At just 15 years old, Chihuahua native Sofía Krisbel Garzón Jara achieved what seemed almost unthinkable: becoming the champion of the TETR Shanghai Hackathon 2026, an international innovation and entrepreneurship competition held in Shanghai, China, where she competed against 21 young people from 10 countries.
The student from Instituto La Salle de Chihuahua won first place with “Jade Trail,” an artificial intelligence-based platform designed to address one of the main challenges faced by tourists, students, and foreign workers in China: the difficulty of accessing services in small businesses that are not adapted for people who do not speak Chinese.
In an interview with El Heraldo de Chihuahua, Sofía explained that she had shown an interest in entrepreneurship since childhood, starting with small businesses such as selling lemonade and other projects that sparked her passion for creating solutions and developing business ideas.
That interest led her to join this year the incubation program of the Business Incubator of Universidad La Salle (ULSA), thanks to a scholarship granted by the Municipality of Chihuahua, where she received business development training under the mentorship of Professor Armando Mercado.
While participating in that process, she learned about the call for applications to attend the international program organized by TETR University in Shanghai. After submitting her profile and successfully completing the selection process, she earned one of the two spots to represent Mexico.
Sofía’s family support was key to allowing her to travel to China and win first place / Photo: Manolo Aguirre / El Heraldo de Chihuahua
Sofía admitted that before traveling to China, she began to doubt her abilities because of the high level of the participants. However, she said the experience allowed her to realize that she could compete at the same level as young people from anywhere in the world.
Her father recalled that even weeks before the trip, she considered giving up, but he encouraged her to participate, convinced that representing Mexico was already an extraordinary achievement.
During five days of competition, participants had to identify a real problem in China and develop a functional startup, along with a business model, commercial strategy, and presentation before an international jury.
It was precisely during her stay that Sofía and her team identified the difficulties foreign visitors face when carrying out everyday activities due to language barriers and restrictions on digital applications.
From that experience, “Jade Trail” was born, an artificial intelligence platform aimed at small businesses in the food and beverage sector, designed to facilitate communication with international tourists and improve access to products and services.
At just 15 years old, Sofía adds another international achievement to Chihuahua’s record / Photo: Manolo Aguirre / El Heraldo de Chihuahua
To develop the project, she assembled a multicultural team that included a programmer from Houston, United States, and a designer of Chinese-Venezuelan origin. Before presenting the proposal, they validated the platform with five businesses in Shanghai, whose owners confirmed the need for a tool of this kind.
The proposal stood out for its commercial viability, business model, and growth potential, which allowed her to win first place in the hackathon. The application is currently undergoing a feedback process before its official launch.
This is not the first time Sofía has excelled in academic competitions. At the age of 10, she won a national robotics championship, and she later studied Python programming alongside engineers and professionals, strengthening her profile in technological innovation.
In addition to the project developed in China, she is already working on a new venture that seeks to combine pastry making with contemporary art, while maintaining her goal of studying at TETR University and developing an international career in technology and entrepreneurship.
Source: oem
