A self-improving AI agent that could predict whether a modified video-game character would become more or less popular. Another that could sort through complex invoices so trucking companies get paid on time. A third that could tailor fitness recommendations to help people get more from their workouts.

Those were among the ideas presented at the “Self-Improving Agents Hackathon,” held October 13 at the USC Information Sciences Institute as part of LA Tech Week. ISI is part of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the USC Stevens School of Computing and AI.

Co-sponsored by GRAIL, a startup founded by ISI principal scientist Mayank Kejriwal, and 18VC, a USC student group, the six-hour event drew about 75 people to ISI’s Marina del Rey home. 

Building AI That Learns

Unlike a typical chatbot, which gives an answer but does not assess how well it worked, the agents developed at the hackathon could evaluate their results, learn from their mistakes and try a better approach.

“The purpose was to give people a hands-on way to build and test AI agents that can actually get better over time,” said Kejriwal, who conceived the hackathon and is a research associate professor in the USC Viterbi Daniel J. Epstein Department of Systems and Industrial Engineering. “We wanted to show people how to do that.”

The day also featured a panel with Kejriwal; serial entrepreneur and ISI adviser Karl Jacob; and Carmen Palafox, a venture capitalist and USC Marshall School of Business adjunct professor who teaches Investing in new ventures, among other courses. They discussed Southern California’s strengths and challenges as a place to launch companies and the expense of making recursive self-improvement widely available. RSI describes a system that improves itself or designs a better successor, then builds on those advances in a continuing loop.

“In Los Angeles alone, we have 13 research institutions, if not more. If you look at the R&D spending among our universities—not including Cedars-Sinai, JPL or any of the other research institutions—we have surpassed the Bay Area,” Palafox said. “There’s a lot of innovation happening here.”

In the late morning, participants formed teams and used GRAIL’s browser-based, OpenClaw-powered platform. It supplied much of the technical framework, allowing teams to concentrate on what their agents should accomplish and how they should improve.

“As long as they brought a laptop and could follow basic instructions, this allowed them to get started very quickly,” Kejriwal said.

Teams had about two and a half hours to create working demonstrations. Kejriwal and USC Viterbi doctoral students answered questions as participants tapped at laptops, grabbing pizza, drinks and cookies as they raced against the clock.

Finding Momentum

Each team received five minutes to explain what it had built, demonstrate how it worked and make the case for why it mattered. The three panelists judged the entries on their originality, ambition, usefulness and technical depth. They selected Momentum, created by a five-person team that included USC alumnus and entrepreneur James Shechet.

Momentum is envisioned as an AI accountability partner. A user might begin with a goal such as going to the gym once a week. The agent would track progress and refine its recommendations as it learned what helped that person follow through.

“What if you could have an AI agent that becomes your strategic accountability buddy?” Shechet said. “This agent will help hold you accountable and then improve upon that over time.”

Shechet, who earned a joint degree in business and cinematic arts from USC in 2014, said Momentum could combine a user’s goals with expert guidance. It would not merely wait for instructions; it could identify areas where a user might benefit from help and improve its recommendations based on the person’s response.

The team came together at the event, joining members with backgrounds ranging from entertainment, robotics, quantum networks, US Naval research, and computer science. Shechet, a former YouTube senior content operations manager, said the group hopes to keep working on Momentum, perhaps even turning it into a company.

Beyond the Competition

For Corbin Higgens, a USC Viterbi master’s student in computer science, the possibility of turning a hackathon project into a company showed why the event mattered. Higgens serves on the executive board of 18VC, a student group that connects founders with investors through podcasts, events and networking. 

“The importance of the hackathon is to learn about recursive self-improvement AI and experience those new technologies, but also to get a very condensed version of entrepreneurship — working with a team and seeing how things work in real life,” Higgens said.

Events like this can also strengthen USC Viterbi’s visibility among Southern California entrepreneurs, he added, while encouraging participants to remain connected through the Trojan network.

For Kejriwal, success would extend well beyond the winning presentation.

“I hope a few projects keep going, a few new collaborations start and a few people begin thinking, ‘I can actually build great things in this space,’” he said. “If people build things that surprise us, learn a lot and leave excited to keep working on self-improving agents, I would call that a success.”

Published on November 6th, 2026

Last updated on November 6th, 2026