Register → Learn → Build → Pitch → Shine
Five stages take you from signing up to pitching live at the Grand Final. Every stage builds toward one thing: your idea, made real.
🏛️ Physical
The Grand Final on is a physical event at .
What each of the five stages actually involves
Three weeks, five stages. Here is what you are doing in each one, what is expected of you, and what you have at the end of it.
Stage 1 — Register
Registration closes 12 September 2026. You register as a team of one to three, or on your own if you would rather be matched into a team. The fee is RM50 per participant, which covers the online workshops, the AI discovery sessions, industry exposure and your competition entry.
You state a domain preference when you register — Understanding Gen Z Talent or AI Technologies — and the organising team confirms the final assignment. You are not locked in at the point of registering.
What you need: enrolment at a Malaysian university at diploma, foundation or undergraduate level, and a laptop. No coding experience is required.
Stage 2 — Learn (15–17 September 2026)
Three days of online workshops. These are not lecture recordings — they are working sessions covering the AI tools you will actually use during the build period, how to scope a problem small enough to finish, and how to structure a five-minute pitch that industry judges will understand.
Everything runs online, so you can attend from anywhere in Malaysia. If your timetable clashes with a session, the material is designed so a team can cover for a missing member.
Stage 3 — Build (18–27 September 2026)
Ten days to turn your idea into something that runs. The deliverable is a working AI-powered prototype, not a slide deck and not a mockup. It does not need to be large. It needs to be real, functional, and genuinely yours.
This is the stage the whole programme is built around. Most teams discover their original idea was too big and cut it down — that is a normal and expected part of the process, not a failure.
Stage 4 — Pitch, Round 1 (28–30 September 2026)
You pitch live to industry mentors in online breakout rooms. Five minutes, then questions. You get direct feedback from people who build and hire in this field — for most participants this is the single most valuable part of the three weeks, regardless of how they place.
The Top 20 teams are shortlisted from Round 1 for the physical Grand Final. See the full judging criteria for how scoring works.
Stage 5 — Shine, Grand Final (10 October 2026)
The finalists step off the screen and pitch in person at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang. This is where the RM10,000 prize pool is awarded across nine prizes: Champion, 1st and 2nd Runner-Up, three Innovation Awards and three Teamwork Awards.
Every participant receives a Certificate of Participation. Finalists receive a Certificate of Achievement, industry recognition and lifetime PDX Club membership.
After the Grand Final
The Top 20 finalists are offered a showcase slot at the annual PDX event in front of 4,000 participants. Your name and resume also go to the programme's industry partners — first-hand, ahead of the queue — which is where the RM50 fee earns back its value.
This is a showcase and introduction opportunity. It is not an offer of employment, investment or funding.