16-17 May, 2026
Are you ready to collaborate with other entrepreneurial individuals and be part of a tech-ready ecosystem?
Attend this Hackathon to showcase your skills as part of the amazing tech talent in Tennessee, network, and learn from like-minded individuals.
#HackTN
Sponsorship Inquiries
#HackTN
Registration Page
#HackTN
Information Session
Challenge Themes
More information will be released soon.
Participation
Hackathons are not just for programmers. In order for a group to succeed, it is most ideal to have a mix of people from diverse backgrounds and skillsets. We call it the 'Minimum Viable Team' - the smallest team required to achieve a specific purpose. Many startups use this formula to create their first teams. We encourage anyone wanting to to land their next role at a tech organization, or anyone passionate about helping the underserved communities around the world to come and join us!
Hipster
person who designs the prototype
Hacker
person who creates the prototype
Hustler
person who sells the product
Herder
person who facilitates and manages the team
What will happen?
Throughout the weekend, you will be faced with a series of activities to help you develop your solution for the judges. The outcome will be a presentation (pitch explaining why you worked on this) and a prototype (demonstration of the key feature you developed over the weekend). Many people go to Hackathons because it's about the 'tech', but we define that as the following steps of a Hackathon:
1
Team Formation
Network to find your team mates. We'll have activities to help you through this process.
2
Empathy Mapping
Ask questions to your ideal customers. We'll have mentors who will give you feedback.
3
Customer Engagement
Create a really quick version of your solution and test it with your customers.
4
Hacking!!
Using the feedback, create your demo and presentation to pitch to our experienced judges.
Agenda
The Hackathon will come after a week full of events around AI in Nashville.
It includes:
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Nashville AI Week - Monday to Wednesday, 11-13th May
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Nashville DevOps and AI - Thursday to Friday, 14-15th May
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HackTN - Saturday to Sunday, 16-17th May
The Hackathon event is a hybrid event with the option to participate in-person in a location TBC. If you are participating online, you need to have 1x person on your team present at the Final Showcase from 1-5pm on Sunday. The expectation of the team is to develop:
- A feature for an existing business (working function)
- OR develop a new technology solution (new business idea from scratch)
We expect teams to use the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. You can access the starter kit here to familiarize yourselves with the technology and tools. We will be holding 2x workshops on this during the hackathon.
Key attendance is expected for all participants - either in-person or online.
Opening Keynote
Saturday, from 9-10am
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Keynote Speaker
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Hackathon Logistics and Process
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Challenge Statements revealed
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Team Registration
Information Session / Workshop
Thursday from 5:30-7pm
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An introduction to the Hackathon
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Technology Upskilling Workshop
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Hackathon Tips and Tricks
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Networking
Final Showcase
Sunday from 1-5pm
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Participants to present their demo and presentations (4 min each)
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Judges to determine winners
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What's next for Hackathon
Prizes
Our panel of judges will be assessing the teams based on the criteria:
Desirability
Why the customer will use it, and feedback received from research and customer interactions
Feasibility
How you worked together as a team to create the prototype / feature that you are demonstrating
Viability
What you will do to acquire customers so that you will have different revenue streams
Sustainability
How will you meet the Sustainable Development Goals and meet Science Based Targets
WHAT YOU WILL SHOW THE JUDGES
A PITCH
A 2 minute presentation explaining the customer pain point, why you came up with your solution, and how you will be approaching potential customers
A PROTOTYPE
A 2 minute presentation demonstration of at least one feature of your proposed working solution. It can be a feature for an existing business, or something completely new!
YOU WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE REWARDED WITH
1:1 Mentoring
with recognized leaders in tech to help your career journey
$2000 USD
Monetary Prize Pool
Awarded to winning teams
1st - $1000
2nd - $750
3rd - $250
Access to like minded individuals and tech communities groups
Judges
Industry experts who will be evaluating the video presentations. They will be asking questions after the presentations to the teams to help determine the winners.
The Hackathons International Team
The benefits of going to a Hackathon is that you can learn new skills about entrepreneurship, design thinking, and technologies that you can bring back into your day-to-day life. The Hackathons International will be with on site to help you throughout the Hackathon.
CEO & Co-Founder, Lead Facilitator
Angela Bee Chan
Software Developer and Tech Support
Alicia Brandewie
Faith James
Marketing Lead and Event Support
Mentors
COMING SOON!
Watch to learn more
Thank you to our Community Partners for providing their platforms to help spread the word about #HackTN.
If you want to learn more about this Hackathon, watch and read the below!
Speakers