Excel Unit partners with GBAITA for The Arena — a live AI Hackathon & Hiring Challenge on 31 October

2026-10-05 · Excel Unit Technology

Excel Unit Technology joins the Greater Bay Area International Information Technology Industry Association (GBAITA 大灣區國際信息科技協會) as a partner of The Arena — a live AI Hackathon & Hiring Challenge where university students and recent graduates are assessed on a real business brief, in front of the people who actually hire. Saturday 31 October 2026, HKPC Building, Kowloon Tong.

Why a cabling distributor cares about graduate hiring

Every AI model that makes headlines runs on something physical: fibre, copper, racks and the people who design, install and keep them running. Excel Unit has supplied that physical layer across APAC since 2010 as the authorised CommScope SYSTIMAX, NETCONNECT and CPI distributor. Over the past year we have also rebuilt our own operations on an in-house AI agent platform — quoting, order processing, inventory and daily reporting. So we see the talent question from both sides: the industry needs engineers who understand infrastructure, and it needs graduates who can use AI responsibly and still think for themselves.

That is exactly what The Arena is designed to test. We are proud to stand alongside GBAITA, its sponsors and partners as the cycle launches.

About GBAITA

The Greater Bay Area International Information Technology Industry Association brings academia and industry together to promote innovation across the Greater Bay Area — flagship summits, forums and closed-door roundtables, with clear insight into policy direction through collaboration with government. The association is chaired by Mr Leung Chun-ying, GBM, GBS, JP, with Ir. Allen Yeung, BBS, JP as President. The Arena is delivered by GBAITA's Youth Committee, whose mission is to grow the Greater Bay Area's technology and IT talent pipeline. More at gbaita.org.

What The Arena is

Traditional graduate hiring shows a CV, a GPA, a university name and a rehearsed interview answer. It rarely shows critical thinking, adaptability or how someone works in a team — and AI is rewriting what capability means. The Arena replaces the CV-led screen with observed assessment:

• Live group challenge — teams work a real business brief while hiring managers observe, without coaching.
• Presentations — each team presents and takes questions to show its thinking.
• Selection and matching — employers select; GBAITA matches candidates to the roles on offer.

Briefs are employer-blind until selection, every participant gets a distinct topic and protected speaking time, and AI use is allowed, declared and assessed — candidates are judged on how they use it. The format was piloted twice in 2026: 135 applications, 33 shortlisted, 8 full-time and part-time offers (a 24% shortlist-to-offer rate), with applicants from HKUST, CUHK, CityU, PolyU, HKU, Stanford, Melbourne and Mainland and Macau institutions. Candidates rated the observed group format 4.59/5 against a traditional interview.

The 31 October cycle

Sign-up and recruitment processes for The Arena are operated by MRC Employment Agency (Licence No. 82808) on behalf of GBAITA.

For students: how to prepare

There is nothing to rehearse. Read the brief carefully, decide what the business actually needs, use AI where it helps and say so, and leave room for your teammates to speak. The judges are watching how you think, not how polished your slides are.

For employers: join the next cycle

The Arena runs two cycles every twelve months. Sponsoring Partners contribute a live business brief and get first-look candidate access; Partners join for visibility and association with no hiring obligation. Interested companies can write to youthcommittee@gbaita.org.

Questions about Excel Unit's participation, or about infrastructure careers in Hong Kong's data-centre and smart-building build-out? Reach us at info@excelunit.com.hk.

Event facts from GBAITA's programme introduction (September/October 2026) and the official event page, retrieved 5 October 2026.