AI Agent Arena

Where AI agents go to work.10 agents. 5 minutes each. No PowerPoint. Just live demos.What will your agent do when we hit GO?Interested in what your AI agent can do? GET an AI-Builder ticket and APPLY here https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1fGLyjdH3bh2HgOurQAV2LTImtNBqzx9FtStp1sAf7X4/previewDon’t tell us what your AI agent can do. Show us.Most AI events involve people describing what their agent will do at some point. This event is different. Ten teams each have five minutes to bring their agent to the stage and demonstrate it live in front of a room full of AI founders, developers, investors, product leads, and potential customers.No slides. No marketing video. The agent actually does something.You don’t have to be a startup. If you’ve developed a working agent, you can apply: an internal tool that runs within your company, a side project, a workflow that you’ve automated for your own team. We care about whether it works, not whether it has a logo or a seed round.The FormatEach demo gets exactly 5 minutes.30-second introduction: Who you are and what problem your agent solves.3-minute live demo: the agent does the work. Researches and makes a decision. Completes a business workflow. Talks to another agent. Operates software. Handles a customer. Writes and executes a plan. Recovers from an error.90 seconds on why it matters: who it’s valuable for, what makes it different, and what the killer use case is.Then straight to the next demo.The Agent ChallengeEach team receives the same real business problem: take a messy business requirement and turn it into an executed workflow. Then we watch as ten different agents tackle it. You can also present your own use case if it better showcases the agent.Audience-chosen AwardsEveryone in the room gets a vote. We award:• 🥇 Best AI Agent• 🧠 Most Innovative Agent• 🤯 “Holy Sh*t” Demo• 💰 Most Commercially Valuable Agent• 🚀 Best Early-Stage TeamAnd an overall winner: THE AI AGENT OF THE EVENINGSchedule• 6:00 PM Doors open and networking• 6:30 PM The State of AI Agents, a 5-minute intro• 6:35 PM Agent demos, back-to-back, each 5 minutes• 7:25 PM Audience voting• 7:30 PM Winner announcement• 7:35 PM Networking for founders, developers, investors, and customers• 8:30 PM CloseWe invite everyone to build AI agents: show us what you’ve built.No more pitch nights. No more panels. No more events where everyone tells us how great their AI agent is. Bring your agent and show us what it can actually do.Founders, engineers, product managers, ops leads, solo developers: if you have an agent that does real work, the stage is yours.Your agent can:• 🤖 Execute a workflow• 🧠 Make decisions• 💬 Interact with people• 🔗 Work with other systems or agents• ⚡ Automate something that previously required humans• 🔥 Or simply do something that makes the audience say, “Wow”Each selected demo receives:• 🎤 5 minutes on stage• 🎥 A professional recording of the demo• 📣 Social promotion before and after the event• 🤝 Time with founders, developers, investors, and potential customers• 🏆 A chance at the AI agent of the evening• 🌐 A spot in the AI agent showcaseThe one rule: SHOW. NOT PITCH. No 20-minute presentations. No company history. Just your agent, a real problem, and what happens when you hit GO.👉 Applications are open. Apply here for a demo: https://forms.gle/hj2DNfqkmUy8kmfL6Who this is for• Founders developing AI agent products• Engineers, PMs, and ops leads who have quietly developed an agent in their company and wish to showcase it• Investors looking for agent teams that are beyond the deck stage• Product and engineering leads deciding what they want to buy and develop• Anyone who wants to see what AI agents can actually do todayAbout the HostRaj Lal is the founder of ANCI AI, where Zara, a human-driven planning agent, is currently running for leadership teams in production. He led UX at MobileIron and SpaceIQ, conducts hands-on AI workshops at Igniter Silicon Valley events across the Bay Area, and has helped hundreds of product leads go from AI curiosity to real business deployment.📍 Bay Area, Palo Alto JCC⏱ 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM, doors and check-in from 6:00👥 Free pizza and drinks, free parking at the venuePart of the Igniter Silicon Valley Agentic AI Bootcamp seriesPart 1: Introduction to Agentic AI and LLMs ✓Part 2: From ideas to working prototypes, No-Code ✓Part 3: AI Agent Arena, just live demos ← You are hereSHOW. NOT PITCH. What will your agent do when we hit GO?Igniter: Stanford Entrepreneurs & Silicon Valley Founders An active community of over 6,000 entrepreneurs in the heart of Silicon Valley. Subscribe now to be informed about our next event.Another shoutout to our organizers. I don’t know how they could have made a better meetup. ;-) So many great insights. The most impressive to me was that some, but not all of us, are professional designers; but we are all designers. I’m an accountant, so not a professional designer...but...maybe I’m a professional designer. I design accounting systems and definitely many financial models in Excel. Improving the experience for those tools definitely helps the user. Maybe more of us are professional designers than we realize. My other favorite point was that there is always resistance to new technology, no matter how good it is. Plato was initially not a fan of the invention of books because he couldn’t converse with a book the way he could with a fellow human.” — Scott M.“This was my first time and I want more. My goal is to attend as many of these as I can from now on.” — Masa K M.“Great brilliant group with a refreshing perspective on business!” — Salma“The last startup meetup group you should join! Great work, folks!” — Elijah AWhat makes our events special?Startup-focusedHave a startup idea, a startup in stealth development trying to network, or a well-funded startup trying to grow? The Igniter community is for you.World-class speakersOur past speakers include Don Norman, Geoffrey A. Moore, and Steve Blank. Our speakers are respected experts in the startup space.Games, prizes, and socializingWe host games, award prizes, do book signings, and have a lot of fun. Join in and see what you’ve missed.Blogs/Slides/VideosCouldn’t attend an event? Forgot that one point the speaker mentioned? Check out the event photos and videos.An active communityMeet other like-minded founders and entrepreneurs in the valley at our events! Tap into the strength of the community and grow with us.Meet our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/igniterSV