Perplexity’s 2024 Campus Strategist Program

This year, we invited college students across the country to apply for Perplexity’s inaugural Campus Strategist Program, an initiative designed to empower students to bring AI search to their campuses through events, outreach, and community-building. Strategists were given a marketing budget, mentorship from our team, and Perplexity vouchers and merch, then got to work brainstorming and executing creative events that show how Perplexity can enhance academic performance and college life.

Our Strategists have been busy—from hackathons to tech talks, they’ve each brought their own unique spin to spreading awareness of Perplexity among their classmates. Here’s a look at some activations that have made an outsized impact.

Think you would make a great campus leader for Perplexity? We’re now accepting applications for our spring 2025 program. Apply here.

The Future of Search Event at MIT

At MIT, Campus Strategist Honey Pamnani organized the “Future of Search” event, with support from Harvard Campus Strategist Aditya Agarwal. The session—which drew over 200 attendees from MIT, Harvard, and Northeastern—combined live on-campus discussions with MIT professors, and virtual talks from Perplexity’s leadership. Featuring insights from AI experts and an interactive Q&A, the event showcased Perplexity’s role in advancing search technology while fostering collaboration across Boston’s academic community.

DubHacks 2024 at University of Washington

At DubHacks 2024, the Pacific Northwest’s largest collegiate hackathon, Campus Strategist Kunal Srivastava represented Perplexity. Over 700 students participated in Perplexity’s “Amplifying Knowledge” track, which became the most popular track at the hackathon, using the Perplexity API in projects focused on social good and LLM-powered tech. The winning project, Triage, developed a toolkit for natural disaster management, using Perplexity to deliver critical real-time information.

See the winning project on Devpost.

Gameday Flyover at University of Southern California

USC strategist Stan Loosmore approached us with the idea to fly a Perplexity banner over the highly anticipated Thanksgiving football game, an idea our team immediately recognized as unique and clever. Thanks to Stan’s efforts, thousands of USC students were asking Perplexity, “Why is USC better than Notre Dame?”

Boba and Perplexity Power Hour at Carnegie Mellon University

Campus Strategist Anya Bindra hosted the CMU Boba & Perplexity Power Hour, where 120 students explored Perplexity’s latest features—like Finance Search and Image Generation—while enjoying free boba and experimenting with Perplexity. Anya showed attendees how Perplexity can answer any question and boost productivity.

Perplexity at Wharton

Campus strategist Nae Nae (Montawan) Chairatchaneeboon hosted a speaker event at Penn/Wharton featuring Perplexity’s Head of Growth Raman Malik. More than 150 students—from undergraduates to MBAs—attended to hear Raman’s insights on scaling startups, drawing from his experience at Perplexity, Lyft, and as a founder. His talk covered strategies for growth and highlighted Perplexity’s impact in AI for business and education. Following the session, students participated in an exclusive networking event with student VC groups, building connections across the entrepreneurial community.

Perplexity Case Competition at Santa Clara University

Henry Gewecke, the Perplexity strategist at SCU, spearheaded an innovative competition in partnership with the Leavey School of Business for over 50 teams of business students. Teams used Perplexity to research a prompt related to how businesses can incorporate social impact and sustainability in their business practices. Congrats to the winning team, which dove into the fast fashion industry to workshop exciting strategy recommendations that addressed production sustainability and efficient material usage.

Experience Perplexity for students

For students tackling research, brainstorming ideas, or prepping for exams, Perplexity offers a faster, smarter way to find answers and explore any topic in depth. Discover how Perplexity can simplify studying and help you get more out of what you learn.

Try Perplexity