New Delhi: When faced with peculiar challenges at Artificial Intelligence-focused startup Haptik, its Co-Founder & CTO, Swapan Rajdev trusts internal hackathons to drive out-of-the-box solutions to it. “There are projects for which a different approach/ experimentation is required and internal hackathons have helped us drive some good ideas,” says Swapan Rajdev as he recollects the memories from energy-packed internal hackathons hosted by his organisation.
Swapnil Shrivastav, CTO AdTech & Colombia believes that code contests are “best way to bring high energy, high potential talent to the forefront.” “At Columbia, we use cutting edge Machine Learning and Big Data and we find hackathons extremely helpful in locating a dedicated technology talent pool,” says Swapnil Shrivastav. AdTech & Colombia participated in TechGig Code Gladiators 2017 with an intention to hire high energy coding talent, right from the contest floor.
For Dr. Siddhartha Chatterjee, Chief Technology Officer, Persistent Systems, the biggest use of coding contests is to explore new technologies and deliver value to their clients, faster. “Who wouldn’t want that?” he asks. And just for the record, Persistent Systems has hired fresher level talent from various coding contests.
As India’s biggest hackathon TechGig Code Gladiators is unfurling its fifth edition this year, there are many hopes pinned to this event too, especially with regards to new technologies like Artificial Intelligence, IOT, Fintech, BlockChain, Machine Learning etc. “We are excited to launch the TechGig Code Gladiators 2018 edition. Last year, we got Guinness World Record for being world’s largest online programming contest by participation beating China’s Baidu. This year we want to put up a grand show with focus on new technologies like Fintech, Security, BlockChain” says Ramathreya Krishnamurthi, Business Head, TimesJobs & TechGig.
TechGig Code Gladiators 2017 witnessed pulsating action with 11 Million+ reach among the developer community. The event witnessed high-energy action on the contest floor with more than 99,000+ techies fighting tooth and nail to solve problems submitted by IT companies. Most techies were from India, followed by participants from the US, UAE and UK.
Hackathons are the new stage where both ambitious tech professionals and progressive IT companies want to shine and showcase their skills and product brand respectively. For coders and programmers, developer events are a prime opportunity to show off problem solving skills. IT employers – like Times Internet Limited (parent company of Columbia) & Persistent Systems – want solutions to their business cases, and possibly hire the right talent too. “Other than recruiting, hackathons are a perfect opportunity to tap into a dedicated tech community and establish your brand among the coding community,” says Swapnil Shrivastav.
Affirming the fact that most IT companies come to hackathons to find business solutions and recruit IT talent, Ramathreya Krishnamurthi added that the thought behind inventing Code Gladiators brand was to bridge skill gap in Indian IT industry. “Being India’s leading IT learning platform, TechGig wanted to host platforms where both IT corporates and high-potential talent could connect directly. TechGig Code Gladiators has successfully done that for subsequent years. This year too, we want to bring new laurels home with a sharp focus on new-age technologies,” he says.
