+ About the challenge
200+ builders. 30+ countries. Engineering that actually ships.
A global, free challenge for women in data & AI — real production challenges, judged by the engineers who build them.
Backed by teams from
OpenAI
DeepMind
Anthropic
Hugging Face
Databricks
NVIDIA
Meta AI
Google Cloud02 — THE TRACKS
Four tracks.Infinite depth.
Each track focuses on a different layer of the modern AI stack. You choose where to build.
AI Systems
For engineers who care about what happens after the model is trained. Build the infrastructure that makes AI reliable at scale.
Data Infrastructure
For engineers who believe clean data is the hardest problem in ML. Build the pipelines, extraction systems, and data quality layers that ML teams depend on.
Intelligent Products
For builders who want to close the loop between ML and real users. Build AI-powered product features that solve measurable user problems.
AI for Public Impact
For engineers who want their work to matter beyond the org chart. Apply data science and ML to problems that affect people directly.
03 — THE TIMELINE
How it unfolds
- 01Phase 1
Applications Open
September 1-10, 2026Register as an individual or team. Solo participants are matched through our team formation process.
- 02Phase 2
Team Formation
September 10-15, 2026Use our team-matching platform to find co-builders with complementary skills. You can also form your own team of up to four people.
- 03Phase 3
Kickoff Ceremony
Mentor SessionSeptember 16, 2026Opening session with track briefings, mentor introductions, and challenge documentation released. All participants must attend to access challenge materials.
- 04Phase 4
The Build
September 25-27, 2026 (48 hours)Teams build. Mentors are available for scheduled office hours throughout. Submissions close at midnight UTC on August 27.
- 05Phase 5
Office Hours
Mentor SessionDuring the build periodLive 1:1 mentor sessions. Each team is allocated one session; additional slots are available on a first-come basis.
- 06Phase 6
Submissions Due
Midnight CET, September 27All four deliverables must be submitted via the submission portal before the deadline. Late submissions will not be reviewed.
- 07Phase 7
Judging & Pitches
October 3, 2026Shortlisted teams present live to the judging panel. Winners announced in the closing ceremony.
04 Prizes
$10,000+in prizes.
Prizes are awarded across the main competition and bonus categories. Cash, cloud compute credits.
Grand Prize — $5,000 cash prize
$1,500 cash prize
$3,000 cash prize
$5,000 cash prize
Cloud compute credits, SaaS tool licences, and domain and hosting packages from confirmed sponsors. Details published when sponsors are confirmed.
05— THE JUDGES
Evaluated by engineers who've built what you're building.
Our judges are practitioners from leading AI labs, data infrastructure companies, and mission-driven organisations. They know production code when they see it and what a 48-hour build with real potential looks like.
06 — THE MENTORS
Learn From Industry Leading ExpertsMentors
07Submission Guidelines
What to buildSubmission Guidelines
Each team must submit all four deliverables before the deadline. Late submissions will not be considered.
A functional demo hosted or accessible via a public link. Code must be in a public or shared repository. A pitch deck without working code will not be scored on technical criteria.
A README or short document (max 1,000 words) covering: the problem you're solving, your technical approach, architectural decisions, and the potential for real-world impact.
A screen-recorded walkthrough of your project in action. No production value required - clarity and functionality are what matter.
Five to eight slides covering: the problem, your solution, system architecture, technical stack, and next steps if you were to continue building.
›Judging Criteria
How you'll be scored
08 Projects Gallery
Featured buildsPast Cohort - 2024
MedExtract AI
Automated medical document extraction pipeline with 94% accuracy on clinical notes.
ClimateGraph
Real-time climate dataset visualisation tool used by 3 NGOs post-hackathon.
RetainIQ
Retention prediction system deployed to production within 2 months of the hackathon.
VibeBoard
LLM observability dashboard with token cost tracking and drift detection.
08 Testimonials
What they're sayingFrom the cohort
This was the most technically rigorous hackathon I've been to. The mentorship structure is unlike anything else - real engineers, real feedback.
I joined as a solo dev and left with a co-founder, a job offer, and a deployed product. The community here is genuinely special.
As a judge, the quality of projects blew me away. These teams built things in 48 hours that would take months in most companies.
08 Press & Media
09 Sponsors
Partners & Judges from& supporters
We're partnering with leading AI companies, cloud providers and data-driven organisations who believe in building the next generation of women AI engineers.
Become a Sponsor →10 — FAQ
Commonquestions
11 ORGANISERS
Built by engineers, for engineers.The Team
We're a small remote team of practitioners and community builders who've spent years inside the data and AI industry. This event is our attempt to change who is in the rooms where infrastructure decisions get made.
+ Apply Now
Women are buildingthe next generation of AI infrastructure.
Join thousands of women engineers, data scientists and ML practitioners building real AI systems. Free to apply. Global community.
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