๐ Build with AI ร IWD 2026 โ What an incredible experience!
Organising Build with AI combined with International Womenโs Day 2026 in London was truly an amazing journey. Anyone who has organised an event in London knows itโs not easy โ but at GDG London, we always aim to raise the bar and create a memorable experience for the community.
From selecting the right speakers to securing the perfect venue, every detail mattered. A big thank you to Aryan and the Imperial College GDG on Campus team for collaborating with us and hosting the event at Imperial College London. Their support played a key role in making this event possible.
The response from the community was incredible. We received 150 speaker applications and carefully selected 23 speakers, covering some of the latest developments and real-world applications in AI.
Since the event was combined with International Womenโs Day, we also organised a panel discussion aligned with this yearโs theme, โBreak the Barrier.โ The discussion focused on empowering women with the latest knowledge in AI, helping them grow and thrive in the tech ecosystem.
At GDG London, we always try to create something special for attendees. This year we introduced a hybrid AI Hackathon. While exploring hackathon platforms, we realised most options were extremely expensive, so our Innovation Hub team decided to build our own platform.
Huge thanks to Sumith, Raouf, Renuka, and the Innovation Hub team for building the entire hackathon platform.
Participants registered on the platform, redeemed free cloud credits, and started building their projects. We received around 75 project entries, and 40 teams submitted amazing projects. After evaluation, we selected 5 winning teams.
The winners received fantastic prizes, including:
๐ฑ Mobile devices
๐ง Earbuds
๐ฎ Lego lifestyle sets
โจ๏ธ Mechanical keyboards
๐ Tablets
For those who didnโt participate in the hackathon, we also launched an Agent Adventure Game, where participants could explore and learn how AI agents work in a fun and interactive way while competing on a leaderboard. Many attendees joined and learned through this experience.
We also hosted hands-on workshops on ADK, MCP, and A2A, helping developers complete Google Codelabs and understand how these technologies work in practice. Around 50 developers actively participated in these workshops.
Overall, it was an incredible day of learning, building, collaboration, and community.
A huge thank you to all the participants, speakers, volunteers, organisers, and partners who made this event such a success. ๐
Looking forward to building even more amazing experiences with the community.
#BuildWithAI #GDGLondon #WomenTechmakers #AICommunity #DeveloperCommunity