JRE founders

Game changers: MBA classmates beat 1,500 competitors to reach final of Microsoft Imagine Cup, with AI to revolutionise steel industry

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MBA classmates, Akshat Saraf and Jorge Garduño, have reached the World Championship final of the Microsoft Imagine Cup with their innovative AI startup JRE.

The Microsoft Imagine Cup is a global competition that encourages students to create AI-based solutions to real-world challenges. More than 1,500 teams entered, and JRE have reached the top three.

Akshat and Jorge are flying to Seattle to compete against the other two finalists next week. They could win $100,000 and a personal mentoring session with the Executive Chair and CEO, Satya Nadella. They have already won a $50,000 grant for reaching the final.

Speaking ahead of next week’s final, Akshat said: ‘It feels surreal to be amongst the top three out of the 1,500 teams from all over the world that entered the competition. This nomination gives us a lot of confidence and reinforces the credibility in our work and product.’

Before starting his MBA, Jorge co-founded JRE in Mexico with Eli Cuellar and developed the concept and AI technology behind their product. His partnership with Akshat began after meeting at Saïd Business School.

 

 

Our work, truly embodies the principles of 'people, planet, profit' and will continue to as we strive to achieve our goal of significantly impacting the decarbonisation of our planet.

Akshat Saraf

Oxford MBA 2023

The students were inspired by two startling facts. Firstly, the steel industry is the single largest polluter in the manufacturing sector, accounting for 7% of global emissions. And secondly, the industry still relies on outdated technology, developed decades ago.

With experience working in the steel industry, but from different angles, they realised the need for innovation and modernisation, believing their complementary skills and expertise could drive a technological revolution. 

Their company commercialises an AI-powered hardware-software solution capable of detecting relevant process events and anomalies in the steel manufacturing process. This system is the size of a drinks can and updates a critical part of the manufacturing process. It could eliminate all steel waste and reprocessing costs from the industry, while delivering up to a 20% increase in profitability. It has the potential to save more than 30 billion litres of water, more than a million tons of coal from being burnt, and enough electricity to power the New York City skyline for more than two months, every year. They have recently set up an on-site test at a steel plant in India and are soon to have one in Japan.

The Imagine Cup represents a unique opportunity to showcase our solution to a global audience, garnering support, and resources necessary to scale our impact, our goal is very ambitious: to redefine heavy manufacturing for the 21st century.

Jorge Garduño López Guerrero

Oxford MBA 2023

As an Oxford SDG Impact Lab Fellow, Jorge said he is committed to delivering the UN Sustainable Development Goals through this company: ‘The heavy manufacturing industries lag in terms of innovation and technology adoption. We decided to work on this problem because it is hard, and after several iterations, we identified how to influence a precise leverage point in a complex system that is otherwise too difficult to change. By affecting this leverage point, we can create environmental and economic impact at a global scale. This is in essence what SDG 9 is about: to create resilient and sustainable industries through innovation.’

Akshat added: ‘Our work truly embodies the principles of "people, planet, profit" and will continue to as we strive to achieve our goal of significantly impacting the decarbonisation of our planet. We are also extremely proud to be an Indian-Mexican founding team, as the engineering sector is traditionally dominated by more developed counterparts in Germany, Austria, and USA.

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‘We are very thankful to Microsoft for this opportunity, Oxford Saïd for bringing together such a varied and diverse cohort, where two experts of the steel manufacturing industry, from opposite sides of the world united to create something potentially game-changing! And for the incredible support we have received from the entire Oxford community.’

In their journey, Akshat and Jorge said they have encountered ‘tremendous support from our peers, Oxford Saïd faculty, the Oxford entrepreneurship ecosystem, and the broader AI community in the UK’. As members of the Oxbridge-Aix acceleration community, and the Oxford Artificial Intelligence Society they say they have also received valuable mentoring from technology and business experts.

Akshat and Jorge embody what it means to be an Oxford MBA student - ambitious, innovative, and a force for good.

Kathy Harvey

Associate Dean for MBA and Executive Degrees

Akshat and Jorge have clear vision for their AI startup after the competition, in Jorge’s words: ‘The Imagine Cup represents a unique opportunity to showcase our solution to a global audience, garnering support, and resources necessary to scale our impact, but our goal is very ambitious: to redefine heavy manufacturing for the 21st century—making it smarter, more efficient, and sustainable. We are very optimistic that through AI, we can achieve this.’

Kathy Harvey, Associate Dean for MBA and Executive Degrees at Oxford Saïd, said: 'Akshat and Jorge embody what it means to be an Oxford MBA student - ambitious, innovative, and a force for good. We are all extremely proud of them both and wish them every success in Seattle next week. I look forward to seeing them help change our world for the better.’