How GenAI Genesis Began

TL;DR Alankrit Verma came to the University of Toronto as a shy, math-driven student on scholarship who felt a deep responsibility to give back. That instinct led him into student leadership through AMACSS , where he helped build a small experiment called AI Olympics with 39 participants . That experiment revealed something bigger: students wanted a serious space to build, learn, and belong in AI. So Alankrit and his co-founder Adib Fallahpour scaled that spark into GenAI Genesis — first as a cross-campus student hackathon, and eventually into one of Canada’s largest student AI hackathons. Along the way, Alankrit helped lead the vision, website, sponsorships, partnerships, and long-term structure behind the event, including helping establish the GenAI Genesis Foundation so the mission could sustain beyond a single organizing cycle. And now, in 2026 , GenAI Genesis is entering its biggest and most ambitious chapter yet. From a 39-person experiment to one of Canada’s largest student AI h