HCM CITY — More than 3,000 AI developers, entrepreneurs and technology professionals took part in Agentic AI Build Week 2026, a five-day AI buildathon held in HCM City from July 8 to 12, according to organiser GenAI Fund.

The organisers said the event attracted more than 100 technology companies, businesses and ecosystem partners, alongside over 50 mentors and speakers and featured 15 technical workshops.

More than 400 AI projects were submitted for evaluation, with over 70 judges assessing entries through two rounds of presentations.

The event focused on developing AI solutions for real-world business challenges rather than operating as a conventional hackathon. Participants worked on projects spanning retail, aviation, mobility, hospitality, gaming, financial services, food and beverage, cloud infrastructure and robotics.

During the event, GenAI Fund released its State of AI Builders in Southeast Asia 2026 report, based on data from 2,719 AI developers from 55 countries.

The report found that AI practitioners in the region are increasingly moving beyond using standalone AI tools to building agentic AI systems capable of planning, using external tools, retaining context and completing complex multi-step tasks.

According to the organisers, companies including VNG Games, KFC, PhongVu.vn, TASCO, Vietjet, Guardian, Shinhan Future's Lab, GoTymeX and The Anam contributed business use cases for participating teams.

Technology partners, including AWS, OpenAI, Microsoft for Startups, Tencent Cloud, NVIDIA, BytePlus and Agora, provided cloud infrastructure, technical support and workshops during the programme.

Winning projects covered sectors including retail, aviation, hospitality, robotics, gaming and financial services. Among them were AI-powered aircraft tyre monitoring, retail safety systems, hospitality workflow automation and robotics applications.

The organisers said selected teams would continue working with corporate partners, technology providers, mentors and investors after the event to explore product validation, pilot projects and commercialisation opportunities.

Agentic AI Build Week was organised by GenAI Fund, which said the programme aims to strengthen Southeast Asia's AI ecosystem by connecting developers with businesses, technology infrastructure and potential investors. — BIZHUB