From student content creator to AI changemaker: a conversation with D.A. Nguyen

When I first heard ‘AI hackathon’ I assumed it wasn't for scientific students, like me. Honestly, AI felt like someone else's conversation.

Then I spoke to D.A. Nguyen, a King's Business Management graduate and former Student Life Content Creator who is one of the people behind the upcoming KAiZEN X Collab! AI Showcase & LearnHack, taking place 11–12 June 2026.

Here’s everything D.A. told me about this exciting project and his personal career path:

Ari: Tell us about yourself and your journey at King's.

D.A: My path has been non-linear. I started university with a strong interest in entrepreneurship. I actually launched my first startup at fourteen back home in Vietnam. But over time, my interests grew into many areas, ranging from marketing communications and inclusive education, to academic research and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Through this curiosity, there's always been one thread: I care about how people experience things, and how to make those experiences better. KAiZEN is where all of those interests come together.

Ari: You were a Student Life Content Creator (SLCC) before all of this. What did the programme give you?

D.A.: It was one of my first proper roles at King's and genuinely one of the most fun. I was in the pilot cohort with 5 other amazing SLCCs, but we all got real responsibilities and training from day one. What I learnt from it was how to translate complex information into something that’s clear and can resonate with a diverse student body. That skill has followed me into everything since, especially now, where a lot of my work is making AI in education feel relevant to people who don't yet see themselves as ‘AI people.’

Ari: That really resonates with me. I joined the SLCCs from a scientific background and it's completely shifted how I think about communication, and what I want to do with my career. Can you tell me a bit more about the KAiZEN X Collab!, and why every student should care.

D.A. It's three things in one: a showcase, an inspiration space, and a learn hack, not just a hackathon. On day one, the Inspiration Gallery lets students and staff share how they're already using or thinking about AI. It doesn't have to be a finished, coded product. A workflow, creative experiment, a new assessment format - anything counts. Day two is the ‘LearnHack’ itself, where student and staff teams work on real challenges in teaching, learning, and university operations provided by King's staff. And here's the thing I really want people to hear: you don't need any technical skills to take part. We are here to celebrate creative, pedagogical and practical ideas!

Ari: Why does it matter for students and not just staff to be in that room?

D.A.: For too long, university policy has been made top-down. Students shouldn't just be asked for feedback - they should be part of the decision making. AI is already shaping how your assignments are designed, how your feedback is written, how your university plans the next decade. Whether you're studying medicine, humanities, law, or anything else, this conversation is happening with or without you.

Ari: What are you hoping comes out of it?

D.A.: I hope teams walk away with practical ideas that can be developed further. There's real Collab! funding available for that. But more than anything, I hope it proves that student-staff partnership works and that students aren't just a focus group. They're part of what comes next.

Talking to D.A. reminded me why I said yes to becoming a Student Life Content Creator in the first place, because the best opportunities at King's tend to be the ones you weren't expecting. KAiZEN is one of them. Don't miss out!