The promise of artificial intelligence has long been tethered to the chat box—a text-in, text-out interface that only hints at the technology’s full potential. But as the industry moves toward multimodal systems that can see, hear, and interact in real-time, the primary challenge for leaders has become practical application, rather than simply processing data. 

In March, Columbia Business School served as a proving ground for this transition, hosting the NYC Build With AI Hackathon, the city’s largest event of its kind.

The Shift Toward Multimodal Innovation

The two-day intensive sprint brought together more than 270 developers, founders, students, and industry professionals. Unlike traditional coding competitions that focus on backend efficiency, this mission was to prototype next-generation applications that can see, hear, speak, and create. Utilizing Google’s latest technological stack, which includes Gemini APIs, Vertex AI, and the Agent Development Kit, participants competed across two distinct challenge tracks:

  • The Live Agent: Real-time voice-and-vision AI agents capable of natural conversation and interaction.
  • The Creative Storyteller: Multimodal AI experiences that combine text, audio, and visual generation.

By focusing on these tracks, the event pushed builders to move beyond traditional chatbots and explore multimodal AI and real-time agents that offer more immersive, human-centric user experiences.

A Hub for Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration

The hackathon was a testament to student leadership, spearheaded by Amin Ameen, an EMBA candidate at CBS and board member of the CBS Artificial Intelligence Club, alongside Anna Nerezova of Google Developer Groups NYC. 

The initiative was a collaborative effort involving the CBS AI Club, CBS Tech Club, and the Columbia Entrepreneurs Organization, reflecting a growing movement within the student body to lead hands-on engagement with emerging technologies.

“Our goal was to create a space where builders from across New York could come together to experiment with the latest AI tools,” Ameen said. “When students collaborate directly with engineers and founders, ideas move much faster from concept to real-world applications.”

Cultivating the NYC AI Ecosystem

The competition’s results highlighted the high caliber of innovation emerging from the New York tech scene. The first-place team, Tazeem Mahashin and Vera Malkova, earned a private pitch session with the founders of Google’s AI Futures Fund, while other top honors went to teams led by Kevin Dotel, Nelly Nguyen, Chandan Srinath, Pranay Palepu, and Mayank Sewatkar.

Beyond the prizes, the event underscored CBS’s expanding role as a cornerstone of the New York AI ecosystem. Participants hailed from several New York-area institutions, including NYU, Cornell, and Rutgers, as well as various startups across the city’s rapidly growing AI sector. 

This cross-pollination of ideas between academia and industry is essential for maintaining New York's competitive edge in the global tech landscape.