Knoxville Built This returns with a night of 20 working AI demos and the innovators behind them
The range of builds showed AI already at work in established businesses, everyday tasks and the next generation of talent. Plus, first-time visitors to 121 Tech Hub outnumbered regulars, a sign that interest in Knoxville’s innovation ecosystem is only growing.
In July, CGI Federal and 121 Tech Hub brought dozens of first-timers into a room to build AI tools in two hours. On Wednesday night, they flipped the script.
AI: Artisans & Founders, the second event in the Knoxville Built This series, was designed for people at the opposite end of the spectrum: builders across the region who are already working with AI, and the curious neighbors who wanted to see that work up close.
The evening featured about 20 presenters, each with three minutes to demo a working build and explain how they made it.
“We have a lot of folks that you’re going to hear from tonight, that are new innovators just starting out. I want you to know that you are part of this growing tech ecosystem in Knoxville, and you have an incredible coalition of resources behind you, such as the Chamber of Commerce, 121, CGI and many others,” said Victor Foulk, Vice President of Emerging Technologies for CGI Federal, who emceed the evening. “Tonight is for celebrating the builders.”
“Dear Claude, I’m not a developer”
Speaking of the resources available to these builders, Larisa Brass, director of innovation at the Knoxville Chamber, opened the evening with a keynote, her first official speaking engagement on behalf of the Chamber. Two and a half months into the role and unsure what an economic developer should say at an AI event, she did what many in the room might have done: she opened a chat window and started typing.
“Dear Claude, I’m not a developer. I’ve never trained a model,” Brass said. “I came to this job through journalism, science writing, public health and years in community organizing and social services. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that might be exactly the point.”
Since joining the Chamber, Brass has been on a familiarization tour with founders and innovation leaders across East Tennessee. AI helped her build the interview guides and sort responses into themes. She also built an AI tool to analyze the interviews. It’s been a great help, but it’s not been everything.
“AI does get it wrong. It sounds confident when it shouldn’t,” Brass said. “It doesn’t know Knoxville. It doesn’t know me. The value is in working with it, bringing my own judgment, relationships and experience to bear.”
Brass tied the evening to the Chamber’s regional innovation growth strategy, released this spring as part of its five-year vision, Prosperity Through Innovation, which places innovation at the center of the region’s economic future. Like the rest of the room, she said, the Chamber is still figuring out what that looks like in practice, and she invited builders facing roadblocks in talent, funding or customers to reach out to her directly to offer their shaping insights.
“Technology does have a way of isolating us,” she said. “But events like this remind us that the bottom line is the people using the tools to solve problems. None of us have this all figured out, but we’re better off doing it together.”
What Knoxville Built
Wesley Pitts showed how his company is bringing automation to grounds maintenance.
I’ve run TerraSYNC for about five years, but about two years ago, I saw a real IT need in the grounds maintenance space. There are irrigation systems, robotic mowers and so much more, but they’re all disconnected, and people didn’t know how to implement the technology. We built a platform called Velocity to help them do that.
Brandon Bruce, of Market Square Ventures demoed brief, a tool built to help users practice a conversation before it counts.
I wanted to think about how AI can help people get better at communicating with other people. The tool simulates a live investor pitch, responding in my voice and style so founders can rehearse before facing real investors.
Ryan Maginn of Cara Marketing built a tool to fight AI slop.
Small businesses often lack a dedicated marketing person and may be tempted to copy and paste whatever a chatbot produces. This tool helps them become aware of what others see as AI slop and educates them on better options that sound like their own business.
Other honorable mentions included:
- A slide deck builder that generates slides live as a speaker presents, letting founders capture and reuse a pitch that landed well.
- DhyanaTech, an AI-driven ERP for fabrication shops.
- A test-prep tool for students.
- An AI quantum optimizer for logistics.
- A real-time social app designed to get singles off dating apps and into in-person connection.
- An accessibility tool that replaces phone home screen buttons with large, color-coded tiles.
- Authentrics.AI, a platform that corrects and optimizes model quality in minutes.
Stay tuned for information on the next event in the series!
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