---
type: source
title: "I'm Hosting a HUGE AI Hackathon Competition"
description: "Cole announces a $5,000 AI-agent hackathon for the oTTomator Live Agent Studio, laying out sponsors, prizes, timeline, and the judging criteria for building a real-world AI agent."
youtube_id: 29pxyXAk_lU
url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29pxyXAk_lU
slug: im-hosting-a-huge-ai-hackathon-competition
published: 2024-12-25
duration: "0:06:58"
recency_rank: 130
raw: "../raw/im-hosting-a-huge-ai-hackathon-competition.md"
tags: [hackathon, agents, community]
created: 2026-07-21
updated: 2026-07-21
---

# I'm Hosting a HUGE AI Hackathon Competition

This is an announcement video launching a community hackathon competition centered on Cole's oTTomator platform and its Live Agent Studio. The challenge is simple: build an AI agent that solves a real-world problem, following a developer guide and using provided templates. Agents can be built as any Python agent inside a Docker container, or with no-/low-code platforms like n8n, Flowise, or Voiceflow, giving builders a wide range of supported stacks.

Cole frames AI agents as being in a 'wild west' era where the field is barely scratched, so contestants have room to build best-in-class work. Voiceflow sponsors a dedicated prize track for the best Voiceflow-built agents, and n8n is also involved. The prize pool tops out at $1,500 for first place with descending awards, plus Voiceflow-specific prizes, and a rule that each builder receives only their single highest-earned award.

The back half walks through the timeline (staged registration, build window, an initial judging round, then community voting culminating in a livestream winner announcement) and the judging rubric: innovation, functionality, usability, impact, and presentation. The Live Agent Studio itself is pitched as a community-driven, open-source platform where agents can be downloaded, studied, and reused.

## Concepts covered

- [What Is an AI Agent](../concepts/what-is-an-ai-agent.md)
- [Agent Development Lifecycle](../concepts/agent-development-lifecycle.md)
- [AI Agent Business Niches](../concepts/ai-agent-business-niches.md)

## Entities

- [oTTomator](../entities/organizations/ottomator.md)
- [Live Agent Studio](../entities/tools/live-agent-studio.md)
- [Voiceflow](../entities/tools/voiceflow.md)
- [n8n](../entities/tools/n8n.md)
- [Flowise](../entities/tools/flowise.md)
- [Docker](../entities/tools/docker.md)
- [Cole Medin](../entities/people/cole-medin.md)

## Key moments

- **[0:00:00]** Announces a hackathon with $5,000 in cash prizes; register via link in description
- **[0:01:37]** Entry criteria: build an AI agent following the developer guide, using provided templates
- **[0:02:07]** Supported build paths: any Python agent in a Docker container, or n8n, Flowise, Voiceflow
- **[0:02:23]** Voiceflow sponsors a dedicated prize track and gives registrants free tokens plus an extended trial
- **[0:03:25]** Prize breakdown: $1,500 first, $1,000 second, $500 third, $150 runner-ups; highest award only
- **[0:04:48]** Timeline: two-week registration, two-week build, initial judging, community voting, livestream reveal Feb 1
- **[0:05:37]** Judging criteria: innovation, functionality, usability, impact, presentation

## Transcript

[Raw transcript](../raw/im-hosting-a-huge-ai-hackathon-competition.md)
