Build. Innovate. Win.

How Teams Work

• 🔹 Team Size: 3-5 members
• 🔹 Diverse Roles Encouraged: Developers, Designers, Business Strategists, and Project Leads
• 🔹 At Least One Technical Member: Every team should have at least one person comfortable with development

Don’t Have a Team? No Worries!

If you don’t have a team yet, we’ll help you find the perfect fit during the event. We’ll host a team formation session where you can meet other participants, share ideas, and connect with people who complement your skills.

Why Teamwork Matters

• ✅ Learn from others & improve your skills
• ✅ Divide and conquer tasks efficiently
• ✅ Get inspired by different perspectives
• ✅ Build lasting professional relationships

✅Eligibility

• ✅Participants under 18 must be accompanied by a legal guardian or adult.
• ✅No prior hackathon experience required.
• ✅Open to students, professionals, and self-taught coders.

👥Team Formation

• 👥Teams must have a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 5 members.
• 👥Pre-formed teams are allowed, but individuals can also join and be assigned to a team.
• 📋Teams must be finalized before the coding phase begins.

🛠️Project Requirements

• 🛠️All projects must be built from scratch during the hackathon.
• 📚Participants may use open-source libraries, APIs, and datasets, but must credit sources properly.
• 💡Projects must fall within the specified hackathon themes/categories.

🤖AI & External Assistance

• 🤖AI tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT) may be used, but all AI-generated content must be clearly documented.
• 🚫Fully AI-generated code without human contribution is not allowed.
• ❌No external paid development or consulting assistance is allowed.

💻Programming Language

• 💻Any programming language or framework may be used.
• ⌨️Recommended languages: Python, JavaScript, Java, Swift, Solidity, C++.

💾Development & Submission

• 💾All projects must be submitted via GitHub/GitLab.
• 📄Submission must include codebase, README file, demo video, and documentation.
• ⏳Late submissions will not be accepted.

⚙️Judging Criteria

• ⚙️Technical Execution (30%) – Code quality, scalability, efficiency.
• 🧠Innovation & Creativity (20%) – Novelty and problem-solving approach.
• 🎨User Experience & Design (15%) – UI/UX and accessibility.
• 📈Impact & Business Viability (20%) – Real-world relevance.
• 🎤Presentation & Communication (15%) – Clarity and demonstration effectiveness.

🎥Demo & Presentation

• 🎥Teams must present a live demo of their project.
• 🗣️Judges will ask questions to evaluate problem-solving and implementation.
• ⏱️Demo presentations must be limited to 5 minutes.

🤝Fair Play & Ethical Conduct

• 🚫Plagiarism is strictly prohibited – all code must be original or properly credited.
• 🤝Teams must respect fellow participants, mentors, and judges.
• ❌No sabotage or disruption of other teams' work.
• ⛔No use of offensive, discriminatory, or unethical content in projects.

🛡️Security & Compliance

• 🛡️All participants must comply with hackathon security guidelines.
• 🔐Projects must follow ethical AI practices and data privacy standards.

⏰Hacking & Checkpoints

• ⏰Hacking phase runs for 24 hours – teams must work within this timeframe.
• 📋Checkpoints will occur every 6 hours for mentoring and progress validation.

🏢Event Conduct & Behavior

• 🏢Teams must remain at the venue for the entire hackathon duration (no remote participation).
• 🚨Harassment, discrimination, or inappropriate behavior will result in immediate disqualification.

🏆Post-Hackathon Follow-Up

• 🏆Winners will be announced at the closing ceremony.
• 💼Top teams may receive job offers or invites to the Intellibus Academy.
• 🤝Participants will receive feedback and networking opportunities.

No Experience? No Problem!

Many participants come in thinking they’re "not good enough"—but end up building something incredible. This hackathon isn’t just about competition; it’s about learning, experimenting, and growing in a supportive environment.

Workshops & Mentorship to Help You Succeed

Not confident in your coding, design, or problem-solving skills? We’ve got you covered! Throughout the event, we offer interactive workshops led by industry experts to help you learn essential skills in:

• ✅ AI & Cloud Computing
• ✅ UI/UX & Product Design
• ✅ Debugging & Deployment
• ✅ Real-Time Data Processing

You'll also have mentors and coaches to guide you every step of the way.

Teamwork Makes It Easier

Hackathons aren’t solo battles—you’ll work in teams of 3-5 people, so you don’t need to know everything yourself. Each team needs diverse skills—whether you code, design, or just have big ideas, there’s a place for you.

Intellibus is an international platform engineering and IT consulting firm, based in Reston, VA., USA dedicated to creating intelligent business platforms.

The company's mission is to make life simple through intelligent platforms using ethically-sourced data and AI. It focuses on simplification of large-scale systems, and its clients are primarily global banks, insurers, fintech firms, and other financial institutions.

Its elite team of engineers, architects and developers are drawn from the world's top professionals who have been serial entrepreneurs, founders and domain experts before coming to Intellibus.

Achievements

• Intellibus was named in Inc. Magazine's top 100 fastest-growing software companies in the USA in 2024.
• California Business Journal named founder Ed Watal as one of the innovation entrepreneurs to watch in 2024.
• Ed Watal has been honored as one of the Worthy 100 for 2024 by the L'Oréal Group and Worth Media, recognizing individuals who are transforming industries through innovation, leadership, and meaningful contributions.

Education

Mr Watal is also Lead Faculty of the NYU School of Professional Studies (NYU SPS) & Intellibus AI Masterclass.