Jocoding AX Partners, a company specializing in artificial intelligence (AI) transformation, said Wednesday it has begun recruiting participants for an AI transformation (AX) hackathon designed to identify top AI talent on the spot and connect them to employment. The hackathon will feature major companies from various sectors setting their own core practical challenges, with industry leaders participating in the evaluation.
Participants can apply regardless of education, qualifications, or age. Anyone who can use AI may take part, even without being a professional developer. Applications are completed by submitting a statement of motivation and an online common assignment through the official website by July 10. The competition is expected to draw more than 5,000 applicants, and the "AI Screening Agent" developed by Jocoding AX Partners will select 60 finalists from among them.
The final hackathon will be held at "Workmore Yeouido Dangsan Station" in Seoul from 10 a.m. on July 18. Each company's challenge will be revealed on-site that day. The event will be run in a tense survival audition format, in which participants have their work verified one-on-one by judges and receive a pass-or-fail decision. A first-place winner will be chosen for each company, along with an overall first-place winner.
OpenAI is sponsoring API credits to support participants' project work and prize money. The most notable feature of this hackathon is its "employment linkage." Participants who demonstrate outstanding skills in the finals can earn the benefit of being connected to the recruitment process of the company that set the challenge (interviews and other steps, with procedures varying by company). Participating challenge-setting companies include Musinsa, Kakao Pay Securities, and Samil PwC.
Jocoding AX Partners, which hosts the competition, is an AX specialist company that provides one-stop support for companies' AI-native transformation, from company-wide AI training to on-site consulting and data governance. Through this AX Talent War, Jocoding AX Partners is expected to define "what an AI-native talent is" by having participants solve real domain problems set directly by companies using AI, and to reconnect verified talent to the companies that need them.
Jocoding AX Partners co-CEOs Jo Dong-geun and Moon Kyung-won said, "For companies to transform into AI-native organizations, 'talent who use AI well' is essential, but no one has yet clearly defined who such a person is. The AX Talent War is an audition stage that identifies Korea's best talent based solely on 'practical capability to solve problems with AI,' rather than academic background or qualifications, and beyond a simple competition, it will become a new standard for hiring."
