Western Sydney Tech Innovators, home


Learning happens by doing, not by watching. Our twelve-week summit and hackathons turn real problems into working products. No coding background needed.

Our impact

Teams shipped60+

teams have shipped a working AI product across the full WSTI hackathon series.

Participants500+

have come through the summit and every hackathon in the series.

Diverse community10yr – 70yr

a local community spanning every age group and ethnic background in Western Sydney.

Featured

WSTI Festi

November 2026, across the month

Our partners are sponsoring a month of events across Western Sydney, bringing the community together to showcase what has been built here and to build new skills. It is open to people of every age, background and profession.

Learn more about WSTI FestiSponsor the next hackathon

Find us onMeetupEventbrite

Every hackathon, jam and summit we have run

Each of these put people in a room and had them ship something working before they left.

View more: Every hackathon, jam and summit we have run

Our hackathon videos

What a WSTI hackathon or jam looks like from inside the room.

  • Western Sydney AI Innovation Summit & Hackathon
  • Fullday AI Jam for Small Businesses
  • Western Sydney AI Summit & Hackathon Promo
  • AI App Jam for Everyone
  • Digital & AI Mentor Bootcamp

  • Last night at the Western Sydney AI Innovation Summit - Hackathon Grand Finale, I watched a 10-year-old on stage, passionately sharing a car racing game he built over the past 3 weeks during his school holidays. He'd already landed his first customer too, $50 from another hackathon participant!

    Not a demo. Not a school project. A real product, explained with confidence in front of a room full of builders.

    AI isn't just for experts. It's a tool that lowers the barrier for anyone willing to try.

    Quinn DoLaunch Pad, Western Sydney University

  • Special thanks to WSTI team for empowering the Western Sydney community to stay ahead in advanced AI.

    As a mother, I had no option but to bring my child along, and what a blessing that turned out to be. With no prior coding experience, he was equally encouraged by the WSTI team and ended up thinking like a creator, even exploring ideas as a solo founder for a next-generation game.

    During these school holidays, this experience will remain a lifelong memory, proof that with the right support, innovation truly has no age limit.

    Dr. Sangeeta Aditya

  • Western Sydney Tech Innovators isn't just running events. They're building an execution engine for the Western Sydney tech ecosystem.

    Mentors who've been in the trenches. Technologists who care about craft. A community that celebrates doing, not just ideating.

    In a world full of hackathons that end on Sunday night, WSTI is playing a longer game: helping people build things that last.

    Thank you to the entire Western Sydney Tech Innovators team, including Lailei Huang and the community, for the opportunity, the encouragement, and the platform.

    Biswanath Dutta

From the room

Photographs from the hackathons, jams and the summit themselves, as they actually ran.

  • Attendees at the From Design to Ship: Build with AI × Google one-day hackathon
  • The From Design to Ship: Build with AI × Google one-day hackathon title screen
  • Prototyping in Google AI Studio at the From Design to Ship: Build with AI × Google one-day hackathon
  • Teams building at the From Design to Ship: Build with AI × Google one-day hackathon
  • At the WSTI banner during the From Design to Ship: Build with AI × Google one-day hackathon
  • A team receives their certificate on stage at the Grand Finale pitch night
  • Participants with their certificates after the finale
  • Three young builders holding their certificates
  • A builder presents their working demo on the big screen
  • A packed audience follows a pitch from the floor
  • Hackathon builders gathered for a group photograph
  • The full room at the Western Sydney AI Innovation Summit, arms in the air
  • Two participants working through an idea at a whiteboard covered in notes.
  • A full room of attendees seated for a session.
  • A speaker presenting with a microphone beside a WSTI banner.
  • A participant receiving a certificate from the WSTI team.
  • Attendees talking in the sandstone atrium between sessions.
  • Teams working side by side on laptops.
  • Attendees listening from the back of a packed room.
  • A team's demo on the big screen with the countdown clock running.
  • A team holding their certificate alongside the WSTI team.
  • Attendees in conversation around a table between sessions.
  • Two builders working together on a laptop.
  • A packed hall of attendees.
  • A speaker presenting a slide reading Drowning in admin tasks.
  • Two finalists holding their WSTI certificates.
  • Attendees gathered in the foyer after a session.
  • A mentor talking a participant through their work at a laptop.
  • Rows of attendees seated for a talk.
  • A speaker presenting a product slide to the room.
  • Four people from the WSTI team beside the banner after an event.
  • Long tables of participants building through the day.
  • Attendees watching a presentation.
  • A small team reviewing their build on a laptop.
  • Attendees in the front row during a session.
  • A mentor checking in with a table of participants.
  • Attendees following a talk from the middle of the room.
  • Two builders working at a laptop beside the WSTI banner.
  • Attendees following a presentation.
  • A participant focused on their build at a long table.
  • Attendees applauding at the end of a pitch.
  • Participants building across the open workspace.
  • Attendees seated in the sandstone hall for a session.
  • The room set up for a working session, tables and screens ready.

What people say about working with us

  • Nitta Boontanapibul: “I'm grateful to be part of this hackathon, meet new and familiar faces, and spend a day learning, building, and creating together.”
  • Amritha Thillai Villalan: “I joined the hackathon feeling unsure of myself as I wasn't very confident in AI. But the WSTI team's warm support quickly put me at ease.”
  • Cherry Flores Tomenio: “Building AI projects with WSTI brought meaningful connections & new friends. It's so fun building with brilliant, passionate minds!”
  • Chinna Babu Kanchetti: “A vibrant convergence of passionate minds, united by the drive to turn ideas into reality.”
  • Francis Stalin: “Taking part in the WSTI Hackathon was a great experience that pushed us to build fast, learn quickly, and turn ideas into something real.”
  • Jacqui Griffin: “The whole experience was a lot of fun, and being around like minded people was very inspiring, want to do it again!”
  • Shivani Dhar: “Not only was the event well organized, the environment was fun, collaborative and inclusive, which made the experience even better.”
  • Tommy Dam: “It was truly an inspiring event where the right team turned impossible ideas into reality.”
  • Vignesh Polur Maniyan: “In this journey along with many cross domain experts, gave me a good experience to use multiple AI tools with a steep learning curve.”

What people walked out with

  • CoHire

    Francis Stalin came to a Project Hub as a visitor and kept coming back. CoHire is his lending platform, where people rent out the camp kit or the power tool they bought once, and it is live with insurance behind it.

    Read more: CoHire

  • Connie QA

    Munraj Singh picked a problem from the housing crisis and built something that runs. Connie QA automates ITPs, reviews drawings, and verifies site conditions against key standards. Community voting placed it second at the Grand Finale.

    Read more: Connie QA

  • CareLogix

    Tommy Dam was one of WSTI's first members and built CareLogix slowly, event by event. It turns a support worker's voice notes and photos into the care documentation that would otherwise eat their shift.

    Read more: CareLogix
View more: What people walked out with

The organisations building this with WSTI

WSTI's partner organisations:

  • City of Parramatta
  • Investment NSW
  • Google
  • UNSW Founders
  • Western Sydney Startup Hub
  • LaunchPad WSU
  • Spacecubed
  • Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue
  • City of Ryde
  • Georges River Council
  • Uniting
  • Good Things
  • University of Technology Sydney
  • Parramatta Leagues Club
  • Domino's Pizza Northmead Store

The next one is already being planned

Come and build, or help us put more of these on. Teams have shipped real products out of these rooms, and the partners behind them are how the rooms keep happening.

Learn more about WSTI Festi