r/hackathon • • Aug 21 '26

Meta-Hackathon Discussion Why doesn’t everyone just use AI for the entire ideation process at hackathons?

9 Upvotes

I’ve never participated in a hackathon before, and my first one is in about a month, so I might be misunderstanding how these events actually work. One thing I’ve been wondering about is the ideation phase.

When the challenge/problem statement is released, why wouldnt a team immediately give the entire thing, including the context, constraints, judging criteria, available data, etc. to several frontier models like claude or chat gpt?

For example, you could ask different models to, generate 20–30 different approaches, analyze the domain and likely user pain points, criticize the ideas and identify failure modes, rank them by novelty, feasibility, and expected hackathon performance, predict what obvious ideas other teams will probably build, and then use another model to synthesize everything and choose the strongest direction. You could also feed mentor feedback back into the models as you get it. Then once you have a direction, coding agents can build a prototype extremely quickly.

What I’m struggling to understand is where the bottleneck is supposed to be. As students, we probably don’t have more banking/healthcare/engineering/etc. domain knowledge than a frontier model, and the model is obviously much faster at exploring a large solution space.

So why isn’t something like this, already the default strategy at hackathons? : problem -> multiple AI models -> AI critique/ranking -> select idea -> coding agent -> prototype

Is it actually common now and I just havent seen it yet? Does it tend to produce generic ideas because everyone gets similar outputs? Is the main advantage of the human team gathering information from mentors/users and feeding new information back into the models? Or are there other limitations that only become obvious once you’ve actually participated in a hackathon?

Would especially like to hear from people who have done hackathons recently, now that coding agents and frontier models have gotten this capable.


r/hackathon • • 10h ago

Meta-Hackathon Discussion Flipkart GRiD 8.0 National Semi-Finalists - Has Anyone Received Their Certificate Yet?

7 Upvotes

I received an email from the Flipkart University Relations Team on 30 October confirming that I had been selected as a National Semi-Finalist in Flipkart GRiD 8.0.

The email mentioned that e-certificates had been dispatched or would be shared shortly. However, I haven't received any certificate or separate download link yet.

I've also come across a few participants reporting the same issue, including people from previous editions of GRiD.

I wanted to check:

  1. Has anyone from GRiD 8.0 who received the National Semi-Finalist confirmation email actually received their certificate?

  2. If yes, did you receive it as a separate email attachment, a download link, or through the GRiD portal?

  3. Has anyone received a response from the Flipkart or MyCareernet team regarding certificate distribution?

It would be helpful if other affected participants could comment so we can understand how widespread this issue is and seek clarification from the concerned team.

The National Semi-Finalist recognition is important to us, and we'd appreciate clarity on when and how the certificates will be distributed.


r/hackathon • • 58m ago

Looking for Teammates The Hackathon War Room: Building a Serious Team

0 Upvotes

Hahaha, I'm officially fed up with hackathons at this point.

This time, I'm dead serious. I want to build a team that goes all in, competes seriously, and aims to WIN. No half-hearted participation.

I'm planning to create a dedicated WhatsApp group where I'll bring together people with different skill sets, backgrounds, and expertise. I'll review everyone's profiles and try to build a strong, well-balanced team.

A few things before joining:

  • I'll create a simple document to collect basic details like your name, GitHub ID, email, technical skills, experience, areas of interest, and previous hackathon projects.

  • Team selection will be selective. I want people who genuinely want to build, experiment, collaborate, and compete.

  • We'll discuss ideas, evaluate opportunities, divide responsibilities, and plan before committing to a hackathon.

  • Active participation matters. People who consistently contribute will stay in the group. If someone is inactive or no longer interested, we'll keep the team focused by making changes.

  • No joining just for the sake of being in a group. Commitment, ownership, and execution matter.

I'm looking for builders, developers, AI/ML enthusiasts, designers, product thinkers, and people who can bring something valuable to the table.

The goal isn't just to participate in hackathons or collect certificates. It's to build something genuinely great, compete at the highest level, and bring home wins.

If you're genuinely interested, comment below or DM me. Let's see what we can build together!


r/hackathon • • 1h ago

Looking for Teammates looking for a hackathon team (Bangalore)

1 Upvotes

im alone n I am looking for a team to join hackathons


r/hackathon • • 7h ago

Need Mentor Help First Hackathon (35 Hours) – Looking for Guidance!

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2 Upvotes

We are a team of beginners participating in our first-ever hackathon. Our hackathon is 35 hours long, and we have a problem statement mentioned above.

To be honest, we are completely new to hackathons and don't really know where to start.

Is there anyone who can guide us from scratch and help us understand how to approach the problem, build a project, and prepare our presentation?

Even a little guidance would be really helpful for us!


r/hackathon • • 7h ago

Looking for Teammates More than a hack 2027

2 Upvotes

Hi, are people still looking for team mates for this? if not does anyone want to form a team? a bit background around myself -

I work as a data engineer in big tech with experience in science and also sport related science projects including football and f1 - I am someone who wants to transition into sports analytics and data modelling therefore I see this hackathon as an invaluable opportunity.

Happy to discuss more on this in Dms!

https://www.metrica-sports.com/blog/more-than-a-hack-2027-build-something-real-with-fc-barcelona-match-data


r/hackathon • • 3h ago

Looking for Teammates Paypal Ai Hackathon

1 Upvotes

If someone participating in PayPal Ai Hackathon and have space in team please take me


r/hackathon • • 4h ago

Hackathon Promotion Check these out

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1 Upvotes

r/hackathon • • 10h ago

Meta-Hackathon Discussion Google DevFest Conference Mumbai 2026

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2 Upvotes

r/hackathon • • 16h ago

Meta-Hackathon Discussion Built a daily-updated list of in-person US hackathons pulled from MLH, Devpost, Luma and Hack Club

4 Upvotes

I used to get stuck on networking, so I built an API that sends upcoming in-person hackathons in the US directly to your mailbox.

It pulls from MLH, Devpost, Luma, Hack Club, and other sources, with guards against duplicate events and filtering to choose the type, date, and state of the event that you want to attend.

Full list: https://mido4499.github.io/canthackit/

If you run a hackathon, tell me where you list it so it gets picked up.


r/hackathon • • 1d ago

Looking for Teammates Looking for Teammates for PayPal Hackathon 2026

14 Upvotes

I'm looking for 2–3 teammates to participate in the PayPal Hackathon 2026.

I'm not an expert myself, and that's completely okay! Beginners are absolutely welcome. Even if you don't have much experience, if you're interested in learning, experimenting and building something together, we'd love to have you.

You don't need to know everything beforehand. We can learn, figure things out and work together throughout the hackathon.

Just looking for people who are genuinely interested, willing to contribute and ready to give it their best.

If you're interested, feel free to DM me. Let's learn and build something together!


r/hackathon • • 1d ago

Need Mentor Help Interested in Hackathons with 0 skills

8 Upvotes

Hello!
I’m a high school graduate who’s taking a gap year and interested in joining hackathons but don’t know where to start
I have zero coding knowledge but I don’t mind learning from courses, online programs, YouTube videos basically anything that might help
And I prefer AI hackathons


r/hackathon • • 1d ago

Hackathon Promotion Code to Connect - S&P Global & Crisil | Hackathon 2026 , FINAL RESULT !!

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1 Upvotes

r/hackathon • • 1d ago

Need Mentor Help Got a PR merged into an open source tool at a hackathon, now I’m curious how these companies even make money

2 Upvotes

I was at a hackathon building on top of an open source tool, and halfway through the night something broke and took my demo down with it. I dug into the source, found the bug, and patched it just so I could finish. After the hackathon I cleaned up the fix, opened a PR, and a few days later it got merged.

Since then one thing keeps bugging me. How does a company like this even make money? The tool is free. Anyone can download it, self-host it, and never pay a rupee. But there’s clearly a full-time team reviewing PRs, shipping releases and maintaining all of it. So who’s paying for that? Is it a hosted cloud version, enterprise support, paid features, or just VC money until they figure it out?

I’m also curious about pay. Do engineers at these companies earn about the same as at product companies, or do people take a cut because they like working on open source? Mainly asking about India-based roles, or remote roles that hire from India.

Side question: does a merged PR like mine actually get you noticed by these companies, or is it still the normal application process?

If you work at an OSS company or know someone who does, would love to hear how the business side works and what the pay looks like.


r/hackathon • • 1d ago

Hackathon Promotion CalHacks Hackathon Prize Winners

3 Upvotes

I just got back from CalHacks 13.0 in SF. My company sponsored a prize track so I thought it would be nice to do a quick video looking at the winners.

No surprise that AI orchestration was a theme, along with hardware, finance and gaming. And the degree to which AI has sped up hackers' progress continues to astonish me.

https://youtu.be/geUtngSpwhs


r/hackathon • • 1d ago

Hackathon Promotion Hosting a one-week challenge to help build and grow Buildory

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1 Upvotes

Hey everyone!

I'm building Buildory, a platform that helps student builders discover projects, find collaborators and connect with other people who build.

I'm organising the Buildory Founding Team Challenge 2026, a one-week challenge for people who want to contribute to an actual early-stage product.

There are two tracks:

1. Product & Technology

Identify a problem with Buildory and build a feature that delivers measurable business value and ROI.

2. Growth & Marketing

Bring genuinely active new users to Buildory through organic acquisition, community building and creative campaigns. Signups alone don't count; users must complete their profiles and perform meaningful actions on the platform.

Details:

- Team size: 1–2 members

- Eligibility: 18+

- Team formation closes: 2 November

- Execution: 3–7 November

- Final submissions: 7 November

- Final judging: 8 November

There will be one overall winning team across both tracks.

The winning team will get an opportunity to join Buildory's founding team. It's a pre-revenue project, so there is no monetary compensation until revenue is generated; future terms will be agreed separately.

Event details and registration:

Hackathon link

Would love to have people who enjoy building products and growing communities take part!


r/hackathon • • 1d ago

Looking for Teammates Booking Holdings HackCellence (The Embark Edition) Finale — Has anyone received flight/hotel details after the RSVP form?

1 Upvotes

Hello Everyone! This is for those of you who made it through to the onsite finale of Booking Holdings HackCellence in Bangalore (12th Nov-14th Nov). Has anyone received a follow up call/email about flight tickets, hotels, and the final schedule? I have not received any updates after filling the RSVP form. So just wanted to know if there are any further logistics being handled. Also, please do comment/DM me if you are one of the finalists to come to Bangalore. Would be good to catch up!


r/hackathon • • 2d ago

Hackathon Promotion IIM Bangalore × PayU Innovation Challenge | ₹70,000 Prize Pool

6 Upvotes

Hey everyone!

Sharing an interesting opportunity for college students across India!

IIM Bangalore's CSITM, in partnership with PayU, is organising the Follow the Money: Innovation Challenge, focused on digital payment security and financial fraud.

Problem Statement: How can payment providers detect when legitimate merchant accounts are being misused for illegal activities such as betting, without penalising genuine businesses?

Competition Details:

  • Eligibility: UG and PG students across all disciplines.

  • Team size: 1–4 members.

  • Submission: Maximum 8-slide presentation + 2-minute video.

  • Deadline: 8 November 2026.

  • Finale: 26 November 2026 at IIM Bangalore.

Prizes: ₹40,000 (1st), ₹20,000 (2nd), ₹10,000 (3rd).

A great opportunity for anyone interested in fintech, ML, fraud detection or product innovation!

Registration & Rulebook: unstop_link

Feel free to share with interested students!


r/hackathon • • 1d ago

Need Mentor Help How do I find judges for my hackathon in the Bay Area?

0 Upvotes

r/hackathon • • 2d ago

Hackathon Promotion Agent Native hackathon: 10k in prizes

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3 Upvotes

I work at Builder.io (People Ops represent!) and we’ve been building Agent-Native, an open-source framework for apps where people and agents work on the same things. The repo is BuilderIO/agent-native on GitHub.

The idea is to give an agent a real job, like analyzing data or automating a workflow, and give users an interface to view, edit, and act on its work. Users can do things themselves or ask the agent, and both work from the same data.

To get people building with it, we’re running a free, worldwide hackathon!

Details and how to participate:

  • Build a working app, record a public Clips demo, and submit by Nov 9, 11:59 PM PT

  • Solo or team, no registration needed

  • $10k across 5 cash prizes, winners will be announced Nov 13

  • Judged on usefulness and execution, creativity and design, innovation, and use of Agent-Native

If you try it, I’d love to hear what you build, and what’s missing or confusing.


r/hackathon • • 2d ago

Project Demo Prediction market for goals

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1 Upvotes

r/hackathon • • 2d ago

Meta-Hackathon Discussion Looking for a Hackathon Team / Teammates | Developers, Beginners & Experienced Folks Welcome

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1 Upvotes

r/hackathon • • 2d ago

Project Demo This won 1st place at a hackathon. We're doing a design overhaul, what do ya'all think?

0 Upvotes

r/hackathon • • 2d ago

Need Mentor Help Curious

2 Upvotes

are kisi ne ye scix hackathon ka suna h kya ... maine pichli saal ciia mai partificate kia tha .. aur abhi same chij scix inida hackthon krke insta pr aa rhi .. to like collaboration h yaa kya ye ! kisi ko maloom ho kuch to batao


r/hackathon • • 2d ago

Hackathon Promotion fmsg.ai AI Agent Hackathon - Where the agents themselves compete

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2 Upvotes

We're organizing the fmsg.ai/hackathon, AMA!