Hackathon goes national, to draw over 20,000 participants from more than400 colleges across India
BENGALURU | 14th APRIL 2026 — Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) today announced the launch of Cognizant® Technoverse Hackathon 2026. Now in its third edition, the hackathon has grown from a regional initiative into a national platform, bringing togetherover20,000 pre-final year engineering students frommore than400 colleges across India to collaborate, innovate, and demonstrate their AI-powered problem-solving skills.
“We are living in a pivotal moment for the industry, and as an AI builder, Cognizant is deeply committed to developing the next generation of talent that will drive this transformation,” said Rajesh Varrier, President – Global Operations and Chairman & Managing Director, Cognizant India. “Cognizant Technoverse Hackathon 2026 is a platform where India’s brightest engineering minds tackle real industry challenges, think at an enterprise scale, and take their first steps toward becoming the technology leaders of tomorrow.”
The hackathon offers students a unique opportunity to bridge academic learning with real-world applications, work on industry-aligned problem statements, engage directly with practitioners from Cognizant, and gain firsthand exposure to how enterprises explore innovation. Participants will build solutions across several high-impact domains: Banking, Insurance, Healthcare, Life Sciences, Retail, Manufacturing, Communications, Media & Technology, and Energy & Utilities.
In line with the company’s commitment to inclusionacross its India operations, the hackathon reinforces equal representation with 50% women participation. Each participating college may field multipleteams of four members each, with a minimum of two women per team.The hackathon will conclude in May, with the top three teams named winners at a felicitation ceremony hosted at a Cognizant facility in Pune.
As part of its broader commitment to empowering individuals with cutting-edge technology skills, including generative AI, Cognizant launched Synapse in 2023 — a skilling initiative that has already surpassed its original goal of upskilling one million individuals worldwide, well ahead of its 2026 target. Building on this momentum, the company has set a new goal to upskill a total of two million individuals by the end of 2030.
