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AI entrepreneur Rajat Paharia to keynote Heartland Challenge 2025
Heartland Challenge 2025 is a student startup competition awarding nearly $100K in funding
Rajat Paharia / Website: news.uark.edu
Rajat Paharia, a former Google executive and AI entrepreneur, is set to deliver the keynote address at the sixth annual Heartland Challenge, a global student startup competition hosted by the University of Arkansas.
Paharia founded Ask Steve, which aims to empower employees with artificial intelligence rather than concentrating its power in the hands of large corporations.
“That’s kind of the whole premise of Ask Steve: anybody can build these really powerful AI tools, implement them, and then share them with their colleagues,” he explained. “AI is amazing, but that doesn’t matter if people don’t use it because it’s too complicated, too much work, or doesn’t solve their day-to-day problems.”
After nearly a decade at Google, Paharia relocated from California to Northwest Arkansas, a move influenced by his family’s long-standing connection to the region. He was engaged with local entrepreneurial leaders such as Toby Teeter, Kat Carlisle, Serafina Lalany, and the University of Arkansas' Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
The Heartland Challenge, which Paharia will keynote, is a premier competition designed to simulate the process of raising venture capital for high-growth enterprises. Since its inception in 2020, it has awarded nearly $588,500 in prize money. This year, it will bring 12 student-led startups from across North America to Bentonville, where they will compete for a share of nearly $100,000 in funding.
The competition, hosted by the Sam M. Walton College of Business and supported by the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation, will take place from April 3-5 at the Ledger in downtown Bentonville. The final round will be live-streamed and open to the public. The overall winner will take home $40,000, with additional prizes awarded for second through fifth place, as well as in the elevator pitch competition and Investor Roundtable Awards.
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