OpenAI Academy x NxtWave Buildathon: Maharashtra Team Wins India’s Largest GenAI Student Challenge at India AI Impact Summit 2026

Mumbai, February 17, 2026: A team of 4 young builders from Maharashtra emerged as the Grand Champion at the national finale of the OpenAI Academy x NxtWave Buildathon, which concluded at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 held at Sushma Swaraj Bhavan, New Delhi.
Unfazed: LUMOS AI built by students from Pillai HOC College of Engineering and Technology secured the top prize of ₹5 lakh for developing a real-time wearable assistive system empowering visually and speech-impaired individuals. Built by Aryan Singh (Team Lead), Pranay Pelapkar, Yash Tambe, and Krish Patil, LUMOS AI showcases how student innovators from Maharashtra are driving AI solutions for societal impact, reinforcing the state’s leadership in purpose-driven student AI innovation. The win highlights Maharashtra’s growing leadership in student-led AI innovation emerging from Tier 2 and Tier 3 institutions.
Over 70,000 students were mobilized nationwide as part of the initiative under the IndiaAI Mission, with Maharashtra contributing strongly to the 90 finalist teams evaluated by a national jury.
Student solutions addressed healthcare, agriculture, public safety, and education, reinforcing the shift from experimentation to deployment-ready AI systems.
Organized as a flagship pre-summit initiative under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s (MeitY) IndiaAI Mission, the Buildathon brought together more than 70,000 young innovators in 7 states - Delhi, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu around the country. Identifying talent from universities through regional rounds across, the buildathon underscored the depth of India’s AI capabilities beyond metropolitan hubs. 90 teams advanced to the national finale, where they were evaluated by a distinguished jury comprising Raghav Gupta, Head of Education, India & Asia Pacific, OpenAI; Sandeep N, GTM APAC, OpenAI; Dr. Buddha Chandrasekhar, Chief Coordinating Officer, AICTE, Ministry of Education and Saharsh Sharma, VP, Chiratae Ventures along with industry leaders from JP Morgan Chase and Make My Trip. The review process prioritized the effective use of Large Language Models (LLMs), scalability, and system architecture, ensuring that student innovations translated into practical, deployment-ready solutions.
Guest of Honor Rama Lanka Devi, Lead Architect, Niti Frontier Tech Hub, Niti Ayog said, India’s youth are not just learning AI, they are the first generation of AI nation-builders. And when they build with purpose, transformation becomes inevitable.
Speaking at the national finale, Rahul Attuluri, CEO and Co-Founder of NxtWave, said, With the OpenAI Academy x NxtWave Buildathon, we built the country’s largest GenAI challenge for students under the India AI Impact Summit 2026. Together with OpenAI, NxtWave is contributing to India’s mission of developing the largest pool of young AI talent. It’s a proud moment to see students from across regions present practical AI solutions on a global stage, and we will continue to expand this initiative to reach more cities and learners. 
Bonnie Chatterjee, Global Head of AI Deployment Engineering, OpenAI, said, India is rapidly becoming a global epicenter for AI talent. What truly sets this ecosystem apart is the shift from experimentation to application. Students are building solutions rooted in reality, tackling everything from rural healthcare to agricultural yields. Through the OpenAI Academy, we’re bridging the gap between classroom theory and real-world impact, proving that Indian innovation is practical, essential and inclusive.
By mobilizing talent to solve challenges rooted in their own regional contexts, the initiative ensured that AI innovation is not just imported but indigenous, reinforcing the Summit’s mandate for inclusive, impact-led adoption at scale. Winning teams were awarded a total prize pool of ₹10 lakh, along with ecosystem support to scale their innovations reinforcing the buildathon’s focus on innovation.