eMerge AI Hackathon brings builders to Miami for October 17 challenge

Miami AI Hub and eMerge Americas will bring developers, founders and other builders to The LAB Miami on Saturday, October 17, for an AI hackathon offering $7,000 in advertised cash prizes.

The organizer’s registration page lists an 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern schedule at 2750 NW 3rd Avenue. Applicants need host approval, and capacity is limited. A registration request does not guarantee admission.

The three tracks are enterprise AI, supported by Archie; healthcare, supported by Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center; and education, supported by Millennium. Track winners share $3,000, with another $4,000 for projects using Archie.

Entrants can arrive alone or in teams of up to five. Building runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; submissions require a working demonstration, public repository and short pitch deck.

All project code must be written during Saturday’s event. Problem sets were scheduled for October 15, allowing advance research and planning before the building window.

The event follows a broader organizational change announced in June 2025, when eMerge Americas acquired Miami AI Hub and appointed its founder, Burhan Sebin, as chief AI officer. In that announcement, eMerge connected the acquisition with an expansion of its AI programming and the launch of Miami AI School. It placed the community alongside the organization’s existing conference and year-round activities.

That programming now spans more than one annual gathering. eMerge’s AI and deep-tech page describes monthly community meetings, workshops and roundtables, alongside startup and investor meetups, technical discussions and enterprise briefings. Its Miami AI School description emphasizes building usable applications and developing practical skills. The hackathon offers a different format: a short, concentrated period in which participants work toward a demonstration rather than attend a sequence of talks.

eMerge describes its AI community as including developers, data scientists, founders, students and enterprises. Its programs connect people building systems with organizations exploring how to adopt them.

For a local business considering AI adoption, a prototype creates something concrete to evaluate. A useful demonstration can show the task being attempted, the information required and the steps a person still needs to perform. That gives an owner or operator a starting point for questions about reliability, workflow fit and the cost of maintaining an application after the event ends.

The hackathon also sits ahead of a separate Miami AI Summit on October 23 at Loews Coral Gables Hotel. Its registration listing describes sessions and workshops covering subjects including enterprise deployment, healthcare, national security and workforce transformation. Standard tickets are listed at $250 before taxes and fees, with VIP tickets at $600; both require approval. The summit has its own admission process and should be treated as a separate booking.

The local opportunity is therefore specific: choose a relevant problem, find collaborators and test a workable approach. A prize or presentation can recognize a promising idea, while commercial adoption still requires a buyer, an operating plan and further evaluation. For prospective participants, confirming admission before arranging Saturday travel is the immediate next step. The organizer’s current listing carries the application and event requirements.