AI & Entrepreneurship Challenge: Guidelines

The competition is open to students (graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral) and recent graduates from Columbia University, Sciences Po, Ecole Polytechnique and Paris 1 – Panthéon Sorbonne. 

Teams of students and recent graduates from all four institutions will be invited to submit entrepreneurship proposals that leverage AI in their conception, development, or execution. 

The competition will be in three stages: 

1. Written application. Each team will send a written application to the AI Entrepreneurship selection committee within their institution. The application will include the name of the project, the names and CVs of team members, a detailed project description, a list of expected outputs and outcomes, a list of partners, a timeline, a budget and an executive summary.
2. Pitch/Interview. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to pitch their project to their institution’s AI Entrepreneurship selection committee.
   1. A 10min presentation with deck 
   2. All team members can present or have a designated presenter
   3. 10min round of QandA 
3. Each of the four institutions will select one team to represent them at the Cannes AI festival (February 10th and 11th, 2027). Each team will pitch their project to an independent panel in front of an audience. The winning team will be awarded a prize of $30,000 (TBD). In addition, each of the four teams will be offered mentorship sessions with successful industry leaders and entrepreneurs who will offer them the chance to test their ideas, benefit from expert advice and strengthen their proof of concept.

Prizes: 

First Prize (1):  $30,000 

Finalists awards (3):  $5,000

Travel and accommodation (4 teams of 2) to Cannes: up to $6000