The final stage is here. From thousands of student founders around the world, a select group has advanced to the Imagine Cup World Championship. Each startup arrives with more than a solution; they bring momentum, clarity, and a point of view on the problem they are solving.
At this level, the focus shifts. It is not only about what has been built, but how founders think, how they respond to challenges, and how they carry their ideas forward.
Helping shape that moment are the judges. Leaders who have built across AI, startups, and global platforms, and who understand what it takes to move from early traction to something that lasts.
Irina Raicu
Dr. Irina Raicu brings a powerful combination of AI expertise and real-world execution to the Imagine Cup stage. An AI leader, founder, and former Microsoft product manager, she has spent more than 15 years translating emerging technology into measurable business impact.
Across IBM, Accenture, and Microsoft, she has led AI initiatives spanning product strategy, enterprise transformation, and large-scale adoption, including driving over 90 percent of Copilot adoption across more than 2,000 engineers. Her work consistently focuses on turning complexity into clarity.
Today, she is building two AI-native ventures: the Institute for Applied AI and AIVERGENT. Her perspective sits at the intersection of enterprise AI, startup innovation, and creative experimentation.
She brings a clear lens on what it takes to build with intention and scale with purpose.
Bakari Brock
Bakari Brock brings a builder’s mindset shaped by experience across startups, scale-ups, and global platforms. As GM Director of Global Partnerships at Microsoft for Startups, he focuses on connecting founders with the networks, resources, and infrastructure needed to grow on Azure.
His work centers on unlocking opportunities, helping high-potential startups access the right partnerships to accelerate momentum. Before Microsoft, he held leadership roles at Guideline, Lyft, Twitter, YouTube, and Google, spanning partnerships, business development, legal, and go-to-market strategy.
He has seen firsthand what it takes to move from early traction to long-term scale, across multiple industries and stages of growth.
Bakari brings a grounded perspective on how startups build momentum and sustain it over time.
Thea Myhrvold
Thea Myhrvold brings a founder-first perspective shaped by building at the intersection of technology, creativity, and human experience. As a technologist and entrepreneur, she has focused her work on translating emerging technologies into products that people can connect with and use in meaningful ways.
Her experience spans AI, product development, and venture building, with a strong emphasis on bridging innovation with real-world applications. She has worked closely with startups and organizations to navigate growth, refine ideas, and bring new concepts to life.
Thea is known for her ability to connect vision with execution, seeing both the big picture and the details that make a solution resonate.
She brings a thoughtful lens on building products that are not only innovative, but impactful.
Building Beyond the Moment
Alongside mentorship and community, Imagine Cup startups are supported by tools that help their solutions continue to take shape as they grow.
Through GitHub Education, teams gain access to the Student Developer Pack, collaborate using AI-assisted coding with Copilot, and build on a platform used by developers around the world.
With Replit, teams can build, test, and deploy using natural language in an AI-powered environment designed for rapid iteration and continuous learning.
Together, these tools give founders the flexibility to move faster, iterate with intention, and continue building as their ideas scale.
Innovate. Validate. Accelerate.
We are honored to have these judges at the 2026 Imagine Cup World Championship. Their perspectives will help spotlight the ideas, execution, and momentum behind this year’s student finalists.
The Imagine Cup World Championship is a chance to see the next generation of founders in action. From AI-driven solutions to bold approaches tackling global challenges, these startups are already shaping what comes next.
Watch the livestream on June 2 at Microsoft Build 9:45 AM PTD to see which startup is named the 2026 Imagine Cup World Champion.
Stay connected and follow the journey on LinkedIn, Instagram, X, and Facebook for the latest updates.
