Montana’s first AI hackathon wrapped up at The Baxter in Bozeman with five teams presenting working prototypes, a pace that would have sounded implausible at a startup weekend a decade ago.
Speridian Technologies and the Montana High Tech Business Alliance hosted the Oct. 14 afternoon session. In a recap published Oct. 20, the alliance said participants from around the state, with a mix of skill levels, spent the session on practical business problems. Examples included a tool to match international students with host families and an AI-supported health coach. Each of the five teams, Executive Director Christina Henderson said, had a working prototype in about an hour.
“Fifteen years ago, when I first came to Montana, teams at startup weekends would spend 48 hours, often staying up all night, developing a product idea,” Henderson said. “At the AI Hackathon, each of the five teams had a working prototype in just one hour.”
Ali Hasan, Speridian’s chief executive, helped open the event. Chris Tarabochia, the state’s chief AI officer, served as a mentor and judge with Hasan and other industry people. Representatives from CubCloud AI, KOA, Big Sky AI and Speridian’s New Wave Accelerator in Dillon also took part, the alliance said. Speridian provided Amazon gift cards for the winning team.
Matt Allen, a program director at Speridian, called the afternoon “an opportunity to approach AI with curiosity, creativity, and a willingness to learn from one another.” The alliance said it plans more hackathons and pointed people to its events calendar for dates.
Add The Montana Statesman as a preferred source on Google (opens in a new tab)