Problem Statement Explainer Session - 2 | Google Cloud Gen AI Exchange Hackathon

Summary

The Jenna Exchange Hackathon session introduces participants to the second phase of the Gen Exchange program, aimed at upskilling developers in AI across India. It outlines hackathon tracks for students and professionals, key deadlines, cash prizes, workshops, and networking opportunities. The featured problem statement, contributed by Ease My Trip, challenges participants to develop an AI-powered personalized trip planner that generates dynamic itineraries, adapts to real-time conditions, offers multilingual support, and enables seamless booking. Clarifications on API use, payment integration, and system scope are provided, emphasizing innovation, user-centric design, and integration with EMT’s existing booking infrastructure.

Takeaways

• 😀 Jenna Exchange Hackathon is a program to upskill developers in AI across India, inviting students, professionals, and startups to solve real-world problems using Google Cloud AI technology.
• 🎯 The hackathon has two tracks: one for student developers and one for professional developers, with distinct problem statements and cash prize pools of ₹25 lakhs for students and ₹40 lakhs for professionals.
• 📅 The registration and prototype submission deadline is 21st September, with no extensions, so participants are encouraged to submit early for potential revisions.
• 💰 The hackathon offers workshops with Google Cloud experts every Wednesday to help participants enhance their projects using AI and ML technologies.
• 🌍 Developers from across India are joining the hackathon, offering a great opportunity to network, share ideas, and collaborate on solutions through the program’s Discord channel.
• 🛠️ Participants can select problem statements under either the student or professional track, with each statement addressing specific industry challenges.
• 🧳 One of the professional tracks is focused on developing an AI-powered personalized trip planner in collaboration with EaseMyTrip.
• ⚙️ The trip planner solution must dynamically generate personalized itineraries based on individual preferences, budgets, interests, and real-time conditions, and allow booking with a single click.
• 🌐 The planner should integrate with multiple data sources and provide multilingual, real-time adjustments for users, such as transport and experience suggestions.
• 🤖 Participants are encouraged to build an AI agent to support customer experience, including booking, itinerary suggestions, and handling delays or weather changes.
• 📡 EaseMyTrip will provide APIs for integration into the system, but participants can simulate API responses during development. The solution should integrate seamlessly into EaseMyTrip’s platform for booking purposes.

Q & A

What is the main goal of the Jenna Exchange Hackathon?

The main goal of the Jenna Exchange Hackathon is to upskill developers in AI across India, enabling them to leverage Google Cloud's cutting-edge AI technology to solve real-world problems and impact India's future.

What are the two tracks in the hackathon, and who can participate in each?

There are two tracks in the hackathon: one for student developers and one for professional developers. Students can select from five problem statements under the student track, while professional developers, startups, and freelancers can choose problem statements from the professional track.

What are some key incentives for participating in the hackathon?

Participants can work on real-world challenges, win cash prizes from a pool of ₹65 lakhs (₹40 lakhs for professionals and ₹25 lakhs for students), and utilize Google Cloud's AI tools like Gemma and Vortex to build their projects. Additionally, participants can attend workshops led by Google Cloud experts and network with developers from across India.

What is the deadline for the registration and prototype submission phase?

The deadline for both registration and prototype submission is September 21st, which is the upcoming Sunday. There will be no extensions, so participants should submit their prototypes on time.

What is the problem statement contributed by Ease My Trip?

The problem statement contributed by Ease My Trip is to develop an AI-powered personalized trip planner that dynamically creates end-to-end itineraries tailored to individual budgets, interests, and real-time conditions, with seamless booking capabilities.

What is the main challenge that the problem statement aims to address?

The challenge is that holiday packages in travel still largely operate offline, requiring customers to spend significant time finalizing itineraries. Ease My Trip seeks to develop an AI and ML-driven tool that can quickly generate personalized itineraries based on individual preferences and allow customers to book their trips with just a click.

What are some of the solution capabilities for the personalized trip planner?

The solution should be able to generate dynamic itineraries based on customer inputs, aggregate data from multiple sources to provide recommendations, offer multilingual interfaces, make real-time adjustments based on customer inputs (such as weather changes or delays), and provide cost breakdowns for optimized itineraries. The solution should also enable booking with a single click.

Will participants be provided with any APIs for the development of the solution?

Yes, Ease My Trip will provide APIs to be integrated into the system. However, during the initial phase, participants are expected to hypothetically assume that the APIs are already integrated and focus on the development process.

Does the solution need to integrate into the existing Ease My Trip portal or operate independently?

The solution is expected to operate as a standalone system, but it will eventually integrate into the Ease My Trip portal for the booking process. The core functionality of the tool will not be directly integrated into the existing Ease My Trip system, but the bookings will flow into it.

What are some best practices for integrating multiple travel services and APIs into a single planner system?

The integration of multiple services and APIs should focus on avoiding data conflicts by ensuring proper data validation, error handling, and establishing clear communication protocols between systems. Participants are encouraged to figure out the integration strategy themselves based on available resources and their solution design.