About the Hackathon
Organized by JGM Innovation and futurX
​The AI Hackathon runs in two phases. Phase 1 (Oct 14–23, online): students join masterclasses, pick a real social challenge, and diagnose it with their team. Phase 2 (Oct 24, in person at UTP): teams get one day to build a working prototype with AI tools, then stand in front of judges to explain and defend every decision they made.
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Two tracks, one clock.
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The Technical track is for students who already code.
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The Accessible track is for everyone else. Build with prompt engineering and AI-assisted tools, no programming background required.
It is the same standard the global tech sector runs on: understand the problem, ship something real, and answer for it. Most students never get to find out they can do that. This is where they find out.
How it works
​THE CHALLENGE
Phase 1, online. Teams pick a real social problem in Peru, learn from expert masterclasses, and diagnose what actually needs solving. No code yet, understanding comes first.
​The Defense
Each team presents its prototype to a panel of judges and answers hard questions about what they built, why, and what they left out.
The Build in Person
Phase 2, one day at UTP. Teams turn their diagnosis into a working prototype using AI tools before the clock runs out. Every screen is recorded, so the work is verifiably their own.
The final Verdict
Judges score. Winners share a money prize and post-event support to keep building. Every team walks out with a finished project and a recording.
Give them the room.
They'll do the rest.
$1,200 puts a hackathon on the ground in Lima and hands a group of university students the one thing they have never been given: a real deadline, a real panel, and a real result to put their name on. JGM Innovation is a registered 501(c)(3), EIN 87-4083730 — gifts from US donors are tax-deductible.