Challenge@PoliTo_by Firms is an innovative teaching activity carried out at the Politecnico di Torino. It plays a vital role in the PoliTo's strategy to foster innovative education and entrepreneurial culture among students. These activities are organized in collaboration with external firms, which present real life business challenges. The primary objective of these activities is to provide support for early-stage ideas and equip students with the essential skills needed to develop their entrepreneurial ventures. During this experience, up to 30 master’s students are divided into multidisciplinary teams and work, compete, and develop their own solutions. The challenge take place in an experimental educational laboratory: the CLIK - Connection Lab & Innovation Kitchen, where students can experiment and practice what they have learned during their lectures in an informal and multidisciplinary environment which promotes the spirit of creativity and collaboration. Challenge@PoliTo by Firms – AI for Business: Innovating for Tomorrow The Topic Artificial Intelligence is transforming industries and creating new opportunities. Through large language models, multi-modal generation, natural language processing, and data synthesis, AI is revolutionizing all sectors: from enhancing customer experiences to optimizing complex business processes. This technological revolution is not just automating tasks but also human capabilities, enabling businesses to make data-driven decisions with unprecedented accuracy and speed. For Reply, a global leader in digital transformation, AI is foundational to all the solutions that address tomorrow's challenges. The Challenge Reply is hosting a Generative AI Challenge which includes 5 distinct use cases, each focusing on a specific application in business environments. Participants will be assigned to one of these use cases, developing solutions to real-world business challenges, explore practical applications and create prototypes to showcase their ideas. 1. Scientific References: Hidden Gold in Plain Sight – by STORM AI REPLY 2. Next-gen conversational in-vehicle assistant - by CONCEPT ENGENEERING REPLY 3. Decoding User Feedback for Smarter Virtual Assistants - by CONNECT REPLY 4. Transforming Manual Workflows into Smart Processes with Google’s Generative AI - by GO REPLY 5. Level Up Banking with GenAI: Predict What Customers Want Next - by IRISCUBE REPLY

The main goal is to engage students in learning initiatives which can really bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge acquired in the university environment and the practical skills required by companies to work in a professional setting. Entrepreneurial Culture: Promote the Entrepreneurial culture/behavior on the PoliTo Students. Multidisciplinary Teams: Collaborate in a complex and multidisciplinary context. Information research: Retrieval, Data collection and Utilization of information to support teamwork activities. Hard Skills: Put into practice what they have learned during their lectures to solve a real problem from partner firms. Soft Skills: Teamwork under conditions close to a genuine business environment, self-assessment and work organization. By the end of this activity, students will be better equipped to work in a multidisciplinary team, a skill increasingly sought after, especially multinationals. Furthermore, they will be able to analyze industrial problems with a comprehensive approach, considering both technical and market aspects.

Challenges are open to master’s students of the Politecnico di Torino. Students are required to verify if this specific Challenge recognizes credits for their degree programme. No specific competencies are required to participate. To apply to this activity, the student must upload: ● Cover Letter in English: self-presentation and motivations of interest in the presented Challenge; ● Curriculum Vitae. The students' selection will be based on Cover Letter, CV and multidisciplinary required by the Challenge. The Challenges is entirely held in English.

The Challenges of the first didactic period last 14 weeks; they start in September 2025 and end in January 2026. During the Challenges, students must work in multidisciplinary teams supported by a group of tutors, coming from PoliTo and external partners, with complementary backgrounds and competencies, under the lead of Professor Alberto Monge Roffarello (DAUIN). Each team will have the flexibility to self-organize its own working time and methodology. However, they will be required to spend approximately 1 hour and half per week with mentors, either in the CLIK Lab, a similar space or remotely, in addition to the joint alignment meetings (specified subsequently).

The activity will take place at CLIK (Connection Lab and Innovation Kitchen), located in the central building of the Politecnico di Torino (Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24), in a similar space or remotely, with the following schedule: ● Kick-Off & Team Formation (2 consecutive days): the partner company, professor in charge of the activity and tutors will hold a session on the Challenge's issues. Team Building and team formation also take place in this phase to establish multidisciplinary teams. ● Problem Analysis and Idea Creation: teams will have two weeks to analyze the problem in detail. A team of mentors will provide support through weekly meetings. ● Idea Presentation – 1st Work Progress: each team will present the problem and their proposed solution through a pitch. This will be a half day joint alignment meeting. ● Prototyping and Development: teams will meet weekly at CLIK (or similar space or remotely) together with mentors who will support their project's development. This phase will extend over 11 weeks of teamwork. ● Two Mid-Check Presentations – 2nd and 3rd Work Progress: two half-day joint alignment meetings will be dedicated to discussing the work progress during the Prototyping and Development phase. ● Final Presentation: at the end of the 14 weeks, teams will present their projects through a pitch. This will be a half day joint alignment meeting. Every team will have the flexibility to self-organize its own working time and methodology. However, they will be required to spend approximately 1 hour and half per week with mentors, either in the CLIK Lab, a similar space or remotely. The Teams, during the Challenge, must hand in the following deliverables: • Three ppts Work Progress: Pitches to explain achieved outcomes and next steps of the project, during work progress meetings. • One monthly report: a monthly report to describe achieved outcomes and next steps. • One ppt Final Presentation: final pitch, during the final presentation, to present the whole work. • One final report: a comprehensive final report on the entire project will be submitted. A standard form will be provided for this purpose. Please note that the outlined structure serves as an example and may be subject to modifications throughout the course of the Challenge.

Modalità di esame: Accertamento (esame senza voto);

Exam: Check;

... Challenge is open to master’s students of the Politecnico di Torino. Credits will be awarded at the end of the Challenge only if the student successfully completes the course. The verification procedure is based on the following criteria: • Development of the project according to an evaluation grid. • Quality of the presentations during the joint meetings. • Reports (monthly and final). • Self-evaluation by team members. Please note that this activity does not have a grade; it is simply marked as passed or not passed.

Gli studenti e le studentesse con disabilità o con Disturbi Specifici di Apprendimento (DSA), oltre alla segnalazione tramite procedura informatizzata, sono invitati a comunicare anche direttamente al/la docente titolare dell'insegnamento, con un preavviso non inferiore ad una settimana dall'avvio della sessione d'esame, gli strumenti compensativi concordati con l'Unità Special Needs, al fine di permettere al/la docente la declinazione più idonea in riferimento alla specifica tipologia di esame.