Haiti's First AI Hackathon This Weekend

This Friday, fifteen teams gather in Pétion-Ville for 48 hours of intensive AI development. Haiti's first artificial intelligence hackathon. The mission: build, learn, and forge connections that last.

When: Friday, November 28 – Sunday, November 30, 2025
Where: Pétion-Ville, Ouest, Haiti
Who: 45 developers across 15 teams

The Format

Fifteen teams. One weekend. Working AI applications.

This isn't about polished pitch decks or theoretical concepts. Participants will ship testable, deployed code that solves real problems. The focus is on execution, transforming a concept into a production-ready prototype within a compressed timeframe.

Teams will work across six core themes:

• AI for Health & Well-being, Diagnostic tools, medical chatbots, accessibility solutions
• Generative AI Applications, Content generation, automation, creative tools
• Education Technology, Personalized learning, tutoring systems, skill development
• Art & Culture, Creative tools, cultural preservation, media generation
• Community Solutions, Civic tech, local problem-solving, social impact
• Open Innovation, Unconstrained exploration of AI's potential in Haiti

Each team selects their focus area and builds accordingly. The overarching theme, "From Idea to Deployment", reflects the event's emphasis on shipping functional software, not just showcasing ideas.

The Context

Haiti's developer community has long operated in isolation. Talented engineers learn independently, often without access to mentorship, structured training, or peer collaboration. The ecosystem exists, but remains fragmented.

This hackathon directly addresses that gap. It's designed to demonstrate that given the right infrastructure, support, and community, Haitian developers can compete at the highest level.

The timing is strategic. AI development has never been more accessible. Pre-trained models, API endpoints, and deployment platforms have democratized what was once exclusive to well-funded research labs. Any developer with internet access and the willingness to learn can now build sophisticated AI applications.

The opportunity is clear. The question is whether Haiti's tech community can mobilize to seize it.

A Month of Preparation

Participants aren't arriving cold. Over the past month, teams have undergone intensive preparation: four Saturday training sessions, four Wednesday open talks with AI practitioners from Google, Meta, and Harvard, and continuous community support through Discord and dedicated WhatsApp groups.

The training covered AI fundamentals, modern frameworks, deployment strategies, and production best practices. We brought in experts who've actually built and shipped AI systems at scale, people who could share concrete experiences, not just theory.

Some participants built extensively during this period. Others focused on absorbing concepts and planning their approach. Each team prepared in their own way, and that's exactly what we wanted. The goal wasn't uniformity, it was readiness in whatever form that took for each team.

When Friday arrives, teams will have experienced a month of hands-on learning. The weekend becomes pure execution.

The Weekend Experience

During the hackathon, we're providing everything teams need to focus on building:

• Dedicated venue with reliable infrastructure in Pétion-Ville
• High-speed internet and development resources
• Technical mentorship from AI practitioners available throughout the weekend
• Meals and refreshments to maintain focus and energy
• Community, participants aren't competing in isolation; they're building alongside their peers

The environment is optimized for one thing: uninterrupted development.

Evaluation Criteria

Sunday afternoon, each team presents to a panel of industry professionals and technical mentors. Projects are evaluated across three equally weighted dimensions:

Innovation (33%), Does the solution address a genuine need? Is the approach novel or differentiated? Does it demonstrate creative problem-solving within Haiti's unique context?

Technical Execution (33%), Is the application functional and deployed? Is the code maintainable? Are AI/ML techniques properly implemented? Does the system handle edge cases gracefully?

Communication (33%), Can the team articulate the problem clearly? Is the demonstration compelling? Do they understand their target users and potential market?

The judging philosophy is pragmatic: a simple solution that works reliably outperforms a sophisticated system that fails under basic use cases. Teams are evaluated on what they ship, not what they promise.

What's at Stake

Yes, there are tangible prizes, hardware, software licenses, and visibility within the tech community. But the real value extends far beyond material rewards:

• A portfolio-ready prototype that demonstrates AI competency to potential employers or collaborators
• Production-grade skills in modern AI development that are immediately marketable
• Network access to experienced developers, mentors, and industry professionals
• Proof of concept for future projects and ventures
• Community, connections with other builders who understand the challenges and opportunities

The prizes are secondary. The primary value is what participants build, learn, and who they connect with during the 48 hours.

After the Weekend

Let's be direct: a weekend prototype is not a finished product. The path from hackathon demo to production deployment is long and requires sustained effort.

What we can commit to:

• Maintaining connections with participants after the event
• Making introductions to relevant contacts when opportunities arise
• Continuing to create spaces for community growth and collaboration
• Supporting teams that want to push their projects forward

What we can't promise:

• Guaranteed funding or institutional partnerships
• Immediate commercialization pathways
• Automatic scaling to production systems

The hackathon provides a launchpad, technical skills, a working prototype, and access to a community. Everything beyond that depends on individual teams' ability to iterate, find users, and push their solutions forward.

For those serious about continuing, the foundation will be solid. For those who move on, the skills and connections remain valuable.

The Long Game

This event won't transform Haiti's technology sector in 48 hours. That's not the objective, and anyone claiming otherwise is selling something.

The actual goal is more modest but more sustainable: demonstrate that Haiti can produce high-quality technical events, that Haitian developers can master cutting-edge tools, and that a community exists worth investing in.

Success looks like this: In five years, several participants from this weekend have launched their own ventures, are mentoring the next generation of developers, or have shipped AI tools used beyond Haiti's borders.

Every working prototype is evidence. Every new skill acquired is compounding value. Every meaningful connection is potential future collaboration.

A movement isn't built in a weekend, it's initiated in one.

The Team Behind It

This hackathon is organized by Ayiti AI in partnership with Syntax Studio, Akademi, and Le Wagon Canada, with principal sponsorship from the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH) and support from educational, community, media, and event partners including ESIH, TICHaiti, ElevenLabs, IBC Express Shipping, SC Immobilier Haiti, and others who believe in Haiti's developer community.

Beyond institutional support, the event benefits from experienced developers and industry professionals who volunteered their time to mentor participants, contributing not for recognition, but because they believe in what's being built.

The conviction driving everything: when you build something serious, the right people recognize it and join the effort. This event is living proof of that principle in action.

Follow the Build

Throughout the weekend, we'll share real-time updates, project highlights, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of what teams are creating.

LinkedIn: @ayiti-ai
Instagram: @ayitiai
Twitter/X: @ayitiai

This weekend, fifteen teams are building. We're documenting what emerges.

No overclaiming. No empty promises. Just developers doing what they do best: solving problems with code.