About this Event
Innovation Weekend: Designing Responsible AI Agents
Join students, innovators, and problem-solvers from across the River Region for a weekend of collaboration, creativity, and real-world problem solving. Innovation Weekend brings together interdisciplinary teams to tackle a timely challenge at the intersection of technology, ethics, and decision-making.
This year’s challenge focuses on AI agents—advanced systems capable of making decisions and executing tasks across multiple platforms with limited human oversight. While these tools are transforming industries such as education, healthcare, finance, engineering, and defense, they also introduce new risks, including bias, misinformation, and limited transparency in how decisions are made.
Over the course of the weekend, participants will work in teams to explore how AI agents can be designed to be transparent, reliable, and supportive of human critical thinking, while still maintaining the speed and efficiency that make them valuable. Students will collaborate with peers from different disciplines, engage with mentors, and develop innovative solutions to present to a panel of expert judges.
The event culminates with team presentations, where judges will select winning ideas. Participants will have the opportunity to earn prizes and potentially gain access to future research internships, collaboration opportunities, or pathways to further develop their ideas with industry and government partners.
Innovation Weekend is designed to foster an entrepreneurial mindset, strengthen connections between regional universities and the workforce, and empower students to tackle complex challenges shaping the future of technology and society.
Who Should Attend:
Students interested in technology, research, entrepreneurship, policy, engineering, business, healthcare, education, or any field impacted by emerging AI systems.
Come ready to collaborate, innovate, and help design the future of responsible AI.
PARKING INSTRUCTIONS: Please choose any available parking spot on Dexter Avenue, Monroe Street, or surrounding streets of Kress on Dexter (39 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, AL 36104).
DO NOT pay the parking meter. Parking is free after 4:45 PM and weekends.
Day One Agenda
🕑: 05:00 PM - 05:30 PM
Introduction and Overview
🕑: 05:20 PM - 05:40 PM
Challenge Description
🕑: 05:40 PM - 06:20 PM
Speed Dating (Get to know each other)
🕑: 06:20 PM - 07:00 PM
Initial Brainstorming
🕑: 07:00 PM - 07:30 PM
Q&A, Homework Assignment
🕑: 07:30 PM - 08:30 PM
Social (food provided)
Day Two Agenda
🕑: 09:00 AM - 09:45 AM
Overview, Review, Group Selection
🕑: 09:45 AM - 10:30 AM
Group Work
🕑: 10:30 AM - 10:45 AM
Break
🕑: 10:45 AM - 11:45 AM
Idea Refinement
🕑: 11:45 AM - 12:00 PM
Pitch Information (Including Examples of prior pitches)
🕑: 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
Lunch (provided)
🕑: 01:00 PM - 01:30 PM
Q&A
🕑: 01:30 PM - 04:00 PM
Work Session (breaks with refreshments)
🕑: 04:00 PM - 04:30 PM
Discussion, Preview
🕑: 04:30 PM - 05:30 PM
Dinner/Social (provided)
Day Three Agenda
🕑: 09:00 AM - 09:45 AM
Overview, Q&A
🕑: 09:45 AM - 11:30 AM
Group Work (refreshments provided)
🕑: 11:30 AM - 11:45 AM
Q&A
🕑: 11:45 AM - 12:45 AM
Working Lunch (provided)
🕑: 12:45 PM - 01:15 PM
Practice Pitches
🕑: 01:15 PM - 01:30 PM
Introduce Judges
🕑: 01:30 PM - 03:30 PM
Pitch to Judges
🕑: 03:30 PM - 04:00 PM
Break
🕑: 04:00 PM - 04:45 PM
Awards
🕑: 04:45 PM - 05:00 PM
Exit Discussions, Postscript
🕑: 05:00 PM - 06:00 PM
Refreshments
Event venue & nearby stays
The Eagle Institute, Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, AL, USA, United States
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.