CA.

$500 Personal shopping experience at the Google's St. John's Terminal store - not open to the public

More to come!

RSVP for Day 2:
March 8th 2026 | All Day AI Hackathon | 9:30 AM - 5PM ET Geffen Hall 620
Join the Slack

Agenda

Speakers

Christina Lin - Google (Developer Relations Engineering Manager - Americas)

Christina Lin is a Developer Relations Engineering Manager at Google, leading advocacy and community programs across the Americas. With over two decades of experience spanning Google, Redpanda Data, and Red Hat, Christina has built a career at the intersection of developer relations, open source, and enterprise architecture. Recognized for driving technical ed…

Qingyue(Annie) Wang - Google (Software Engineer | Internal Career Coach)

Hey, I'm Qingyue(Annie) Wang, a software engineer with over five years of industry experience, including roles at Amazon and Google. As an internal career coach for the past year, I've trained new hires, fostering leadership and career progression. Soon, I'll be ICF certified coach with over 50 coaching hours.
My passion lies in the human side of tech, offering mentorship and support to …

Ayo Adedeji - Google (Developer Relations Engineer)

Ayo Adedeji is a Senior Developer Relations Engineer on Google Cloud's AI/ML team, specializing in agents and generative AI. With a background in computational biology (Stanford, Johns Hopkins) and experience as an ML Engineer in healthcare, he focuses on helping developers build AI systems that solve real-world problems.

Olivier Bourgeois - Google (Developer Relations)

Host

Amin Ameen - Columbia Business School (Executive MBA Candidate | AI Club Board Member)

Amin Ameen is an engineer-turned product marketing and product strategy leader whose career spans engineering, fintech, creator monetization, subscriptions, and growth across startups and global platforms, including Twitter, Twitch, and Meta.
She began her career in engineering, progressing from Engineer to Senior Engineer to Engineering Manager in the Energy Industry before movi…

Judges

Cameron Willard - LS Power (Director)

Cameron builds new power generation to serve demand from AI. In his current role he oversees investment analysis and project offtake in the generation development group at LS Power, one of the leading investors in the power sector. Prior to his current role he oversaw finance at LS Power portfolio company Rise Light & Power, which was sold to NRG as part of a $13 billion transaction. Befor…

Wendy Durica - Kantar (Lead Engineer)

Wendy works at Kantar as Release Manager/Escalation Lead and an Accessibility Frontline Worker. She is a speaker and mentor who enjoys networking with those who are passionate about User Experience (UX) and Universal Design. Wendy is a past member with Grace Hopper Celebration Software Executive Committee, past officer with Society Women Engineers (SWE)
She also co-founded Women in…

Lawrence Wang - Butter Data (CEO)

Lawrence Wang is the Founder and CEO of Butter Data, a platform that leverages Generative AI to automate data science insights for product and marketing teams. Based in New York, he is a seasoned entrepreneur and technical leader with a track record of building 0-to-1 consumer and seller experiences.
Prior to founding Butter Data, Lawrence served as a Data Scient…

Siddhant Patra - Columbia Business School (MBA Candidate)

Pricing consultant with 5+ years at Bain & Company. I leveraged data-driven insights to empower sales reps in improving revenues at 20+ companies with avg. 250-400 bps.
Beyond consulting, I co-founded several digital solutions helping businesses optimize pricing. As a Founder's Studio member at Bain, I conceptualized an engine 2 AI-business and organized 3 editions of our global hac…

Tanmay Nautiyal - Columbia Business School | Carromm AI (MBA + MS Candidate | Founder)

I turn complex technology into products people will pay for.
Started in software and financial systems, where precision and scale mattered. Moved into developing product across robotics and AI, then into building and selling them as an entrepreneur.
Experience spans taking products from conception to launch and scale across the three largest economies (GDP-PPP) in the world: Ind…

Obed Appiah-Agyeman - Google (Software Engineer)

I will be a difference maker.

Jayat Gonzalez Palomeras - Columbia Business School (MBA + MS | Fulbright Scholar)

Jayat Gonzalez Palomeras is a Fulbright Scholar and Actuary & Mathematician currently pursuing a dual MBA/MS at Columbia Business School. Recognized as a Forbes 30 Promises recipient and a Hult Prize Winner, she has a distinguished background in social entrepreneurship and analytical leade…

Nandini Srivastava - Columbia Business School (MBA Candidate | Forté Fellow)

Product + GTM operator, building AI-powered experiences
I turn customer pain into clear product bets, crisp positioning, and measurable growth.

Reginé Gilbert - NYU Tandon | Gilbert Consulting Group, Inc. (Industry Associate Professor | Founder & Global Design Strategist)

Reginé Gilbert is a change strategist, speaker, and author whose work focuses on human judgment, systems thinking, and the design of AI-augmented organizations.She is the creator of Access Blueprint™, a systems-based approach that helps organizations navigate complexity across technology, policy, and human behavior. Her work brings structure, clarity, and accountability to digital and organiza…

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