Build in Agentic AI at Harvard

Build with Agentic AI

Harvard Smith Center · Sunday, July 26 · 3:00 PM – 10:00 PM

You will not leave with notes about agents. You will leave with a working agent you built yourself.

Agentic AI is the shift from chatbots that answer to agents that act — they plan, use tools, check their own work, and get things done. This is a hands-on afternoon and evening built on one principle: AI competency is a practice problem, not a content problem. You spend the day building, and you walk out with something that runs.

Who this is for Students, young professionals, founders, and business owners — and anyone in between. No coding required for most of what we build. Bring a real problem from your work or studies; you will build an agent that solves a piece of it.

What you will do Arrive with a problem. Watch one agent built live, end to end. Then pick a track and build your own with mentors at your table:

Operate — automate a real task: inbox triage, lead qualification, research digests, meeting notes to CRM.

Create — a content or research agent: drafts, competitive scans, document Q&A.

Engineer — a multi-step agent wired to tools and APIs, for those who want depth.

Everyone ends in the same live demo round, then we keep the room open to connect, compare builds, and go deeper.

The afternoon 3:00 — Check-in and setup 3:30 — The agent loop, and one agent built live 4:15 — Pick your track, form teams 4:30 — Build sprint with mentors 6:00 — Ship-it demos, live and unscripted

The evening 7:00 — Open networking and extended build time 8:00 — Office hours for anyone going deeper 9:00 — Showcase of the night's best builds 10:00 — Close

What you leave with A working agent. A clear mental model of how agents actually work. A reusable template you can put to work the next morning.

About Marbella AI Born out of the Harvard Innovation Labs ecosystem, Marbella AI redefines AI education through project-based learning and mentorship from Harvard, MIT, and tech industry professionals — replacing standardized curricula with passion-driven student projects.

"Our mission is to empower the next generation with AI fluency — not simply AI literacy," says Dr. Jason Dou, Founder and CEO of Marbella AI. "We want students to become researchers, builders, and creative leaders who understand AI's technical foundations and societal impact."

That methodology shows up in real outcomes. Student Leo Ling is building agentic AI marketing agents for insurance professionals. David Chen conducted public policy research under a Harvard Kennedy School professor, published a peer-reviewed article, and was admitted to Columbia College with guidance from Chief Creative Officer Qinghua Wang and Partner Xander Wu. Calvin Yu co-authored two AI research papers under Dr. Dou, presented at the MIT AI for Health Conference, and was admitted to the University of Chicago.

Beyond STEM, Marbella AI is expanding into creative disciplines. Chief Creative Officer and Board Member Qinghua Wang, together with Creative AI Mentor Molly Xitong Zhang, leads initiatives exploring human aesthetics, taste, design, and artistic expression in the age of generative AI. Trained at the Pratt Institute and shaped by the classical gardens and architectural heritage of Suzhou, Wang brings her extensive interior design background — from landmark Upper East Side townhouses to luxury retail spaces like Clé de Peau Beauté — into Marbella AI's generative AI curriculum, teaching students to bridge physical materiality with digital tools. Zhang integrates her active work curating art exhibitions and leading cultural initiatives into student creative projects and portfolio development, mentoring students on how generative AI can enhance curatorial practice, artistic expression, and cross-cultural dialogue.

Bring A laptop and charger. A setup checklist goes out 48 hours before — complete it in advance so no build time is lost.

Seats are limited to keep the mentor-to-builder ratio high. Register below.

用 Agentic AI 动手构建

哈佛 Smith Center · 7月26日（周日）· 下午3:00–晚上10:00

你不会带着一堆关于 agent 的笔记离开。你会带着一个自己亲手构建、并且真的能跑起来的 agent 离开。

Agentic AI 是一次转变：从只会回答的聊天机器人，转向能够行动的 agent——它会规划、调用工具、检查自己的工作、把事情做完。这是一个动手实践的下午到夜晚，核心理念只有一条：AI 能力是练出来的，不是听出来的。整个活动你都在构建，最后带走一个能运行的成果。

适合谁 学生、青年专业人士、创始人、企业主——以及介于其间的任何人。当天大部分内容都不需要写代码。带上一个你工作或学习中真实存在的问题，你将构建一个能解决其中一部分的 agent。

你会做什么 带着一个问题来。现场看一个 agent 从头到尾被构建出来。然后选择一条赛道，在导师的桌边指导下构建你自己的 agent：

Operate——自动化一项真实任务：邮件分类、线索筛选、研究摘要、会议纪要同步到 CRM。

Create——内容或研究类 agent：初稿撰写、竞品扫描、文档问答。

Engineer——接入工具与 API 的多步骤 agent，适合想深入的人。

所有人最后都进入同一轮现场演示，随后我们让全场继续开放，用于交流、比较各自的成果、并继续深入。

下午 3:00 — 签到与环境配置 3:30 — agent 的运行逻辑，以及一个现场构建的 agent 4:15 — 选择赛道，组建团队 4:30 — 在导师指导下进入构建冲刺 6:00 — Ship-it 演示，现场实测，不用幻灯片

夜晚 7:00 — 开放交流与延长构建时间 8:00 — 面向深入构建者的 Office Hours 9:00 — 当晚最佳成果展示 10:00 — 结束

你会带走什么 一个能运行的 agent。一套关于 agent 真实工作原理的清晰心智模型。一个可复用的模板，第二天早上就能投入使用。

关于 Marbella AI 诞生于哈佛创新实验室（Harvard Innovation Labs）生态的 Marbella AI，以项目制学习和来自哈佛、MIT 及科技行业专业人士的导师指导，重新定义 AI 教育——用由热情驱动的学生项目取代标准化课程。

"我们的使命是让下一代真正掌握 AI 的流利运用能力（AI fluency），而不仅仅是了解 AI（AI literacy），"Marbella AI 创始人兼 CEO 窦嘉森博士（Dr. Jason Dou）表示，"我们希望学生成长为既理解 AI 技术根基、又理解其社会影响的研究者、构建者和创意领导者。"

这套方法论已经带来了实实在在的成果：学员 Leo Ling 正在为保险从业者构建 agentic AI 营销 agent；David Chen 在哈佛肯尼迪学院教授指导下开展公共政策研究，发表了同行评审论文，并在首席创意官 Qinghua Wang 与合伙人 Xander Wu 的指导下被哥伦比亚学院录取；Calvin Yu 在窦博士指导下合著两篇 AI 研究论文，在 MIT AI for Health 会议上做报告，并被芝加哥大学录取。

在 STEM 之外，Marbella AI 正拓展至创意领域。首席创意官、董事会成员 Qinghua Wang 与创意 AI 导师 Molly Xitong Zhang 共同主导探索生成式 AI 时代的人文美学、品味、设计与艺术表达。Wang 毕业于 Pratt Institute，成长于苏州的古典园林与建筑传统之中，她将自己深厚的室内设计经验——从上东区标志性联排别墅到 Clé de Peau Beauté 等高端零售空间——融入 Marbella AI 的生成式 AI 课程，教学生在物理材质与数字工具之间架起桥梁。Zhang 则将她策划艺术展览、主持文化项目的一线经验直接带入学生的创意项目与作品集建设，指导学生用生成式 AI 提升策展实践、艺术表达与跨文化对话。

请携带 笔记本电脑与充电器。活动开始前48小时会发出一份配置清单，请提前完成，以免占用现场构建时间。

名额有限，以保证导师与构建者的高配比。请在下方注册。