The TYE Seattle Chapter Finals recently took place at Bellevue College, drawing over 100 student participants who competed for a chance to advance to an international competition in June. The winning team developed an artificial intelligence-driven email management tool and will now move forward to represent the region on the global stage.
Organized through TiE Young Entrepreneurs, an initiative within The Indus Entrepreneurs worldwide network, the program provides high school students in grades 9 through 12 with hands-on experience in launching businesses. The Seattle region’s current cohort featured 20 teams presenting business concepts spanning diverse sectors such as artificial intelligence, nutrition for children, recycling ocean plastics, mental wellness, and healthcare.
Operating for over two decades, the TYE program has expanded to more than 40 cities globally. The Seattle chapter has achieved notable success, winning the international first prize in both of the previous two years.
Prior to the competition presentations, industry leaders from major technology companies including Amazon, Microsoft, and OpenAI participated in a discussion about career development in an era dominated by artificial intelligence. The panel was moderated by Aravind Bala, who serves as co-founder and CTO of SeekOut.
Swami Sivasubramanian, who holds the position of vice president of agentic AI at Amazon Web Services, advised students to leverage AI as a resource for creating solutions in fields that inspire them. He referenced the increased pace of testing and innovation he has observed within his organization. Sivasubramanian noted that entrepreneurial capabilities will become increasingly critical in the AI age.
Vijaye Raji, serving as chief technology officer of applications at OpenAI, recommended that students embrace a mentality free of regret. He suggested that most choices can be undone and that the only method to truly understand results is through action.
Aseem Datar, a chief product officer leading advanced AI and quantum computing initiatives at Microsoft, highlighted the importance of cultivating knowledge across multiple fields, viewing this approach as a source of significant potential.
The competition narrowed down to five finalist teams: DuggAI, Hydrobin, Healix, NeuraKind, and Tiny Tummies.
The first-place position went to DuggAI, which created an AI email assistant that gathers contextual information from various
applications to produce more intelligent responses. The tool features a swipe-based user interface inspired by short-form video platforms. The DuggAI team consists of Ashish Naik, Shaurya Duggal, and Kruthik Ankam, all students at Skyline High School located in Sammamish, Washington.
According to Bala, who also serves as a TYE instructor, the
competition standard increases annually, but this group of
participants elevated it more dramatically than previous years. He observed that AI technology has transformed what high school teams can accomplish within several months, and the students demonstrated this capability during their presentations.
DuggAI will now compete for Seattle at the TYE Global competition, which the Seattle chapter is hosting this year on June 12-13 at Bellevue College. The final round is set for the morning of June 13 and will be accessible to public attendees.
The Seattle chapter’s pursuit of a third consecutive global victory underscores the region’s strength in fostering young entrepreneurial talent and its continued leadership in the TYE program worldwide. The hosting of the global finals in the area further emphasizes Seattle’s prominent role in the network.