HackAlem AI from the Inside: How the World's Largest AI Hackathon with OpenAI Participation is Prepared

Learn more about the hackathon format, registration, teams, tracks, opportunities from OpenAI, and prizes for winners in the podcast, while the main details are covered in our article.

Shokhrukh Ibragimov, Representative of Silkroad Innovation Hub in Central Eurasia

About Me

I am a Program Manager at Silkroad Innovation Hub and the official representative for Central Eurasia. I am originally from Uzbekistan and studied and worked in the US at Silkroad Innovation Hub.

We support startup founders from our region, including Central Asia, parts of the Caucasus, and the Middle East. My current project is HackAlem AI, which we are actively working on.

What is HackAlem AI

HackAlem AI is the largest agent-based AI hackathon, taking place on September 23 in Astana. Its goal is to bring together the largest community of AI builders in Kazakhstan and strengthen the country’s position as one of the AI hubs in Central Eurasia.

The hackathon’s main distinction is its scale and format. Participants will use agent-based AI tools, including Codex, to create their own AI solutions. In other words, artificial intelligence will be used both as a development tool and as part of the product itself.

Organizers expect around 2,500 participants. Major technology companies have also joined the hackathon, including OpenAI as an official partner and co-organizer.

Just a few years ago, such a scale would have been hard to imagine. Now, Kazakhstan has the opportunity to host world-class technology events and create projects that can be interesting far beyond the region.

Who Can Participate

Representatives of three categories can participate.

IT Students — developers, designers, architects, software specialists, and AI and ML experts.

IT Professionals — developers, designers, architects, testers, AI and ML engineers, and other specialists from the technology sector.

Freelancers and Tech Enthusiasts — individuals without formal IT education who may work in other fields but independently create technology or AI projects, engage in vibe coding, and have a portfolio to showcase.

Registration and Selection

Registration takes place via the website hackalem.ai. On the landing page, you can review the hackathon conditions and proceed to registration. After clicking the “Register” button, you will be redirected to the hackathon platform. There, you need to fill out a form and provide information required to confirm participation.

Supporting documents may be required for some participant categories. For example, IT students may need to provide a student ID.

All registration steps are described in detail on the platform, so the process will be quite straightforward.

Team and Idea

It is not necessary to arrive at the hackathon with a ready-made idea. You can come up with one on-site and discuss it with your team. The team must be registered on the platform before the hackathon begins. The registration deadline is September 19, and you can form your team until September 20. This means that after registration, participants will have at least one more day to find partners. A team can consist of up to three people. You can participate individually, join an existing team, or create your own and invite other participants.

Important: It is not possible to form or change a team during the hackathon — this must be done in advance.

How the Hackathon Works

The hackathon itself lasts five hours. On September 23, registration and other activities will begin in the morning, and participants will have five hours to develop their solutions.

10 tracks have been prepared for the hackathon, focusing on priority sectors of the economy. These include construction, public services, education, fintech, healthcare, agriculture, and other areas.

The organizing team is currently expanding the tracks and developing new use cases, so the final list of directions and tasks will be published closer to the hackathon date.

What OpenAI Will Provide

OpenAI is an official partner and co-organizer of the hackathon. Participants will gain access to Codex — an agent-based AI tool for software development and other tasks.

Additionally, OpenAI will provide API credits that can be used in participants’ projects, along with official merchandise.

Volunteers will be on-site to help participants with organizational and technical issues. Furthermore, a separate workshop on Codex is planned, where participants will learn how the tool works and how to get started with it.

Even if participants are already familiar with AI tools, the workshop will help them quickly understand Codex specifically and utilize its capabilities during the hackathon.

How Projects Are Evaluated

Each track will have specific tasks for which participants need to develop solutions. Each task will have its own evaluation criteria, which an independent jury will use to select the best projects.

Participants will be given five hours to develop their solutions, after which they will present their projects to the jury. The top teams will advance to the demo day, where they will have the opportunity to thoroughly defend their solutions.

Winners will receive prizes from OpenAI and the organizers. OpenAI will provide $10,000 in API credits that can be used for further project development.

Additionally, co-organizer Astana Hub has established a prize fund of $100,000 for the hackathon winners.

Why Participate

Some track tasks will be prepared in collaboration with companies interested in specific solutions.

For example, in the FinTech track, a company may offer participants a real-world problem and then evaluate the developed solutions. If the project appears promising to the company, the team will have the opportunity to discuss further collaboration and launch a pilot.

At the hackathon, you can meet other AI builders, find a team, and try out tools that are not always easy to access. Participants will also be able to work with Codex and other advanced AI models using the provided API credits.