Build with Agentic AI at Harvard

Description

Build with Agentic AIHarvard Smith Center · Sunday, July 26 · 3:00 PM – 10:00 PMYou will not leave with notes about agents. You will leave with a working agent you built yourself.Agentic AI is the shift from chatbots that answer to agents that act — they plan, use tools, check their own work, and get things done. This is a hands-on afternoon and evening built on one principle: AI competency is a practice problem, not a content problem. You spend the day building, and you walk out with something that runs.Who this is for Students, young professionals, founders, and business owners — and anyone in between. No coding required for most of what we build. Bring a real problem from your work or studies; you will build an agent that solves a piece of it.What you will do Arrive with a problem. Watch one agent built live, end to end. Then pick a track and build your own with mentors at your table:Operate — automate a real task: inbox triage, lead qualification, research digests, meeting notes to CRM.Create — a content or research agent: drafts, competitive scans, document Q&A.Engineer — a multi-step agent wired to tools and APIs, for those who want depth.Everyone ends in the same live demo round, then we keep the room open to connect, compare builds, and go deeper.The afternoon 3:00 — Check-in and setup 3:30 — The agent loop, and one agent built live 4:15 — Pick your track, form teams 4:30 — Build sprint with mentors 6:00 — Ship-it demos, live and unscriptedThe evening 7:00 — Open networking and extended build time 8:00 — Office hours for anyone going deeper 9:00 — Showcase of the night's best builds 10:00 — CloseWhat you leave with A working agent. A clear mental model of how agents actually work. A reusable template you can put to work the next morning.About Marbella AI Born out of the Harvard Innovation Labs ecosystem, Marbella AI redefines AI education through project-based learning and mentorship from Harvard, MIT, and tech industry professionals — replacing standardized curricula with passion-driven student projects."Our mission is to empower the next generation with AI fluency — not simply AI literacy," says Dr. Jason Dou, Founder and CEO of Marbella AI. "We want students to become researchers, builders, and creative leaders who understand AI's technical foundations and societal impact."That methodology shows up in real outcomes. Student Leo Ling is building agentic AI marketing agents for insurance professionals. David Chen conducted public policy research under a Harvard Kennedy School professor, published a peer-reviewed article, and was admitted to Columbia College with guidance from Chief Creative Officer Qinghua Wang and Partner Xander Wu. Calvin Yu co-authored two AI research papers under Dr. Dou, presented at the MIT AI for Health Conference, and was admitted to the University of Chicago.Beyond STEM, Marbella AI is expanding into creative disciplines. Chief Creative Officer and Board Member Qinghua Wang, together with Creative AI Mentor Molly Xitong Zhang, leads initiatives exploring human aesthetics, taste, design, and artistic expression in the age of generative AI. Trained at the Pratt Institute and shaped by the classical gardens and architectural heritage of Suzhou, Wang brings her extensive interior design background — from landmark Upper East Side townhouses to luxury retail spaces like Clé de Peau Beauté — into Marbella AI's generative AI curriculum, teaching students to bridge physical materiality with digital tools. Zhang integrates her active work curating art exhibitions and leading cultural initiatives into student creative projects and portfolio development, mentoring students on how generative AI can enhance curatorial practice, artistic expression, and cross-cultural dialogue.Bring A laptop and charger. A setup checklist goes out 48 hours before — complete it in advance so no build time is lost.Seats are limited to keep the mentor-to-builder ratio high. Register below.