Showcasing innovation, confidence and real-world thinking, six exceptional students from South Essex College took to the stage at our new London office to present their AI solutions to real industry challenges. Selected from over 100 competition entries, the finalists demonstrated not only technical ability, but creativity, professionalism and a clear understanding of how AI can be applied responsibly and effectively across sectors.
South Essex College - AI Competition
As part of our ongoing collaboration with South Essex College (SEC), we were proud to host six extremely talented students at our new London office, where they presented their own AI solutions designed to address real-life challenges across a range of industries.
Throughout the day, it was clear just how much thought, research and preparation had gone into each presentation. The students delivered their ideas with confidence and clarity to an expert judging panel comprised of Simon Warnes (Director of Corporate, AV and Bids), Simon Jefferies (Director of Technology), Tyron Raubenheimer (Head of Security and Cloud Technologies) and Ben Welton (Director of Technology Sales). Projects were judged against set criteria, including research and challenges, AI concept, and technical feasibility.
“The presentations were incredibly good, especially when you consider the age of the students. They all demonstrated that they had taken the competition very seriously and had put a lot of time into the slides and their AI design concepts. The content of the slides was well structured and thought through.” - Simon Warnes
Real-World AI Solutions
Each student tackled a unique industry challenge across the retail/e-commerce, IT and education sectors. Concepts presented included:
- Retail (Customer Focus): An AI ShopAssist agent designed to eliminate repetitive processes, streamline interactions and improve overall customer satisfaction.
- Retail (Staff focus): An AI tool to support shop floor staff with instant answers to customer questions, such as product comparisons and purchasing recommendations.
- IT (Helpdesk team): An AI-driven approach to reducing helpdesk workload by resolving simple issues, escalating only complex tickets, and routing requests accurately to the right teams.
Reflecting on the students’ performance, Ben Welton commented: “The standard of ideas, the confidence in the presentations, and the way they handled questions was genuinely impressive and a real credit to the work that has gone into preparing them.
They make the college and their parents incredibly proud, and rightly so. It was great to see how engaged and supportive everyone was, and the atmosphere throughout the day was fantastic. I personally really enjoyed being part of it and seeing the progress compared to previous competitions.”
Now for the winners…
With exceptionally high standards across the board, the competition was tight, but the panel ultimately agreed on their top three.
“Judging was particularly difficult this year because the quality across the finalists was so consistent. Each of the top projects addressed real-world problems and showed thoughtful consideration of users, ethics, and practical deployment.” - Simon Jefferies
- Third place: Ugnius with a retail e-commerce AI agent designed to manage customer interactions, including returns, lost parcels, and tailored product recommendations within a set budget.
- Second place: Similoluwa with EduGuide, an AI chatbot supporting students with quick answers to common questions, particularly helpful for those who prefer digital interactions over face-to-face support.
And in 1st place was…
Oleksandr, with an IT Support Bot designed to support medium and large organisations by resolving common issues and freeing IT teams to focus on more complex challenges.
Oleksandr’s presentation stood out for its depth and clarity, featuring a live demo, a data flow diagram, and clear consideration of security, risk and mitigation. Despite admitting he felt nervous beforehand, he delivered with confidence and fully owned the room.
This marked Oleksandr’s second time participating in a Sharp/SEC competition. Reflecting on his previous experience, where he felt nerves got the better of him, his progression to this year’s winner is a huge accomplishment and testament to his determination, growth and resilience.
Wrapping up this year’s competition
All judges agreed that this year’s competition was the strongest yet, with an exceptional level of talent on display.
“The annual competitions that we run with SEC go from strength to strength, and every year we think they can’t get any better, but they do, and this event was by far the best we have ever seen.” - Simon Warnes
We’d like to congratulate every student who took part and thank South Essex College for their continued partnership. We’re already looking forward to seeing what next year’s competition brings.
