EY Artificial Intelligence Competition

Artificial Intelligence: AI Driven Talent Optimization

Sponsored by: EY

Business Context

Enterprises need agile talent strategies to stay competitive in a rapidly changing market. Traditional HR systems often fail to map evolving skills to open roles or provide actionable upskilling paths. This gap creates inefficiencies in workforce planning and limits career growth opportunities. AI agents can automate these processes at scale, but they introduce risks around bias, explainability, and data privacy. A successful solution must combine intelligent automation with strong governance and transparency.

Problem Description

Design an AI-driven talent strategy agent that:

·       Maps skills from employee profiles to open roles.

·       Generates personalized upskilling plans to close skill gaps.

·       Provides clear, human-readable explanations for recommendations.

·       Incorporates risk mitigation features, including:

o   Bias detection and fairness checks in role recommendations.

o   Explainable AI for why a role or learning path was suggested.

o   Data privacy safeguards for sensitive HR information.

The solution should balance accuracy, fairness, and transparency, while considering scalability for large organizations.

Desired Deliverables:

Working Prototype

·       Demonstrates skill-role matching and upskilling plan generation for at least 5 synthetic profiles.

·       Note: The solution must be used in an LLM-based approach.

Explainability & Governance

·       Explanation framework showing why roles and learning paths were recommended.

·       Governance packet including decision log, bias checks, and privacy safeguards.

Presentation & Demo

·       ≤10-slide deck summarizing problem, solution, architecture, and guardrails.

·       Short demo (video or live) showcasing functionality.

Success Criteria:

·       The solution must solve a real enterprise need and show clear value.

·       It must give accurate, meaningful role recommendations beyond keyword matching.

·       The upskilling plans must be practical, sequenced, and consider time and cost.

·       It must include transparent, human-readable reasons for all decisions.

·       The design must show bias checks and follow privacy-conscious principles.

·       It must address IT security risks and AI-related risks such as bias and misuse.

·       The solution must have robust, well-documented architecture.

·       It must deliver a clear user experience with strong presentation and storytelling.

TIMELINE

  • February 16, 2026 (11:59 PM Eastern) - Preliminary submissions due 
  • February 26, 2026 – Finalists notified
  • March 27, 2026 – Final presentations (during SCLC) and winners announced

PRIZES

  • First place: $2,000 USD
  • Second place: $1000 USD
  • Third place $500 USD

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT

Only teams from current AIS Student Chapters are eligible to complete.   

Evaluation Rubric

Guidelines 

Points

Problem Understanding and Business Value

  • Does the team clearly define the enterprise need?

  • Does the solution provide meaningful value and solve a real business challenge?

15

AI Functionality and Accuracy

  • Does the system accurately map skills to roles and generate practical upskilling plans?

  • It must give accurate, meaningful role recommendations beyond keyword matching.

20

Explainability and Governance

  • Are recommendations transparent and easy to understand?

  • Does the solution include bias detection, fairness checks, and privacy safeguards?

20

Technical Design

  • Is the AI system well-structured, scalable, and documented?

  • Does it address IT security and AI-related risks effectively?

20

User Experience and Presentation

  • Is the demo clear, engaging, and easy to follow?

  • Does the presentation communicate the solutions impact and storytelling effectively? 

15

Innovation and Creativity

  • Is the approach unique, thoughtful, and forward-looking?

  • Does it stand out from typical AI or HR solutions?

10

Total

100