AI For Chiang Mai
Diagnose real local challenges, build working solutions, and present them at a city-wide hackathon.
September 1-28, 2026
What Is AI for Chiang Mai Coliving Experience?
A 4-week coliving experience in Chiang Mai
Most AI conversations happen in the same places, among the same people. This experience is built on a different idea: that the most interesting applications of AI are often found in the specific, textured problems of a particular city.
Over the course of the month, participants work directly with Chiang Mai’s business community ,through partnerships with the Chiang Mai Chamber of Commerce and the MarTech Association of Thailand, to identify real pain points, prototype AI-assisted solutions, and test them against actual needs. This isn’t a theoretical exercise. If something works, there’s a real chance of a working relationship coming out of it.
Who is this coliving experience for?
This is for AI practitioners and enthusiasts across the spectrum
This experience is open to all AI enthusiasts: from developers and engineers who build with AI daily, to business professionals, designers, and researchers who are serious about applied use.
You don’t need to be writing models from scratch; you need to be genuinely curious about what AI can do in the real world and willing to get your hands dirty with a local business problem. If you want to spend a month doing meaningful work not workshops about AI, but actual work and you want Chiang Mai’s business community in the room with you, this is for you.
Program Snapshot
1-28 Sept
Chiang Mai
15-20 Participants,
invitation-first
Final Project:
AI Hackathon
4-week program
Our program is structured across four themes
Understand
The first week is spent listening and learning. Participants meet business owners, managers, and operators from sectors identified in partnership with the Chiang Mai Chamber of Commerce and MarTech Association, to surface the real friction points where AI could make a difference.
The goal is not to pitch solutions yet, but to understand the problems well enough to solve them honestly.
Design
With a clear picture of the landscape, cohort members form working groups around the problems they’re best placed to tackle.
Week 2 is about turning understanding into viable scope, defining what an AI-assisted solution would actually look like, what data it needs, what it would replace or enhance, and whether a local business is willing to be a real collaborator. Mentors and advisors are involved throughout.
Build
The build week. Working groups develop functional prototypes: tools, automations, workflows, or models. And take them back to the local businesses for testing and feedback.
The emphasis is on working software or processes over polished presentations. If something breaks in front of a real user, that’s useful data. Sessions with mentors focus on rapid iteration and honest assessment of what’s working.
Main Week Project: AI Hackaton
This week is about consolidation: refining prototypes based on Week 3 feedback, documenting what was built and what was learned, and preparing for the Hackathon.
Teams that have a viable proof of concept also explore whether a business relationship, a pilot, a contract, or a continued collaboration, is on the table. The week ends with a rehearsal session ahead of the two-day Hackathon.
What Will You Get After 4 Weeks?
Coliving experience takeaways
- Direct experience applying AI to real business problems, not hypotheticals, but actual organisations with actual needs.
- A working prototype or documented solution built in collaboration with a Chiang Mai business.
- Relationships with local business owners, the Chiang Mai Chamber of Commerce, and NDEA’s digital enterprise network.
- A sharper sense of where AI adds real value (and where it doesn’t) from working in a context that isn’t a tech bubble.
- The experience of presenting your work at a city-wide Hackathon, co-organised with NDEA, in front of Chiang Mai’s business and tech community.
- Connections with fellow practitioners from across the world who you’ve spent a month building alongside.
Cosmo Local CNX
Part of Something Bigger: Cosmo Local CNX
This coliving experience is one of four happening simultaneously under CosmoLocal CNX, a month-long popup village in Chiang Mai’s Wat Ket district in September 2026. The other coliving experiences cover Solopreneur, Food That Nourishes Us, and Nomads Future Lab. Each brings together global participants and local communities around a shared theme. The month closes with a Main Week (September 23–28), when all participants and hundreds of additional guests come together for open events and showcases. Learn more about CosmoLocal CNX here.
The AI for Chiang Mai cohort’s final project is a two-day Hackathon, co-organised with NDEA (Northern Digital Enterprise Association), held during Main Week. Teams present the solutions they’ve built over the month to an open audience that includes Chiang Mai’s business community, local tech organisations, and CosmoLocal CNX guests. The Hackathon is designed to be a genuine bridge event — not a demo for demo’s sake, but a public showcase of what becomes possible when global AI practitioners spend a month working inside a real local economy.
coworking hub
Where you'll learn and work
All coliving experience participants across all four tracks have 24/7 access to Alt_PingRiver as their shared coworking hub for the month. Beyond desk space and high-speed internet, it’s the venue for smaller workshops, informal cross-track meetups, and day-to-day collaboration.
The space also includes a common kitchen available to all participants for daily cooking, meal prep, and small food events throughout the month.
accommodation
Where you'll stay
AI for Chiang Mai participants stay at Celosia Chiang Mai, a boutique property in the Wat Ket riverside neighbourhood, close to Alt_PingRiver and the main program venues, and walkable to the markets, eateries, and riverside paths that make this part of the city worth being in. Daily breakfast is included. Alt_PingRiver coworking is available 24/7 as part of your experience.
Packages & Pricing (TBD)
collaborators
Who you'll learn from
Daniel is a global leader in the study of digital work and one of the academics credited with coining the term ‘digital nomad’.
His research spans crowdsourcing, open work models, and the reshaping of the global workforce. He advises governments and organisations on digital nomad policy.
Community organizer and cultural connector rooted in Chiang Mai’s Wat Ket district. She leads the Sanpakoi Market, represents local business, and serves on the Ministry of Culture’s Creative District Development Network.
Formerly a cultural affairs officer at the Royal Thai Embassy in Tokyo, she brings deep experience in Thai-Japanese relations and long-standing commitment to local community building.
Sam Chua is a cultural entrepreneur, researcher, and founding curator of Seapunk Studios (seapunk.asia), a research and imagination collective exploring solarpunk-inspired futures for Southeast Asia and the Global South.
Yeji explores how communities can celebrate difference and thrive together.
She champions Nonviolent Communication and the balance between collectivism and individualism, and speaks internationally on East–West mutual understanding.
Chiranthanin Kitika (Phuwa) specialises in community-based design, with a focus on urban spaces and social environments.
Deeply rooted in Northern Thailand, his work centres on how local communities can shape their own built environment.
Creator of RealThailander Youtube Channel and a commentator on Thai language, society, and communication. Through thoughtful and sometimes provocative perspectives, he explores the hidden logic behind Thai social norms.
His work helps international audiences better understand Thai people, while also extending into Thai language education through his subscription platform and learning app.
Founder of Digital Citizen, global mobility strategist, and investor with a consulting background spanning seven countries. He builds, franchises, and backs businesses across Southeast Asia at the intersection of mobility, lifestyle, and new ways of working.
As a Visiting Expert at Tetr College of Business, he brings a cross-border perspective shaped by both entrepreneurship and strategy.
Arm leads PDKM, a venture builder investing in high-potential startups in Northern Thailand. As a Board Member of the NDEA, he bridges government, private sector, academia, and the startup community, all in service of accelerating Chiang Mai’s digital ecosystem.
A scholar-practitioner specializing in environmental sustainability and local mobility. He currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Green Tree Foundation and is the founder of LOMO Platform, a Chiang Mai-based micro-mobility startup focused on more sustainable ways of moving through the city.
Technologist and cultural thinker with 15+ years of experience bridging code, culture, and consciousness. Drawing on his Pacific ancestry, he developed Pacific Metaphysics, a framework that weaves indigenous navigation wisdom with modern technology architecture.
His work spans blockchain, AI, and national digital infrastructure, including contributions to Tuvalu’s digital nation project.
Researcher, podcaster, and community builder working across tech policy, geopolitics, Asian cultures, spirituality, and ecology. Based in Chiang Mai, he is a visiting researcher at Chiang Mai University, co-founder of digi-cnx, host of the Light Forest Podcast, and co-steward of Cosmo-local Chiang Mai.
His work brings together learning, dialogue, and community-building to explore more authentic ways of living in a time of global transition.
Frequent Asked questions
Any queries?
How do I apply?
Fill out the application form via the Apply Now button above. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, spots are limited to 15–20 participants, so applying early is worth it.
Do I need to be a developer or AI engineer to join?
No. This experience is open to anyone who works seriously with AI. Developers, data scientists, product managers, designers, marketers, and researchers all have a role to play. What matters is that you can contribute meaningfully to a real project, not that you have a specific job title.
What kinds of businesses will we be working with?
Is there a real chance of a business deal coming out of this?
Yes, that’s one of the explicit goals. If a prototype proves useful to a local business during the month, both parties are encouraged to explore what a continued relationship could look like. We won’t force outcomes, but we’ll create the right conditions for them.
What is CosmoLocal CNX, and how does the AI Experience fit into it?
CosmoLocal CNX is a month-long popup village in Chiang Mai’s Wat Ket district, running through the whole of September 2026. Four coliving experiences happen simultaneously, Solopreneur, Food That Nourishes Us, AI for Chiang Mai, and Nomads Future Lab, each with its own cohort and theme, all sharing the same neighbourhood, coworking hub, and a set of cross-track events. As a Solopreneur participant, you’re part of your own cohort and program, but you’ll also mix with the other tracks throughout the month and at Main Week.
What is the Hackathon, and who attends?
The Hackathon is a two-day event held during Main Week (September 23–28), co-organised with NDEA, the Northern Digital Enterprise Association, Chiang Mai’s digital business network. Teams from the AI for Chiang Mai cohort present the solutions they’ve built over the month to a live audience that includes local businesses, NDEA members, and CosmoLocal CNX guests. It’s a public-facing event designed to bridge the global practitioner community and Chiang Mai’s local economy.
Do I need to be there for the full month?
The program is designed as a full-month experience, the work builds progressively from understanding to designing to building, and the local business relationships need time to develop. We ask participants to commit to the full month, including Main Week. If you have a specific scheduling conflict, reach out before applying.
What happens after the month?
The month ends, but we hope the work doesn’t. If a prototype landed well with a local business, the path to a continued relationship is there to pursue. And the cohort itself, people who spent a month building something real together, tends to stay connected. CosmoLocal CNX is built to grow year on year, and the people who were part of the first edition are a big part of how that happens.