TLDR
Once in a Generation Hackathon is a competition for AI hackers who want to push the boundaries of what is possible with generative AI today.
It is taking place 48h from November 15th to November 17th 2024 in Startit Center Belgrade.
30 amazingly talented and young innovators will create the applications of the future with the help of dozens of high value mentors with CTO’s, engineers and domain experts.
Join us as a partner and show us what you’ve got.
Once in a GENERATION hackathon is a 48-hour software building competition focused on developing products and proof-of-concepts that leverage generative AI in a non-trivial way.
We call on all hackers who:
We’re calling you to apply and join us!
Because revolutions like this one happen very rarely and reward those who are early.
We are here because we want to be early.
In the last 50 years, we’ve had waves of technology that changed the world forever.
Previous generations saw personal computers, the Internet, social media, smartphones create the world we live in today.
If you were old enough to be early on those trends, chances are you built something very valuable and maybe got rewarded for that.
Generative AI is a new kind of a computer.
It is more than an innovative technology. It is a transformative technology. It is underhyped.
And it is happening much faster than almost anyone realizes.
All around the world smart people are seeing this and building amazing new things to grab their seat under the sun in the AI world.
For those of you who can see behind the corner, here’s an opportunity to make you smarter and faster.
We will challenge and push you to be better than you think you can be, to push the boundaries of what everyone else thinks is possible with generative AI today.
You will compete with some of the best AI hackers currently in Serbia. Competing with them will make you sharper and faster. You will learn from them.
You will work with our mentors and domain experts who will push you to your limits to achieve great things in just 48 hours, teach you everything they know that you need to win the hackathon, and then win with AI beyond the event.
We will teach you how to present your creation in a way that not only hackers can understand, so that you can actually sell your idea as the best one, both on the competition and in the market.
The winning teams will get media exposure with written and video interviews for the Serbian and global audience (you can opt out) and intros to companies and investors in our network.
The winning teams will get 50, 35 and 15% of the total sum that is crowdfunded for this purpose from participating companies. We make no promises on this one. Last time we crowdfunded the prize pool for a hackathon, it got to $17000, but you should assume it will be $0.
You come to the competition with your idea, following the guidelines below.
You retain intelectual property over your work. You start from scratch once the competition starts. Contact us if you’ve got any additional questions.
Challenge guidelines — develop tools or proofs of concept that will:
If you decide to choose a different, in your opinion better, direction, that is fine! Just make sure the judges understand why it is better than any of the four challenges outlined above.
In the order of importance:
Organized by Startit with the support of USAID.
Startit is one of the longest-running ecosystem support organizations in Serbia.
During our 17 years of work we’ve organized 20+ hackathons, the first one in 2012, with themes including ML, dark web, blockchain, etc.
We’ve been trailblazers in gathering innovators around exciting new technologies, and recognized as such by the likes of Google and the European Comission.
GenHack partners:
Below is a list of mentors and the first member of our judging panel. This list will be updated with 20+ more names in the coming days. Mentoring and judging will be done in-person on-location.
Dragan is a VP of Databricks and the head of their Belgrade office. He is a local legend, known for having built the Microsoft Development Center Serbia from near zero to the juggernaut it is now, pioneering many AI solutions core to the company’s business. He will be one of the judges on our panel.
D
enis has been building machine learning teams and products for the past 10 years, leading him to take the leadership positions in Yandex, working on Search (Entity Search & Knowledge Graph) and Maps (Search Quality & Product), products with up to 30 million users daily.
Dragan GajićDragan is an OG of the Serbian tech scene, having been a part of it since 2000, serving 15 years in leadership positions at Levi9, one of the biggest IT services companies in the country. Currently he is the CTO at Nortal, a 2000+ people multinational consulting company.
Boris has been specializing in Machine Learning as an engineer since 2018, and also taught Deep Learning and Computer Vision at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.
A
fter getting a PhD in machine learning, Miloš started his career as a data scientist in 2015, going through several leading roles in data science and AI in startups and corporates. As a researcher he is currently focused on the generative AI and LLMs models security.
Ivan has been working as a product designer for the last 15 years, focused on AI products since 2021 in senior roles with Instapage and Zendesk.
Mladen has been making products better with AI for more than a decade, building ML/DS teams in various companies, serving as a guest lecturer at Belgrade’s premier ETF college for the machine learning master studies students.
Nikola has been in AI since early 2010s, focusing on ML and computer vision and leading a team of engineers working on Microsoft Maps. He has led the first global effort to create a dataset of building footprints from satellite imagery.
Igor is the Head of AI Engineering at Goodnotes, leading a team that implements AI that helps users with productivity and learning. He previously help positions at Microsoft, Goldman Sachs and the Serbian Institute of Nuclear Sciences.
Aleksandar has been in leadership roles in corporations and startups. He’s currently serving as the CTO of Maxbet, a gaming operator with a workforce of 2500+ employees at 460 locations in 4 countries.
Nikola has been building solutions for 6 years within Belgrade’s MDCS, working on Copilot solutions before the name was invented.
Rastko is a Senior Partner at Karanovic & Partners and the most prominent professional at the intersection of tech and legal in Serbia. In addition to his 20 years in law, he’s been leading his firm’s efforts to transform into a tech-first and AI-first organization.
Ilija played a pivotal part in what was to become the Serbian tech scene as the manager of Vast, the earliest Silicon Valley startup with a big office in Belgrade. He is now head of Foursquare’s local office that uses AI for a huge variety of features.
Marko has been building software and teams since early 2000’s. He’s been leading departments in tech consultancy companies, creating and running bootstrapped and venture funded startups, and is currently creating AI based solutions for his clients.
Ivan is an entrepreneur and CTO with 20+ years of experience, creating and leading teams ranging from a handful to hundreds of people, from startups to corporates.
Arsenije is a product designer with over a decade of experience working with local startups. He’s designed several text interface products, including the AI in Orgnostic, acquired by Culture Amp this year. For the past three years, he’s co-hosted the Zalet podcast with Dragan Babić.
Miloš is a data engineer and co-founder of Things Solver, a company he started in 2015 that offers the Solver AI platform for business analytics and performance boosting.
Nikola is a founder and an engineer, who’s been working with AI since 2018, currently as a Staff ML engineer at Tenstorrent, a “company that builds computers for AI.”
Nenad has two decades of tech under his belt, with the last 6 years spent at Karanović & Partners, the most prestigious Serbian/regional law firm, as the CIO. His main focus in his current position is integrating AI into existing and new workflows to drive higher efficiency for the clients.
Ilija Lazarević is an machine learning engineer and entrepreneur specializing in AI-driven real estate solutions. With his startup CityScraper he is bringing his users higher efficiency in real estate investing, and as a consultant he helps SMB’s apply AI to achieve business goals. He is the chairman of “Machinery”, an organization uniting AI experts living in Serbia with meetups and other activities.
Who can participate in the “Once in a Generation Hackathon”?
The hackathon is open to developers, designers, and innovators who are passionate about creating tools of the future leveraging generative AI. Teams can consist of up to 5 members. Total number of hackers is set at 25.
Do I need prior experience with building with generative AI to participate?
Prior experience will be favored in the selection process, but it’s not a disqualifying criteria. If you’ve already shipped some AI projects, that’s a big plus. If you have a track record of building and shipping software and want a chance to build something with AI, that’s OK as well.
Is there a registration fee?
No, participation in the hackathon is free of charge. However, spots are limited, and teams will be selected based on their application.
Can I participate remotely?
No. This hackathon is designed to be an in-person event to facilitate collaboration and networking. Remote participation is not available.
What should I bring to the hackathon?
Bring your laptop, charger, and any other devices you might need. We’ll provide food, drinks, and a workspace.
Do we need to have a finished product by the end of the hackathon?
You have to show what it does and how it works, but it doesn’t have to be polished.
Who owns the intellectual property rights to the projects?
Participants retain full ownership of their intellectual property. However, we encourage open-source contributions but it’s not a part of the judging criteria.
What if I don’t have a team, can I apply as an individual?
Yes. You can participate as an individual, or you can just apply as an individual and we’ll connect you to other participants you can team up with.
What if I have a question that is not addressed here?
Drop us an email at [email protected], and we’ll get back to you promptly.
