OpenAI Academy

OpenAI Academy × NxtWave Regional Buildathon in Chennai brought together 400 young innovators from across Tamil Nadu. Inaugurated by Srutanjay Narayanan, IAS, Joint Chief Executive Officer, Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency, the Chennai Regional Buildathon is part of the nationwide OpenAI Academy × NxtWave Buildathon – India’s largest GenAI challenge. The winners will qualify for the grand finale of OpenAI Academy × NxtWave Buildathon, a significant pre-summit engagement ahead of the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 - a flagship global gathering hosted by the Government of India under the India-AI Mission. Hosted at AMET University, the event engaged over 400 students in a high-energy, two-day prototype-building challenge designed to explore the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence in domains such as healthcare, education, agriculture, business, and public safety. Students leveraged OpenAI’s GPT-4.1, GPT-4.0, and advanced multimodal AI tools to design, build, and showcase impactful AI-driven prototypes under the mentorship of 50+ experts from NxtWave. Speaking on the AI talent and participation in the state, Srutanjay Narayanan, IAS, Joint Chief Executive Officer, Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency said, “It's inspiring to see students from Tier-2 and Tier-3 universities receiving equal opportunities and engaging with cutting-edge technology at such an early stage. We should never fear technology—understanding the fundamental principles of AI will enable India to take a leading role in global innovation. As a developing economy aspiring to become a Viksit Bharat by 2047, we need young minds who can deeply understand and solve challenges across healthcare, education, agriculture, and public services. I am truly impressed by the quality of projects showcased here. I encourage students to continue building such solutions—our e-governance agencies are open to supporting and even adopting impactful applications and innovations that emerge from talented youth like you.” The Chennai edition saw enthusiastic participation from students across Tamil Nadu, representing institutions such as SIMATS College of Engineering (Chennai), Sathyabama University (Chennai), Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Coimbatore), Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Anna University Regional Campus (Madurai), Dhirajlal Gandhi College of Technology (Salem), and Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore and other colleges from different cities across Tamil Nadu. Rahul Attuluri, CEO and Co-Founder of NxtWave said, “Through the Chennai regional buildathon, we’ve been able to tap into exceptional AI talent from across Tamil Nadu—especially students from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities like Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem. We started the buildathon as a national movement with over 70,000 learners to enable grassroots AI innovation. Young learners got a chance to work directly with state-of-the-art tools, build job-ready AI skills while addressing real-world challenges. For us at NxtWave, the Buildathon is all about democratizing AI education, and it’s a testament to the fact that the next wave of global AI talent is emerging from India—and Tamil Nadu is playing a major role in that journey.” High-impact prototypes built by students ranged from rural development tools like a smart Village Transformation Kit, AI Teacher for government schools, IoT-enabled rainwater harvesting systems, soil health scanners, cattle-monitoring tags, to urban-focused innovations such as smart bus stops providing real-time bus tracking with solar power, pothole detection apps, smart dustbins. Urban and safety-focused prototypes also received strong attention, with ideas such as a women’s safety smart ring equipped with GPS, SOS alerts, and a buzzer; and an automatic smart dustbin capable of detecting waste levels, compressing garbage, and notifying municipal authorities. Students working on environmental technology developed socially relevant solutions like a plastic-to-fuel conversion unit and an automatic solar panel cleaning robot, aimed at improving renewable energy efficiency across the state. Healthcare solutions such as portable health ATMs, cattle health monitoring tags, and low-cost atmospheric water generators further demonstrated the breadth and practical applicability of ideas. The breadth and practicality of these prototypes demonstrated the students’ ability to build socially impactful, scalable, and locally relevant AI-powered solutions, accelerating India’s transformation into a global hub for AI innovation.

OpenAI Academy

OpenAI Academy × NxtWave Host Regional Buildathon in Chennai, Showcasing Tamil Nadu’s Emerging GenAI Talent from Tier 2 and 3 cities