Hackathon · October 16, 2026 · Seattle

Let’s build the future

Sikhs have always been builders. Of institutions, of cities, of whole communities raised from nothing. We now stand at one of the largest paradigm shifts in human history, and we intend to build our own future.

In collaboration with Khalis Foundation

Day one of the conference

Teams of two to five

$10,000+ in cash prizes

How this works

Solve problems that matter.

Over several months we sat down with more than a dozen Sikh nonprofits across healthcare, advocacy, education, human rights, giving and Gurbani, and asked: if you could re-imagine your work for this era rather than inherit it from the last one, what would it become?

You build what you want.
No assigned projects. Pick a theme, bring your own idea, measure it against the published outcomes. Seed ideas are there if you want a starting point.
The expert is in the room.
Every partner sends someone who owns the problem. They brief you, sit with you while you build, and judge what you make.
It doesn't end on Saturday.
Winning teams get a 90-day support period: continued access to the partner organisation, the infrastructure and data your project needs, and Khalis engineering behind you.

How work is judged

Judged by a panel drawn from the speakers and from the organisations the projects are built for. Four things are weighed, in this order.

Usefulness

Would somebody actually use this on Monday morning? A rough thing that solves a real problem beats a polished thing that solves none.

Rootedness

Does it come from a genuine need in the sangat, and does it treat that need with care?

Craft

Built well enough to be trusted — data handled responsibly, limits acknowledged, claims not overstated.

Openness

Can somebody else pick this up on Monday and carry it further? Documentation counts. So does licensing.

What winners get

More than $10,000 in cash is shared between the projects that best answer the brief, awarded on the day and split across the themes at the panel’s discretion.

The 90-Day Khalis Fellowship

For the winners, Build Day is a starting line.

Continued access to the partner organisation whose problem you took on
The infrastructure you need: servers, databases, and the real data
Mentorship hours from Khalis engineering leadership
Cloud and model API credits
A public demo at the next quarterly Khalis update

This is access and support, not a managed internship. You keep building; we clear the obstacles that usually kill a good prototype in week three.

Every project gets published — win or not, with your contact details and partner tagging.

Good to know

When is the full schedule published?: Nearer the conference. For now: the brief is read out on the first morning, and the clock runs from there.
Do I need to be a developer?: No. Designers, researchers, organisers, and writers are what turn a demo into something people use. Every team needs at least one.
Do I need to arrive with a team?: No. Most teams form on the first morning. Come with an idea, come with friends, or come with neither.
What should I bring?: A laptop, a charger, and any dataset or half-finished idea you have been meaning to make time for.
Who owns what we build?: You do. We ask that projects ship under an open licence where they can, so the sangat is able to carry them on.
Is there an extra cost?: No. The hackathon is included with conference registration, and there is no separate ticket.

Partner organisations

Each partner brings a problem they own, and someone who owns it.

More partners to be announced.

Request an invitation

Early-bird pricing ends August 15.

107 seats already claimed.