Meet the AI BUIDL Lab Winners: How They Built on Rootstock with AI

Hi, I’m Carol, Developer Program Manager at Rootstock!

One of the most exciting aspects of my role is getting to know the brilliant minds behind innovative projects built on Rootstock during hackathons. After the AI BUIDL Lab hackathon on DoraHacks wrapped up, I sat down with each of the winners to hear their firsthand stories and learn what they built on Rootstock. In the sections that follow, I’ll give you an overview of each winning project and what’s next for the teams and solo builders.

About the AI BUIDL Lab Hackathon

The AI BUIDL Lab ran for three weeks entirely online on the DoraHacks platform in collaboration with Rootstock, thirdweb, and Alchemy. The goal was simple: give developers the guidance and tools they needed to build and deploy real Web3 apps on Rootstock’s Bitcoin-secured layer two using AI workflows to speed up everything from writing Solidity contracts to testing and on-chain deployment.

Participants began by exploring resources prepared by the organizers, including:

• step-by-step guides for bridging assets to Rootstock

• AI-generated best practices for secure Solidity development

• sample prompts and reference contracts to kick-start their code

Throughout the event, developers joined live office hours and Q&A sessions with engineers from Rootstock, thirdweb, and Alchemy to work through prompt engineering, contract debugging, and mainnet deployment challenges.

Projects competed in tracks such as DeFi, Identity, and Commerce. Winners took home RIF-token prizes plus awards from our partners. Dozens of teams and solo builders from around the world used AI tools to prototype, iterate, and ship working dApps by the deadline.

Now, based on my conversations with each winner, here are their stories.

Winner Spotlights

RSK Smart Yield Engine by Utkarsh Arora

About Utkarsh

Utkarsh Arora is a final-year computer science student at the National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur in India. He joined the hackathon just 12 hours before the project idea deadline.

Project Key Features

• RSK Smart Yield Engine is an AI-powered DeFi optimizer that turns natural-language investment goals into a yield-optimizing strategy

• “Explain it to a five-year-old” output mode to make recommendations clear and relatable

How Utkarsh Built It

1. He migrated his preexisting AI yield experiments onto Rootstock’s testnet

2. He used the Manusi AI tool together with Rootstock’s documentation to identify the right contract functions

3. He relied on the clear documentation and peer tips rather than seeking extra help

What’s Next

Utkarsh will fix remaining bugs, add new features, and deploy his optimizer to Rootstock’s mainnet so real users can benefit from it. Connect with Utkarsh on LinkedIn and learn more on his GitHub repo.

AIFi: AI-Powered DeFi Hub on Rootstock by Rohit Jadhav

About Rohit

Rohit Jadhav is a computer engineering student at R. C. Patel Institute of Technology in India. This was his first hackathon, and he joined solo to learn Rootstock development.

Project Key Features

• AIFI is an AI-based health factor that analyzes a user’s transaction history to flag over-leveraging

• Multilingual voice assistant in English, Portuguese, and Spanish to autofill transaction details

• Simplified cross-border transfer flow for moving assets between countries

How Rohit Built It

1. He used Rootstock’s testnet and followed the clearly organized documentation

2. He researched transaction-history analysis and integrated a voice-to-text library for three languages

3. He completed development without extra support, thanks to detailed docs and examples

What’s Next

Rohit plans to add an undo feature with a buffer period for mistaken transfers and attach user profiles to smooth out error resolution. Connect with Rohit on LinkedIn and view his code on GitHub.

SwipeGig: AI-Driven Job Matching App by Chetana, T Manas, and Gayathri

About the Team

Product strategist Chetana N. (LinkedIn and X) and engineering students T Manas Chakravarty (LinkedIn and X) and Gayathri P. Ch (LinkedIn and X) teamed up for their first Rootstock project after learning about the platform through their Web3 DAO community.

Project Key Features

• Swipe interface for job discovery powered by AI matching

• Direct connection to hirers without endless profile browsing

• Safeguards against fraudulent listings via on-chain verification

How the Team Built It

1. They planned for two days and coded their prototype on Rootstock’s testnet in four days

2. They used AI tools for boilerplate code and rapid iteration

3. They praised the clear and concise documentation for quick onboarding

What’s Next

SwipeGig seeks angel investment to build a market-ready product for Gen Z professionals. Connect with the team on LinkedIn, explore their project on GitHub, and learn more with demo videos 1 and 2.

ProtectedPay & AuditFi by Tanishq Gupta

About Tanishq

Tanishq Gupta is a second-year college student and a multiple hackathon winner from India. He discovered the AI BUIDL Lab on DoraHacks via Twitter.

ProtectedPay Key Features

• ProtectedPay is an on-chain escrow layer that holds funds in a smart contract until the sender shares a one-time transfer ID

• Refund button for mistaken sends, and a claim button for the recipient once they receive the ID

• It's already live on multiple mainnets with real users, and it's solving a major pain point in crypto payments

AuditFi Key Features

• AuditFi is an AI auditing tool that assigns a star rating out of five based on contract vulnerabilities

• It helps democratize smart contract security by making auditing accessible to smaller teams

• Trained on real audit data and explains the ratings to help teams catch issues before going live

How Tanishq Built Them

1. He used the hackathon to add features and integrate Rootstock support for his preexisting prototypes

2. He redesigned contracts for Bitcoin-secured compatibility and deployed both tools to the testnet

3. He leaned on AI copilots for boilerplate and structured prompts for security checks

What’s Next

ProtectedPay is currently processing real transactions across multiple chains and expanding to Rootstock mainnet soon. Working on advanced features like multi-signature support and integration with major DeFi protocols.

AuditFi is available now for developers to audit contracts end-to-end. Continuously improving the AI model with more audit data and exploring partnerships with development teams for integrated security workflows.
Connect with Tanishq on X and explore his code on GitHub.

Final Thoughts

Hearing directly from these hackers showed me just how powerful AI tools can be when paired with a solid blockchain platform like Rootstock. From optimizing DeFi strategies to creating on-chain escrow layers and voice-driven interfaces, each winner found clever ways to blend AI with smart contracts, and all in just a few days. I hope their journeys inspire you to experiment with AI workflows in your own projects and see how quickly you can move from concept to demo on Rootstock.

Ready to start building on Rootstock? Here’s how you can get involved today:

📖 Explore the Docs – Get started with Rootstock development.

🏆 Check out the Hacker Hub – Learn about past hackathons and upcoming opportunities.

💰 Contribute and Earn with Hacktivator – Build or create content and earn up to $1,000 per contribution.

💬 Join the Community – Connect with other builders on Discord.