UMHackathon 2026

UMHackathon 2026 was organised by Persatuan Komputer Universiti Malaya (PEKOM) and was open to students from public and private universities across Malaysia and overseas. The competition attracted 272 teams and 1,103 participants. Teams competed in two domains: AI Systems & Agentic Workflow Automation, and AI for Economic Empowerment & Decision Intelligence, with Z.AI as domain collaborator.

The competition kicked off online on 16 April 2026 with the Domain Reveal, where the problem statements were announced and explained. Over the next ten days, teams worked through a full software development cycle, from product requirement analysis and software design to development and testing, with guidance from mentors. They then submitted pitching videos for judging. Only the top 30 teams, with 136 finalists, advanced to the Final Round.

The Final Round began online on 28 April and ended with a high-energy on-site finale at Universiti Malaya. Finalists refined their prototypes through an overnight hacking marathon at the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, supported by industry mentors, before presenting their solutions in live pitching sessions at Kompleks Perdana Siswa. At the closing ceremony, Dependency Free was crowned champion of Domain 1 and DA HOMIES took the title in Domain 2. Beyond the competition, UMHackathon 2026 bridged academic learning with industry needs, strengthened ties between students and industry partners, and promoted the responsible use of AI in software development.