How it works
From idea to solution
See how the hack helps you build and refine your solution from start to finish
How the competition works
Your idea comes to life, from building your team to sharing your solution with the judges.
Define the problem you want to solve and shape your initial concept.
The ah-ha moment! You have an innovative idea about how to solve a specific business challenge or humanitarian issue.
Problem-solvers from around the world come together to form teams of two to 12 members. Students can participate individually in our student experience.
All participants are registered and have a profile on the SAS Hacker’s Hub.
Teams must have a novel approach to tackling a real-world problem and a clear industry-specific business case.
Find people with different perspectives and skills.
Excitement abounds! You have the data for your team’s business case – and own the IP.
A cloud environment will be set up for your team. This is where the hack happens.
Enablement resources are available after teams have registered. You have access to a wide variety of courses and virtual learning labs as well as SAS Hacker’s Hub.
Your mentor is ready to help and guide you through the journey – also they’re your biggest cheerleader. Mentors are available to approved industry track teams.
Work with data and SAS tools to improve your solution.
Teams create their solution.
Get hands-on with the latest technology from SAS® Viya® and open source in the SAS Cloud on Microsoft Azure accelerated by Intel.
Build your business case. Be sure to save your work. The cloud environment will be deleted after the hack.
Tell a compelling story. Teams create two videos – a three-minute pitch and a 10-minute presentation for judging.
Test your approach and turn it into something real.
Upload your videos on the SAS Hacker’s Hub and SAS Hackathon SharePoint site.
Get social and share your hack. Consider posting your short video. This is a phenomenal way to inspire others.
A jury comprised of technology and industry experts evaluates submissions by looking at seven key areas.
Now, the waiting game. The judging process takes a few weeks.
Present your solution and prove its impact.
Winning teams are notified.
Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony.
Bragging rights earned. Tell your network about the solution your team invented.
Apply your application in the real world – at your organization or consider commercialization.
Get hands-on with the latest technology
SAS Viya’s AI-based automation aligns to your team's needs and talents, keeping both models and progress in motion across the analytics life cycle.
Everyone has a preferred language when it comes to their work. SAS Viya makes it possible to integrate teams and technology, enabling all types of SAS and open source users to collaborate.
Meet the mentors
Industry track teams benefit from expert guidance during the hack. Mentors share their expertise to help teams navigate technical hurdles and stay on track.
Partnering with Team Minority Reporters to stop fraud
Xavier Bizoux mentored the 2025 SAS Hackathon award-winning team, who developed a solution to stop fraud without frustrating customers or overwhelming fraud teams.
Developing a solution to deploy AML rules faster
Stephanie Ora mentored the award-winning Team Consortix-AURORA, who developed a solution to help financial institutions accelerate AML scenario creation while maintaining governance, transparency and control.
