StudAI Foundry 2026
National Autonomous Systems Challenge
SRMIST, Chennai · March 19–28, 2026 · Organized by StudAI One
01 — Overview
Event Overview
Event
StudAI Foundry 2026
Venue
SRMIST, Chennai
Team Size
2–4 members
Registration Fee
₹500 / team
Build systems that think, plan, and act. Not chatbots. StudAI Foundry is a national-level hackathon focused on autonomous systems — AI agents that can think, plan, execute actions using real tools, review outcomes, and self-correct. This is not a chatbot competition. Teams build systems that operate with minimal human intervention, using APIs, databases, webhooks, and other action tools.
02 — Rules & Eligibility
Official Rules
Eligibility
- •Open to all UG and PG students across India.
- •Must register through the official form with valid college ID.
- •Registration fee of ₹500 per team is non-refundable.
Team Formation
- •Teams must have 2-4 members. Solo entries are not allowed.
- •Cross-college teams are permitted.
- •Each person can be part of only one team.
- •Team name must remain consistent across all submissions.
Tech & Tools
- •Any programming language, framework, or API is allowed.
- •Open-source libraries and cloud services are permitted.
- •Pre-existing code is allowed if clearly disclosed in the brief.
- •Projects must NOT be pure chatbots — autonomous tool usage is mandatory.
- •At least one action tool (API, database, webhook, etc.) must be used.
Submissions & Deadlines
- •CP1 due March 23, 11:59 PM IST — Idea + Plan + Tools.
- •CP2 due March 25, 11:59 PM IST — Working Demo v1 + Progress video.
- •Final due March 26, 11:59 PM IST — Demo, video, brief, and autonomy proof.
- •Late or incomplete submissions may be treated as invalid.
Code of Conduct
- •Maintain respectful, professional behavior in all interactions.
- •No plagiarism — all custom code must be original work.
- •Follow organizer instructions during Build Week and Finale.
- •Judges' decisions are final and binding.
03 — Tracks
Competition Tracks
Track 1: Autonomous Campus & Community Systems
Solve real campus pain-points with AI agents that autonomously handle student services, event ops, and institutional workflows — no human in the loop.
Example Projects
- →Smart helpdesk that auto-triages, resolves, and escalates student queries
- →Autonomous onboarding agent that verifies docs and enrolls new students
- →Self-updating knowledge base that ingests notices, PDFs, and circulars
- →Event ops agent that schedules venues, sends invites, and handles conflicts
Track 2: Autonomous SMB & Business Systems
Build AI agents that autonomously run small-business operations — from handling customer queries to generating reports and closing leads, end-to-end.
Example Projects
- →Support agent that reads tickets, queries CRM, and auto-resolves issues
- →Lead-gen pipeline that scrapes, qualifies, and sends personalized follow-ups
- →Analytics bot that pulls data, generates reports, and emails stakeholders
- →Compliance agent that audits SOPs and flags violations in real-time
Track 3: Autonomous Workflow & Operations Systems
Build AI agents that autonomously orchestrate complex multi-step workflows — processing documents, routing tickets, scheduling tasks, and running QA pipelines.
Example Projects
- →Doc processing agent that extracts, validates, and routes invoices autonomously
- →Ticket system that triages, assigns, resolves, and learns from past resolutions
- →Scheduling agent that coordinates across calendars and resolves conflicts
- →QA pipeline that runs tests, logs results, and auto-creates bug reports
04 — The Core Requirement
The Autonomous Loop
Every project must demonstrate this continuous cycle. A pure chatbot that only responds to messages does not qualify. Your system must autonomously use tools and APIs, evaluate outcomes, and self-correct.
Think
Understand the goal, gather context, and reason about what needs to be done.
Plan
Generate an actionable step-by-step plan to achieve the objective.
Execute
Perform actions using tools — APIs, databases, webhooks, or workflows.
Review
Evaluate the results against expected outcomes and detect anomalies.
Update
Self-correct, refine the plan, and loop back to improve accuracy.
The loop repeats — Update feeds back into Think, creating continuous autonomous improvement.
05 — Timeline
Key Dates & Milestones
- NowOpen
Registration Opens
Form your team of 2-4 members, pay the ₹500 registration fee, and submit your team details.
- March 19Workshop
LaunchPad Workshop
Join the free 2-hour orientation session. Learn what autonomous systems mean, explore tools, and get inspired by example architectures.
- March 21Build
Build Week Begins
Start building your autonomous system online. Use any language, framework, or cloud service. Mentors available on WhatsApp.
- March 23CP1
Checkpoint 1
Submit your idea, plan, and the tools/actions your system will use. Deadline: 11:59 PM IST.
- March 25-26CP2 + Final
Checkpoint 2 & Final Submission
Submit working demo v1 by March 25. Final submission (demo, video, brief, autonomy proof) by March 26, 11:59 PM IST.
- March 28Finale
Grand Finale @ SRMIST
Shortlisted teams pitch on-campus. Live demo, Q&A with judges, and winners announced. Prizes, certificates, and swag awarded.
06 — Submissions
What to Submit
All deliverables are due by March 26, 11:59 PM IST (final submission deadline). Late or incomplete submissions may be treated as invalid.
Working Demo
A functional prototype deployed or runnable. Must demonstrate the autonomous loop in action with real tool usage.
Demo Video
A 3-5 minute video walkthrough showing the system running end-to-end. Narrate the autonomous decisions being made.
1-Page Brief
A concise document covering: problem statement, solution approach, autonomous loop design, tools used, and impact.
Autonomy Proof
Traces, logs, or screenshots proving autonomous behavior — showing the Think → Plan → Execute → Review → Update loop. Examples: tool-call logs or screenshots, evaluation checklists with results, and iteration notes showing what changed after each review cycle.
07 — Judging
100-Point Rubric
All teams are evaluated on the same rubric. Finalists present on-campus at SRMIST on March 28. Judges' decisions are final and binding.
| Criterion | Points | Description |
|---|---|---|
Autonomy Quality | 30 | Depth of autonomous loop, self-correction, and minimal human intervention. |
Demo & Execution | 25 | Reliability of the working demo, error handling, and execution consistency. |
Problem Value | 20 | Real-world relevance, user impact, and clarity of the problem being solved. |
Feasibility | 15 | Technical feasibility, scalability, and real-world deployment readiness. |
Clarity & Story | 10 | Quality of presentation, documentation, and storytelling in the brief and video. |
| Total | 100 |
08 — Prizes
Prize Distribution
Winner
₹50,000
Runner-up
₹30,000
2nd Runner-up
₹20,000
In addition to cash prizes, all participants receive certificates. Winners receive trophies, swag kits, and cloud/tool credits. Total prize pool: ₹1,00,000.
09 — Contact
Get in Touch
Ready to build something autonomous?