About the competition

What it is

Birdspiracy AI Competition 2026 is a free national competition for school students. Teams pick a real problem, design an AI-based solution, and present it in a short slide deck. No coding is needed. Entries are scored out of 40 on the issue, the solution and the presentation.

Who can enter

Students in classes 9 to 12, or the equivalent (such as PU college or junior college), at any school. Built for schools across India. Enter solo or in a team of up to four. Prizes total ₹50,000.

Who runs it

The competition is run by founders Sam Irfan and Ishat Gangatkar, with Dr. M.H. Balakrishnaiah, former ISRO scientist, as Chief Academic Judge.

Judge

Dr. M.H. Balakrishnaiah. Former ISRO scientist. ME and PhD, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. Formerly Special Director (Technical Cell), Government of Karnataka, and Member Secretary of the Karnataka State Coastal Zone Management Authority.

Why it exists

The Birdspiracy AI Competition asks students in classes 9 to 12 to identify a real problem in their own community, design an AI-based solution to it, and present their plan in 4 to 6 slides. Students from 100+ institutions across 19 states and UTs are taking part.

The competition is designed to build responsible, purposeful use of AI. It moves students from passive use, where AI simply supplies answers, to active application, where they decide where it adds value, how it would work in practice, and where it would fail. Along the way, it keeps them current with a fast-changing technology and encourages them to think beyond its familiar uses, towards applications that serve their communities.

These are research, reasoning and communication skills that carry into any subject. The competition complements the AI and computer science courses many schools now offer, but requires no coding, so students from any stream can take part.