Türkiye Yapay Zekâ Vakfı · October 2026
A 48-hour hackathon for Türkiye, the Turkic world, and the Middle East to build autonomous AI agents that act, reason, and ship. Form a team, pick a track, and ship a working agent.
Hours to build & ship
Total prize pool
Agent build tracks
Builders expected
Regions · Türkiye · Turkic world · Middle East
About
AI is moving from tools you prompt to agents that act. Band of Agents brings together the strongest builders from Türkiye, the Turkic Republics, and the wider region to design autonomous agents that plan, use tools, and deliver real outcomes — in Turkish, Arabic, and English. From Baku to Bishkek, Astana to Tashkent: the Turkic world builds together. Backed by the Türkiye Yapay Zekâ Vakfı.
The stakes are larger than a prize pool: a region that builds its own agents, in its own languages, is building its digital sovereignty. Read the founding argument — AI Is Bigger Than Five ↗
Tracks
Pick one track. Each ships a working agent judged on autonomy, usefulness, and craft.
Agents that help citizens and civil servants — navigating services, forms, and public data with audit and exit options.
Agents that read, write, and reason natively in Turkish and Arabic — translation, retrieval, and culturally grounded assistance.
Agents that automate real business workflows — tool use, multi-step planning, and integration with existing systems.
Anything agentic that doesn't fit the boxes — science, creativity, robotics, games. Surprise the judges.
Prizes
Cash prizes, compute credits, and a fast-track into the Foundation's Founder-in-Residence and Fellowship programs.
+ compute credits
+ Founder-in-Residence fast-track
+ Fellowship interview
Plus $10,000 in track and special prizes — best Arabic-language agent, best public-sector agent, and people's choice.
Timeline
All times Istanbul (GMT+3). Dates are provisional and may shift slightly.
Sign up solo or as a team of up to four.
Final team rosters locked.
Opening keynote, track briefings, and the clock starts.
Build with mentors on call across all time zones.
Code, demo video, and write-up due.
Finalists present live in Istanbul and online; winners announced.
Who can join
Students, professionals, researchers, and founders from Türkiye, the Turkic Republics — Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and the wider Turkic world — and the Middle East. Solo or teams of up to four. All skill levels — bring an idea and the will to ship.
Judges & Mentors
A panel from frontier labs, regional founders, and the Foundation. Full roster announced in September.
Frontier-lab research lead.
Regional AI founder.
TYZV Secretariat.
Partners & Tools
Participants get API credits, compute, and tooling from our partners. Full list announced before kickoff.
Frontier model providers offering credits to every team.
GPU and cloud credits for training and serving agents.
Sponsor a track or mentor a cohort — write to partnerships@tyzv.ai.
FAQ
Still stuck? Write to hackathon@tyzv.ai.
Yes. Registration and participation are free for everyone.
No — you can compete solo or in a team of up to four. We also run team-matching before kickoff.
Hybrid. Build from anywhere online; finalists are invited to demo day in Istanbul.
Any models, frameworks, and tools you like. Partner API and compute credits are available to every team.
You do. You keep full IP; we only ask to showcase finalists.
English is the common language; mentoring and submissions are welcome in Turkish and Arabic too.
Registration closes 10 October 2026. Free to enter. Build from anywhere.
Register
Fill in the form below to register. Free to enter · teams up to four · all skill levels · Türkiye, the Turkic world & the Middle East.
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