MICA, Ahmedabad Wins Eighth Edition of Samsung E.D.G.E. Campus Programme With Gen AI-based Solution to Enhance Consumer Experience; IIFT, Kolkata & IIM Bangalore are Runners-Up

The eighth edition of Samsung E.D.G.E. received an overwhelming participation from over 15,000 students across 35 esteemed academic institutions, including top B-schools, engineering & design institutes

The winners bagged a cash prize of INR 450,000, a flagship Galaxy smartphone, and a pre-placement offer from Samsung

Finalists received mentoring and guidance from Samsung leaders to improve the solutions they proposed

Samsung, India’s largest consumer electronics brand, has announced the winners of the eighth edition of its pan-India campus programme Samsung E.D.G.E. Through the programme, Samsung is providing thousands of brilliant minds the opportunity to showcase their business acumen, strategic thinking and leadership skills each year.

This year, over 15,000 students from 35 campuses including top B-Schools, engineering colleges, and design schools participated in the programme that witnessed an exhilarating response. Some of the country’s brightest students exhibited their talents and exchanged meaningful insights.

The winning teams proposed some extremely innovative ideas.

Team Edge Runners from MICA, Ahmedabad took home the first prize. Their innovative and unconventional Gen AI-Based solution can enhance customer engagement at various touchpoints in offline and online stores, making their shopping experience more seamless. Focused on making the solution personalised, preferential and accessible to regional audiences too, the idea presented by Aviral Agarwal, Mansi Mathur and Sakshi Bansal impressed the jury the most and won them a cash prize of INR 450,000, Samsung’s flagship smartphones and pre-placement offers from Samsung.

Team Creative Geniuses from IIFT, Kolkata were the first runners-up for presenting a solution that will enable a seamless customer journey through their integrated platform that would converge AI and the power of Neurosciences. Their solution proposed by Apurv Gautam, Ruhi Rai and Soumya Vijayshankar targets three of the five human senses – audio, visual and touch to provide customers an experience of the Samsung product ecosystem and guide them in their purchase journey. The team was awarded a cash prize of INR 300,000.

Team Hustlers from IIM Bangalore were the second runners-up for presenting a solution to enable a seamless customer journey from pre sales to post sales leveraging Gen AI-Based solution. This will help in customer acquisition as well as customer retention. It also extends towards identifying customer needs in a more effective manner. The solution will ensure improved customer experience and enhanced productivity for the brand. Ami Jagani, Abhishek Chhattani, Vishal Shakya won a cash prize of INR 150,000.

The finale event conducted in Gurugram, was attended by Mr. JB Park, President and CEO, Samsung Southwest Asia and other senior leaders of Samsung India.

“At Samsung, we prioritize innovation as the foundation of our initiatives. Over the years, Samsung E.D.G.E. has consistently empowered students, providing a platform to showcase creative solutions and foster meaningful change for the society. This year, the programme received an overwhelming response and participation from more students and campuses, which has been truly inspiring for us. We are glad to see the spirit of innovation and problem solving in these young minds,” said Mr. Sameer Wadhawan, Head, Human Resources, Samsung India.

The three-month long programme was conducted in three rounds with 15,000 teams from 35 top-tier institutions participating, this year. Teams collaborated and constructed executive case summaries through research in the ideation-focused first round. Post the campus round, 45 shortlisted teams advanced to the regional round, submitting, and presenting detailed solutions. Subsequently, the top 10 teams underwent mentorship from Samsung leaders and participated in a National Round, concluding with the announcement of the top three winning teams.

Samsung E.D.G.E., which started in December 2016, is a first-of-its-kind campus programme that provides an opportunity for the country’s finest talents to come forward and exchange meaningful insights to get a head-start in their careers.