Program Overview

AgentVenture is a free innovation and entrepreneurship competition where middle school students work in teams to design AI-powered solutions to real-world problems. Centered on AI agents, the challenge encourages students to think creatively, solve meaningful problems, build practical prototypes, and pitch their ideas like young entrepreneurs.

To support registered participants as they prepare for the competition, AgentVenture will offer an optional 5-week guided online workshop series led by the High School Leadership Team. Through these workshops, students will learn AI agent basics, problem selection, solution design, visual workflow prototyping, and pitch preparation.

The program concludes with a hybrid Final Showcase on Sunday, August 9, 2026, where up to 20 finalist teams will pitch their projects live to a panel of judges. Local finalist teams may present in person at the CFI Center in Chicago, while out-of-area teams may participate online.

What Makes AgentVenture Different?

No prior programming experience is required.
Students build using a visual drag-and-drop workflow platform while learning the logic behind AI agents and autonomous systems.
The challenge combines technology, creativity, entrepreneurship, and real-world problem-solving in one hands-on experience.
The program is youth-led: high school student leaders guide workshops, support participants, and help run the preliminary review process.

Who Can Participate?

Open to students in Grades 5-8.
Students may register individually or as a team of 1-3 students.
Teams may list an optional high school student coach or mentor during registration. Coaches may guide and support the team, but may not complete the project work for participants.

Key Dates

Monday, June 8, 2026 Program release and registration opens

Thursday, June 25, 2026 Registration deadline

Friday, June 26, 2026 Workshop 1: Team Orientation

Friday, July 3, 2026 Workshop 2: Problem Selection & User Needs

Friday, July 10, 2026 Workshop 3: AI Agent Workflow & Solution Design

Friday, July 17, 2026 Workshop 4: Building a Visual Workflow Prototype

Friday, July 24, 2026 Workshop 5: Pitch Preparation & Final Submission

Friday, July 31, 2026 Final submission deadline

Saturday, August 1, 2026 Preliminary review

Sunday, August 2, 2026 Finalist announcement

Sunday, August 9, 2026 Hybrid Final Showcase

How the Program Works

Students register individually or as a team of 1-3 students.
Teams attend optional weekly online workshops led by high school student mentors.
Teams identify a real-world problem and design an AI agent solution.
Teams build a visual workflow prototype using n8n.
Teams submit their project slide deck and prototype/workflow for preliminary review.
The High School Leadership Team reviews submissions and selects up to 20 finalist teams.
Finalist teams pitch live at the hybrid Final Showcase.

Workshop Series

Optional weekly workshops will be held online via Zoom on Fridays from 7:00–8:00 PM Central Time. Workshops are designed for contestants only. Topics include AI agent basics, problem selection, solution design, visual workflow prototyping, and venture pitch preparation.

Competition Details

Technology Platform

All teams will build using n8n, a visual AI workflow platform that allows students to create functional AI systems without coding. Backend setup and technical infrastructure will be managed by the high school leadership team.

Preliminary Round

All teams submit a project slide deck and AI agent prototype/workflow by July 31. The High School Leadership Team reviews submissions and selects up to 20 finalist teams.

Final Showcase

The hybrid Final Showcase will be held on Sunday, August 9, 2026. Local finalist teams may present in person at the CFI Center in Chicago; out-of-area teams may participate online.

Registration

Registration will be completed through the QR code. Parent consent is required. More workshop access and submission instructions will be provided after registration.