Aotearoa AI Hackathon Festival 2026 — AUT City Campus
Two-Day AI Hackathon
See you in
About this event
The Aotearoa AI Hackathon Festival is a nationwide, multi-venue hackathon held across Aotearoa New Zealand. She Sharp and the AI Forum are bringing the festival to AUT's City Campus for a two-day, in-person event on 7–8 August 2026.
Working in teams, participants create AI-enabled solutions to real-world challenges aligned to five UN Sustainable Development Goals. Day one focuses on team formation, problem definition, and building; day two on refining solutions and pitching to a local judging panel.
Each venue selects a winning team whose pitch advances to national judging, and four national finalists will be invited to pitch live at the Aotearoa AI Summit on 18 September 2026 in Auckland, where the Summit audience votes for the overall winner. No matter your experience level — around a third of participants are new to hackathons — mentors from AUT and industry will support teams throughout.
Free online pre-event training runs throughout July to help you build stronger ideas, prototypes and pitches. The festival is about building practical AI capability, encouraging responsible and ethical AI use, fostering collaboration across regions and sectors, and showcasing innovative, impact-driven ideas.
Two-Day Format
- Day 1 (Friday 7 August) — Welcome, health & safety briefing, introduction to the hackathon themes, team formation, and the build begins, with ongoing mentor and technical support.
- Day 2 (Saturday 8 August) — Continued building, pitch practice, final submissions, live 5-minute pitches to the local judging panel, and announcement of the venue winner.
- Venue winners advance to national judging; four national finalists pitch at the Aotearoa AI Summit on 18 September 2026 in Auckland.
Day 1 Schedule — Friday 7 August
- 5:00–5:30pm — Registration, guest arrival & networking + dinner
- 5:30–5:40pm — Event opening: karakia, welcome to AUT, health & safety briefing
- 5:40–5:50pm — She Sharp introduction
- 5:50–6:10pm — Keynote address + Q&A
- 6:10–6:50pm — Team forming
- 6:50–7:05pm — Overview of day two
- 7:05–7:15pm — Problems to solve, requirements & judging criteria
- 7:15–7:25pm — Mentor introductions
- 7:25–7:30pm — Group photo
- 7:30–8:00pm — Team strategy planning
- 8:00pm — Close of day one
Day 2 Schedule — Saturday 8 August
- 7:30–8:00am — Arrival, coffee & tea
- 8:00–8:10am — Day two opening + team workspaces
- 8:10am–12:15pm — Team build with mentor support (pitch prep from 10:00am)
- 12:15–1:00pm — Lunch
- 1:00–1:15pm — Prepare for pitch practice
- 1:15–2:00pm — Pitch practice with mentors
- 2:00–3:00pm — Final pitch updates
- 3:00–3:15pm — Afternoon tea
- 3:15–3:30pm — Tech check
- 3:30–6:30pm — Final presentations to the judging panel
- 6:30–7:00pm — Judges' deliberation + networking + dinner
- 7:00–7:30pm — Awards announcement
- 7:30pm — Closing & group photo
How Teams Are Judged
- Each team delivers a live 5-minute pitch to a three-person panel of academic and industry judges.
- Judges score four equally-weighted criteria (1–5 each):
- Inspiration — a clearly defined problem, a solution that solves it, and real impact for New Zealand and the world.
- Technology — the solution must use AI; demonstrate feasibility, engineering quality, and how the technology solves the problem (a working prototype is highly recommended).
- Design & Innovation — originality, user experience, and inventive use of technology.
- Presentation — a clear, creative pitch that addresses the problem and answers judges' questions within the time limit.
- An optional pitch deck template is available in the Community Hub as a guide.
Meet the Judges
- Nicholas Fourie — Vice President, Information & Communication Technology, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare
- Dr. Mahsa Mohaghegh — Head of the Department of Computer and Information Sciences, AUT
- Ming Cheuk — ElementX
- Abby Dowd — AUT
The Challenge — Five Real-World Themes
- Tackling food insecurity in a food-exporting nation
- Enhancing digital accessibility for all communities
- Upskilling the workforce for an AI-driven future
- Fostering cross-border, cross-sector collaboration
- Honouring indigenous environmental custodianship (kaitiakitanga)
How the National Festival Works
The Aotearoa AI Hackathon Festival runs as a series of 48-hour hackathons hosted at venues across Aotearoa New Zealand between 3 and 10 August 2026.
Every venue records its team pitches and selects a local winner. A national judging panel then reviews the winning pitches and selects the finalists.
Four national finalists are invited to pitch live at the Aotearoa AI Summit on 18 September 2026 in Auckland, where the Summit audience votes for the winning solution and the award-winning team is announced.
Prizes & Awards
- Every venue winning team: $250
- Top four national finalists invited to pitch at the Aotearoa AI Summit 2026
- National — TAIAO Prize (Summit audience vote): $1,000
- National — Technological Brilliance (national judging panel): $1,000
- Prizes supported by AWS and provided via AI Forum New Zealand
- Individual venues may offer additional prizes and categories
Free Training — Seen Ventures Hack Fit Series
- Free for all participants — 60-minute online sessions throughout July, 4:00–5:00pm NZST, designed to help you build stronger ideas, prototypes and pitches with practical tools across business, design and technology.
- Become Hack Fit
- Tell the Story with AI
- Design Thinking with AI
- Agentic Workflows
- Making Sense of Data
- Creative Tech Booster
- Creating Multi-Modal AI Experiences
- Register via the AUT City Campus Community Hub : https://tnz-ecosystem-hub.circle.so/c/ai-hackathon-festival-2026/aut-city-campus
Featured Problem: Food Waste
One of this year's featured problems is supported by Woolworths New Zealand alongside Kai Commitment, focused on reducing food waste across the supply chain — from farm to fork.
Explore how AI can help identify waste, fill data gaps, support optimisation and better collaboration across the food system.
2026 Venues
- Auckland — Mission Ready, 5–6 August (Onehunga)
- Auckland — Unitec + Seen Ventures, 6–8 August (Mt Albert)
- Auckland — AUT + She Sharp, 7–8 August, CBD (this event)
- Auckland — AUT + Tū Ātea, 7–8 August (Manukau)
- Auckland — academyEX, 8–9 August
- Waikato — Te Ipu o Te Mahara | Artificial Intelligence Institute, 6–7 August
- Wellington — Amazon Web Services (AWS), 6–7 August
- Christchurch — EPIC Innovation + Canterbury Tech, 6–7 August
Why Attend
- Build practical, hands-on AI capability on real-world problems
- Collaborate in diverse teams (3–7 people) with mentor and technical support
- Learn responsible and ethical AI practices
- Access free pre-event training to strengthen your idea and pitch
- Pitch your solution and compete to represent your venue at national judging
- Open to all experience levels — beginners are welcome
Live Q&A Sessions
- The first live Q&A session was held on Wednesday 1 July 2026, 12:00–1:00pm NZST — mentors and venue hosts covered rules of engagement, ideas, technology and how to take part.
- Q&A Session 1 (1 July 2026) : https://tnz-ecosystem-hub.circle.so/c/ai-hackathon-festival-2026/q-a-session-1
- Future Q&A dates, session recordings and the Ask a Question tab are all published in the AUT City Campus Community Hub — join for updates through July and August.
Registration
Register online at aihackathon.nz.
Concession and complimentary places are available for AUT students, mentors and supporting staff — registration details are shared directly via the AUT City Campus Community Hub.
Enter as a team or as an individual — just let us know which when you register, and we will help solo registrants find a team on the day.
Join the AUT City Campus Community Hub for the latest updates, training registration and Q&A session links.
Supporters & Venue Hosts
- Mission Ready, Unitec, Seen Ventures, academyEX, AUT, Tū Ātea, She Sharp
- Te Ipu o Te Mahara | Artificial Intelligence Institute, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- EPIC Innovation, Canterbury Tech, Tech New Zealand
- Woolworths New Zealand and Kai Commitment (Food Waste featured problem partners)
Time & location
AUT City Campus
55 Wellesley Street East, Auckland CBD, Auckland 1010
Auckland
Event sponsors
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Thanks for the support
About the Festival — AI for Good
Aotearoa AI Hackathon Festival is a nationwide kaupapa built around one idea: AI for good — building solutions that matter. Over an intense weekend, diverse teams turn real-world challenges into working, AI-enabled prototypes.
Hackathons are a safe space for a wide range of people to unite and solve problems. Building a team with a variety of skills — not just coding — is the surest path to a strong pitch.
Part of a Nationwide Festival
The AUT City Campus event is one of several venues running across the country during the festival window in early August 2026.
Venues span Auckland, Waikato, Wellington and Christchurch — see the 2026 Venues list above for the host and dates at each location.
Featured Problem — Food Waste
One of this year's featured problems is supported by Woolworths New Zealand alongside Kai Commitment, focused on reducing food waste across the supply chain — from farm to fork.
Explore how AI can help identify waste, fill data gaps, support optimisation and better collaboration across the food system. Watch the problem statement video and related resources in the Community Hub.
Prepare Your Pitch
On day two, each team delivers a live 5-minute pitch to the local judging panel. Venue winners advance to national judging, and four finalists pitch at the Aotearoa AI Summit on 18 September 2026 in Auckland.
Download the official pitch deck template from the Community Hub to structure your solution, impact and next steps.
Live Q&A & Community Hub
The AUT City Campus Community Hub is your central hub for everything leading up to the hackathon — Q&A session recordings, free training registration, the pitch deck template, and the Ask a Question tab for direct support from mentors and venue hosts.
The first live Q&A session was held on 1 July 2026. Future session dates and resources are published in the Hub as they are announced.
About the Venue
The event is hosted in person at AUT City Campus, 55 Wellesley Street East, in the heart of Auckland's CBD — well served by public transport and within walking distance of the city centre.
Please bring your own laptop and charger. Power, Wi-Fi, mentoring and refreshments are provided on site across both days.
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