Inside the CDW AI Developer Challenge

What happens when organizations are given access to NVIDIA technologies, Dell AI infrastructure and expert guidance to explore AI through their own business challenges?

They begin turning ideas into practical solutions.

The CDW AI Developer Challenge brought together teams from a variety of organizations for a hands-on, six-week competition focused on enterprise agentic AI. Participants received instructor-led training, a dedicated Dell Pro Max system with GB10 technology and support from CDW AI and architecture experts as they designed, built and demonstrated custom solutions.

The challenge began with virtual training developed in collaboration with NVIDIA and delivered through CDW’s learning platform. Teams received guided instruction on the NVIDIA AI software stack, including NVIDIA NIM, CUDA-based architecture patterns and enterprise agent design.

Participants then moved into development sprints, applying what they learned on dedicated Dell GB10 systems. With support from CDW subject matter experts, teams worked through solution design, architecture, inference and deployment considerations as they developed their entries.

The structured program gave participants an opportunity to build their technical skills while working through the practical decisions involved in enterprise AI development.

Rather than asking every team to solve the same problem, the challenge encouraged participants to select use cases tied to their own goals and operating environments.

The range of projects reflected the many ways organizations are beginning to put AI to work. Participants explored solutions designed to improve employee onboarding and support experiences, uncover insights from business data, streamline software development workflows, improve operational visibility and enhance customer interactions.

These were not hypothetical exercises built around a common prompt. They reflected actual business priorities, giving teams the opportunity to explore how AI could help address challenges specific to their organizations and continue refining those ideas beyond the challenge itself.

The challenge culminated in live solution demonstrations, evaluation and recognition. Teams had to show not only what they built, but how the solution addressed the business need they selected.

Participants reached different stages of development during the six-week program. Outcomes included working solutions, validated concepts and practical ideas ready for further exploration. Even when a project did not reach a completed demonstration, the development process helped its team uncover important considerations around architecture, implementation and adoption.

That range of outcomes reflects the reality of enterprise AI. Progress is not only defined by launching a finished application. It can also mean validating an approach, identifying technical constraints or gaining the evidence needed to determine the next step.

Successful AI initiatives do not begin with technology alone. They begin with a well-defined problem and a clear reason to solve it.

The CDW AI Developer Challenge gave teams the infrastructure, technical foundation and expert support to explore that connection firsthand. By building around needs specific to their organizations, participants demonstrated how Enterprise AI can move from broad possibility to practical application.