HackerRank Orchestrate | 24-Hour Hackathon

August edition

Orchestrate

A 24-hour hackathon to design, build, and ship an agent

Hackathon begins August 1 at 8:30 AM EDT

The role of a developer has evolved. You’re not just writing code, you’re orchestrating agents to solve real problems. Anyone can prompt. Few can build systems that actually deliver.

This is your chance to prove you can.

How This Works

Get the Challenge

Your challenge arrives at 8:30 AM EDT on Aug 1 via email. A real-world problem that needs an agent-based solution.

Build & Submit

Use whatever tools you work with, Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, or anything else. Submit your code, agent output, and AI chat transcript when ready.

Face the AI Judge

A 30-minute voice interview after submission. Walk the AI judge through your architecture, your decisions, and your tradeoffs.

Timeline

Challenge starts • 24h

Rewards

1st Place

Everything you need to build. Recognition that opens doors.

~$1,200 in Claude Max 5× for 1 year

Opportunities with leading tech companies

Chat 1:1 with top industry experts

HackerRank exclusive merch

2nd-5th Place

Great ideas. Great rewards.

~$300 in Claude Max 5× for 3 months

Opportunities with leading tech companies

HackerRank exclusive merch

For All Participants

Every participant wins something valuable

10 HackerRank AI Mock Interview Credits

Orchestrate in Action

Our first editions brought together AI builders from around the world to design, build, and ship AI agents in 24 hours.

See what participants built, how they approached the challenge, and how the AI Judge evaluated submissions.

What Participants Had to Say

Saai Syvendra
Computer Science & Engineering
I entered HackerRank Orchestrate, a global hackathon, mostly out of curiosity. I wanted to see how HackerRank would run a hackathon that openly tells you to use AI. I ended up winning it and learning a lot more than I expected. The task: build a terminal support agent for HackerRank, Claude, and Visa in 24 hours, then defend it to an AI judge. 12,885 people registered, from around 50 countries.

Bhavya Khatri
AI Engineer building agentic systems @ Mindtickle · HackerRank Orchestrate Top 2
I came 2nd. HackerRank Orchestrate wasn't a typing-speed contest. It graded four things end-to-end: the agent you built, the tickets it actually handled, the way you directed your coding tools, and a 30-minute live defence in front of an AI judge. That last one mattered. It is one thing to ship an agent; it is another to explain — under questioning — why your routing, your memory, and your fall-back paths are the right ones. Agentic engineering is becoming a real, measurable skill. "Used Copilot" is not the bar anymore. Designing the loop is. Top 2 of 12,885 across 48 countries is a moment to mark. Then back to work — the standard moves fast.

Faraaz Khan
Solutions Engineer | Data & AI Systems Architect | High-Performance Backend & Analytics Infrastructure | 10+ Years in Secure, Compliance-Driven Platforms
I just ranked #3 in HackerRank Orchestrate. 24 hours. One challenge. Build an AI agent that resolves real customer support tickets. No hallucinations allowed. No guessing. Reply or escalate. Here's what got me to the podium: I didn't pick the smartest model. I built the smartest system. A 6-agent pipeline where no single LLM makes the final call. No LangChain. No frameworks. 3 npm packages. Just 400 lines of orchestration. The biggest takeaway: In production AI, the system around the model matters more than the model itself.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can participate?

Anyone can participate.

Will participants receive a certificate?

Yes. All participants will receive a certificate.

Is it solo or team-based?

This is a solo challenge.

Do I need prior AI experience?

No prior AI experience required!

What kind of problem can I expect?

A real-world problem that needs an agent built from scratch. Architecture, retrieval strategy, model choice, prompt design, all yours to figure out.

Can I use my own tools and IDE?

Yes. Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, use what you know. Your AI chat transcript is part of the evaluation, so work the way you actually work.

How does the AI judge work?

A 30-minute voice interview after you submit. The judge covers your pitch, architecture, safety decisions, and code-level details. It is a technical review, not a formality.

What gets evaluated and how?

Four signals - code, agent output, AI chat transcript, and the judge interview. Each captures something different. The strongest submissions score well across all four, not just one.