AssemblyAI ping pong tournament 2025: When NYC's tech community came to compete

On November 20, 2025, AssemblyAI traded keyboards for paddles and hosted our first-ever office ping pong tournament.

The bracket brought together the people building AssemblyAI every day alongside teams building with our models at companies like Flagler Health, Kickoff, Nodes.inc, and Symphony (YC F24). The prize table? Stacked with a Supreme Butterfly paddle set, an iPad 11, two pairs of Meta Ray-Bans, and AirPods Pro 3.

We talked a little about AI. Mostly, we shared pizza, drinks, rallies, and a genuinely great night with our community.

The champions

🥇 1st Place: Matthew Martinelli (JPMorgan)
Matthew pulled off the ultimate comeback story, climbing out of the Loser's Bracket with five straight wins to claim the championship and those Meta Ray-Bans. When asked about his secret, he credited a solid warmup session and staying confident through the pressure. "Getting the reset in (the) grand finals against John was incredible. And then came out to win it at the end was so fun."

🥈 2nd Place: Jonathan Saleh (Kickoff)
Jonathan represented Kickoff with serious skill, making it all the way to the finals. Accompanied by our Most Valuable Spectator Bridget Betances, he brought incredible energy to the event. Despite missing out on that Supreme Butterfly paddle, Jonathan summed up the day perfectly: "I had a hell of a good time. Thanks for throwing this on. It was awesome."

🥉 3rd Place: George Efremidze (AssemblyAI)
George held it down for the home team, bringing decades of experience to the table. Starting ping pong at age five and growing up playing his older brother and dad taught him the most important lesson: "It's all about the mental game." When we caught up with him before his semifinal, he admitted, "I couldn't sleep last night, honestly. I just had so much anticipation." His strategy? "Hit it to the edge of the table." His prize of choice? The AirPods Pro. 

The community: Who showed up to play

This tournament wasn't just about finding out who has the best backhand or the steadiest nerve under pressure. It was about bringing together the people building with AI, whether that's building AssemblyAI itself or building products powered by our models.

Flagler Health

Dylan, an Engineer at Flagler Health, came into the tournament ready to compete. "I haven't played ping pong in a long time, but I used to be pretty good," he said before taking on the bracket. That confidence paid off, and Dylan came through in the first round, representing Flagler Health with style.

Flagler Health has been integrating modern technology solutions to improve patient care and operational efficiency in the healthcare space. Dylan brought that same innovative spirit from healthcare to the ping pong table, armed with a margarita and determination.

His verdict on the event? "I'm having a good time." And yes, he'd definitely come back for the next one.

Symphony (YC F24)

Shobat, co-founder and CTO of Symphony, came into the tournament with a tennis background and a table at home courtesy of his ping pong-obsessed dad. "I didn't feel confident because I don't play very much anymore and I feel like a lot of tech bros are secretly really good. And that was what happened today."

Symphony is building AI solutions for the insurance industry, particularly for claims processing. After about two years in operation, they're working with some of the largest carriers to integrate AI into their workflows, transforming an industry that's traditionally been slow to adopt new technology. As part of Y Combinator's Fall 2024 batch, Symphony represents the next generation of companies using speech AI and other advanced technologies to solve real-world problems at scale.

Despite being knocked out earlier than hoped, Shobat identified exactly what he needs to work on: "I think I still need to work on consistency. I think I need to work on my mental game." His advice for future competitors? "Don't drink too many margs if you're going to play (in the) tournament." Solid advice.

Kickoff

Beyond making it to the finals, Jonathan represented Kickoff's mission of helping teams collaborate and move faster. He brought the same competitive energy to the tournament that Kickoff brings to their product development, proving that the drive to win translates across everything you do.

His friendship with champion Matthew Martinelli (they've known each other since age 13) made the grand finals even more special. As Matthew put it: "It was just as we drew it up, just as we wanted to see it... the best I could have asked for better grands with my best friend."

Nodes.inc

Saad Bin Shafiq, founder of Nodes.inc brought his competitive spirit to the tournament, representing a company that's transforming how businesses leverage AI. Nodes.inc is building the AI co-worker platform that helps teams automate complex workflows and scale their operations. Their platform enables companies to deploy AI agents that can handle everything from customer support to data analysis, making them a perfect fit for a community focused on pushing the boundaries of what's possible with AI technology.

The broader AssemblyAI community

Beyond our customers, we also had representatives from the teams that help us to build the AssemblyAI community like Fern, who powers the developer documentation you use when building with AssemblyAI. Fern helps API companies create beautiful, functional documentation that developers actually enjoy using. If you've been impressed by our docs, you have Fern to thank. Their platform makes it easy to maintain consistent, high-quality documentation as APIs evolve, something every developer who's ever struggled with outdated docs can appreciate. 

The real win: Building together

This tournament wasn't just about finding out who has the best backhand or the steadiest nerve under pressure. It was about bringing together the people building with AI, whether that's building AssemblyAI itself, building products powered by our models like Kickoff, or building the tools that help us all ship better products like Fern.

The packed house, the energy, the rallies. This is what happens when you create space for your community to come together. George's advice to up-and-coming ping pong enthusiasts applies just as well to building in tech: "You gotta have guts."

What's next?

We're already counting down to the next event. We've heard requests for Pickleball—what do you think it should be?

Stay tuned for more community events, and if you're in NYC or SF and building with AI, we'd love to have you at our next event. Follow us on LinkedIn to catch the announcement and make sure you’re at the next one.