Global AI hackathons are creating a buzz at present! These events act as a powerful way for companies to build a culture of new ideas and lead the pack in AI progress. Almost 80% of Fortune 100 companies host hackathons, and among them, 50% eventually become recurring events. By 2025, we can expect to see even more AI hackathons! This growth stems from the ease of use of AI tools and the need to solve complex problems in innovative ways. The IBM Agentic AI Hackathon was a one-of-a-kind experience, and CloudLabs is proud to have offered the right lab infrastructure and real-time support to over 450 participants as needed.
IBM Agentic AI Hackathon 2025
The IBM Agentic AI Hackathon was a significant 30-day-long virtual event co-hosted by IBM Consulting and Microsoft, focusing on the development and application of Agentic AI technologies – exploring the frontier of intelligent agents that reason, act, and adapt. A natural evolution from the previous year’s hackathon focused on OpenAI and Copilot. Stepping into its third consecutive year, the IBM Agentic AI Hackathon 2025 was one of a kind and the biggest so far. This year was unique, attracting global participants from 25 different countries, forming 225 teams that collaborated on innovative AI solutions across various industries.
A self-driven hackathon, each participant could reimagine agentic AI use cases from ideation to execution. They examined the various transformative forces that would bring about changes across multiple industries. Solutions and use cases ranged from State and local govt, Fashion brands, Manufacturing, Banking, Telco, Supply Chain, Customer service, software development, IT operations, etc.
CloudLabs in Action
CloudLabs is honored to be a part of the IBM Agentic AI Hackathon 2025, providing hackathon infrastructure and end-to-end technical support to over 450 participants for a 30-day period. Our key involvement also included helping the IBM team onboard registered participants by creating tailor-made user-specific, pre-configured hack environments.
CloudLabs Support Highlights
Here is a list of services provided by team CloudLabs, which helped make a difference:
- Environment Provisioning:
The ready-to-use lab environments were equipped with VM uptime management and automatic cleanup facilities. Participants had complete control over the assigned self-paced labs, which they could start, stop, or pause, as needed.
- Cost Report Monitoring:
Team CloudLabs helped with cost monitoring throughout the event. Expenses were tracked as per group-level Azure spend. To further optimize costs and save resources, we ensured that labs are auto-deleted once the event is concluded, after a 30-day period.
- 24/7 Support:
Dedicated support executives at CloudLabs offered real-time query resolution throughout the event. Our experienced team went above and beyond to help participants with all types of queries, ensuring minimal disruption throughout the event.
What Made it Unique?
The IBM Agentic AI Hackathon 2025 was unique in its own way! It enabled participants to brainstorm through various agentic AI use cases, building patterns and code assets that stand to make a difference. CloudLabs also added to the experience, offering the right infrastructure suitable for an open-ended hack.
- Complete Autonomy:
A one-of-a-kind, open-ended proof-of-concept-based hackathon experience for team IBM and global participants, with the latter having full freedom to explore, build, test, and iterate. Participants were able to reimagine various agentic AI use cases that are capable of driving impactful transformation across different industries.
- Zero Administrative Overhead:
No live facilitation required, enabling a self-paced approach for hundreds of participants. Our pre-configured labs had zero software dependencies and were directly available over the web. Additionally, expert professionals from the Cloudlabs team ensured real-time support throughout the hackathon experience.
CloudLabs Hackathon Experience
CloudLabs has been helping organizations like EY, Capgemini, LTIMindtree, Accenture, and DXC host successful hackathon events across the globe for almost a decade. Whether it’s a one-day event or a month-long schedule, organizations trust us with end-to-end event management and a seamless hack experience.
With us, you have the option to choose between various hackathon styles as well. Best of all, organizations can get their experience customized to align with specific goals, making each hackathon both relevant and results-driven.
Challenge-Based
Participants engage in structured, scenario-based challenges that include clear instructions. The hackathon environments are designed to simulate real-world problem-solving, equipped with leaderboard views, advanced admin controls, and budget schedules. Each challenge includes inline validation, along with a challenge guide and solution reference supporting clear learning and progress. Expert coaches, instructors, and technical subject matter experts (SMEs) do offer adequate guidance throughout the hackathon, ensuring a seamless experience.
Open-Ended
Ready-to-use sandbox environments are shared with participants. They get access to pre-configured labs with existing Azure credits. Thus, one can jump straight into development! Participants are divided into separate groups and must come up with Proof of Concepts (POCs), aligning with a particular use case or problem statement. Experienced coaches, instructors, technical SMEs, or dedicated support executives from CloudLabs ensure a quick resolution to challenges. After the hackathon is completed, solutions are submitted to a jury for evaluation against predefined criteria, with the top-performing team recognized as the winner.
Host Hackathons with CloudLabs
Here is a four-step guide on how to get started with the CloudLabs experience:
Step 1: Share your Interest
You can always choose between multiple hackathon styles and use cases. Opt for open-ended, multi-day hacks or get started with customized, challenge-based experiences. From retail and consumer goods to education, financial services, healthcare, and manufacturing, we offer a diverse range of open-ended hackathon experiences. If you’re not sure, do share your goals, and our experts will surely recommend a hackathon that aligns.
Step 2: Finalize Duration
Next, it’s time to finalize the event duration date. From one-day experiences to month-long events, Team CloudLabs offers end-to-end support. From registration page creation and participant management to pre-configured labs and seamless cost reports, we have everything covered in the right way.
Step 3: Review Hackathon Scope
The CloudLabs team will share the hackathon scope based on the requested services. You can always review and come back to us with queries and resolutions as needed.
Step 4: Hackathon Launch & Execution
Congratulations, we’re now live! Team CloudLabs will take care of the rest based on the agreed scope.
Wrapping Up
As AI continues to reshape industries, hackathons like the IBM Agentic AI Hackathon 2025 stand out as a powerful platform for companies and young, curious minds. From concept to execution, the hackathon demonstrated that innovation doesn’t require constant supervision—all it needs is the right tools, dedicated support, and a shared purpose. With CloudLabs’ dedicated support and pre-configured infrastructure at scale, everything looked seamless, helping participants test ideas, build prototypes, and discover scalable solutions on the go.
Manesh Raveendran is the CEO and Founder of Spektra Systems. He is known for his thought leadership and for crafting end-to-end technology solutions in cloud marketplaces. His passion lies in harnessing the potential of public cloud partnerships to drive business growth. With over two decades of experience, Manesh collaborates with global CXOs, designing innovative cloud solutions and services to drive customer success and address critical business challenges.
