Future Caribbean has launched a global US$70 000 ($140 000) agentic AI ‘buildathon’ aimed at helping to create the next generation of Caribbean-born technology companies.
The initiative, which was formally launched during Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Invest Sustainability Week 2026 in Barbados, will see 40 teams from across the Caribbean and around the world competing in a 21-day sprint to build open-source Agentic AI systems designed to address challenges and opportunities facing the region.
Agentic AI refers to AI systems that can pursue goals and take actions with a degree of autonomy, rather than just answering prompts or making predictions on demand. Software “agents” can perceive a situation, reason about it, plan multi‑step workflows, call tools or other systems, act, and then reflect and adjust over time.
The buildathon will focus on ten opportunity tracks including finance, healthcare, tourism, food systems, climate risk, disaster coordination and the blue economy. Selected teams will receive access to NVIDIA H200-Class GPU compute, mentorship and support from more than 25 regional and international advisors.
Founder of Future Caribbean and co-founder of ACTAI Advisors, Lily Dash, said the programme was created from the belief that the Caribbean should play a leading role in shaping the future of technology.
“Future Caribbean started from a conviction: the Caribbean is one of the world’s great opportunity regions. Technology is now the largest driver of economic value creation in the modern global economy. If you have an idea, if you have been building, this is your moment,” she said.
“The Caribbean should not watch this transformation happen — it should help shape it. Future Caribbean exists to give builders from across the Caribbean and around the world a place to build systems that strengthen the oxygen lines within the region and between the region and global markets.”
Chairman of ACTAI Global and founding partner of Future Caribbean, Bill Tai, said the emergence of Agentic AI presents a unique opportunity for small teams and entrepreneurs.
“Agentic AI is creating the biggest wave of opportunity we’ve seen in decades, giving small teams a level of leverage that was previously unimaginable. The Future Caribbean Buildathon is placing the region directly in the path of that wave by connecting innovators, governments, investors, and global partners to build solutions that matter,” he said.
Leonardo Mazzei, who is in charge of environmental and social governance and stakeholder engagement at IDB Invest, said the initiative demonstrates the value of regional collaboration.
“By bringing together entrepreneurs, technology leaders, investors, institutions and development partners, the initiative creates new opportunities for talent, ideas and technologies to move from concept to deployment and scale,” he said.
Director of the World Food Programme’s Caribbean Multi-Country Office, Brian Bogart, noted that artificial intelligence could help vulnerable island states strengthen resilience.
“I look forward to engaging with teams working on Food Security and Disaster Coordination as they explore practical ideas and potential applications for the Caribbean and other vulnerable regions facing similar challenges,” he said.
Applications are open until July 3 and can be found on the Future Caribbean website. The 40 selected teams will be announced on July 17 before participating in the builder sprint from July 17 to August 7. Winners will be revealed on September 1, with top teams advancing to a Caribbean Investor Showcase and an investor demonstration pitch day at the New York Stock Exchange in September.
(LE)
