Be sure to read the official Hackathon Rules for full details on eligibility, judging, etc.

Dates

June 9, 2025 from 8:30am - 2:30pm

Eligibility

The Hackathon IS open only to individuals who meet all of the following (collectively “Entrants” or “Eligible Individuals”):

• • Individuals who are: (i) at least 18 years of age or older and (ii) who have reached the age of majority in their respective jurisdiction of residence as of the time of entry;

  • Individuals who are residents of one or more of the following “Eligible Territories”:  Australia, Canada (except Québec), France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, the United States, or Vietnam; and

  • Individuals who have registered to attend Data + AI Summit with a full conference pass.

Project and Submission Requirements

Project Requirements

1. How to access the required tools:  Eligible Teams will use a new serverless account that Databricks will provision for the event. Lighthouse accounts will be provided to help start the projects.

2. What to Create: Create an AI Agent proof-of-concept using one or more Databricks tools.

3. Platforms: Databricks for building the projects, Devpost to submit projects and form teams.

4. New Projects Only: Projects must be created only during the Project Period. 

5. Third Party Integrations: Entrants may use provided datasets, but this is not a requirement. They can also use outside models to train with Databricks.

If the Submission includes software that runs on proprietary or third-party hardware that is not widely available to the public, including software running on devices or wearable technology other than smartphones, tablets, or desktop computers, Sponsor and/or Administrator reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to require the Entrant to provide physical access to the project hardware upon request. Failure to provide this access on request may result in the Submission being disqualified from winning.

Submission Requirements

Submissions to the Hackathon must meet the following requirements as applicable:

1. Include a project built with the required developer tools that meets the above Project Requirements.

2. Access must be provided to an Entrant’s working project for judging and testing by providing a link to a website, functioning demo, or a test build. If the Entrant’s project is private, Entrant must include login credentials in its testing instructions. If the project requires access to third-party data, Entrant must ensure that the Judges, Sponsor, and Administrator will have access to its testing instructions.

3. Include a text description that explains the features and functionality of your project.

4. Include a URL to your public and open-source GitHub repository for the project. The GitHub repository must show that the project was built during the Hackathon Project Period, include an open-source license, and be publicly visible.

Prizes

Judging Criteria and Winner Selection

Judging will proceed as follows:

Stage One. The first stage will determine via pass/fail whether the Submission has provided all the necessary Submission Requirements, in that the GitHub repository URL submitted is working and publicly accessible, demonstration video does not exceed 5 minutes, and the submitted demo/test build is accessible publicly or via login credentials provided to the Judges by the Eligible Team.

Stage Two. All valid and eligible Submissions that pass Stage One will be evaluated in Stage Two based on the following equally weighted criteria (the “Judging Criteria”), and according to the sole and absolute discretion of the judges:

1. Business Applicability
   How well does this solve a real business problem for your industry?

2. Data Relevance
   How have you combined relevant and interesting databricks’ datasets and tools?

3. Creativity
   Is this a new and original idea, or has this been done before? 

4. Thoroughness
   Is your application easy for the end user to understand? Does it provide relevant and insightful information?

5. Well-Architected
   Can your application/RAG model scale well at a linear cost? Can it accommodate additional features without rewriting most of the codebase?]

The scores from the Judges will determine the winners of the applicable prizes:

• The Eligible Team(s) that are eligible for a prize, and whose Submissions earn the highest overall scores based on the applicable Judging Criteria, will become winners of the first prize;

• The Eligible Team(s) that are eligible for a prize, and whose Submissions earn the second highest overall scores based on the applicable Judging Criteria, will become winners of the second prize; and

• The Eligible Team(s) that are eligible for a prize, and whose Submissions earn the third highest overall scores based on the applicable Judging Criteria, will become winners of the third prize. 

Tie Breaking. For each listed prize, if two or more Submissions are tied, the tied Submission with the highest score in the first applicable criterion listed above will be considered the higher scoring submission. In the event any ties remain, this process will be repeated, as needed, by comparing the tied Submissions’ scores on the next applicable criterion. If two or more Submissions are tied on all applicable criteria, the panel of Judges will vote on the tied Submissions and award the prize based on the outcome of that vote.