A real problem. A clock. No help.

This October in Lima, university students take on one of Peru's real social challenges in two phases. First, online: masterclasses, a hard look at the problem, a diagnosis of what actually needs solving. Then, on Saturday, October 24, they sit down at a row of machines at Universidad Tecnológica del Perú and get a fixed window to turn that diagnosis into a working application using AI. When the clock stops, they stand up and defend what they built to a panel of judges.

No coaching from the back of the room. No one allowed to speak to a competitor except the referee. Screens recorded start to finish.

This is not a class. It is a competition, and it is judged like one: on innovation, on whether the thing actually works, on the quality of the build, and on whether they can stand up and explain it.

Why this, and why now

Peru is full of students who can do this work and have never once been in a room where someone asked them to prove it. The tools are free. The talent is already there. What is missing is the room, the clock, and somebody willing to judge the result honestly.

JGM Innovation has worked in Peru for over a decade and has put more than 50 students through scholarships. We know how to find these students. This is the next thing we owe them.

Who is behind it

The hackathon is co-organized by JGM Innovation and futurX, a Peruvian organization run by professionals who train university students in AI. UTP hosts the final day on its Lima campus. Two tracks keep the door open: a Technical track for students who already code, and an Accessible track for everyone else, built with prompt engineering and AI tools and no programming background required.

Participation is earned

Competitors qualify. Nobody is handed a seat. Everyone who reaches the final day has already done the work in phase one.

Our team built a training course, in Spanish and English, that walks competitors through building and improving an AI application from nothing. It exists already. Students are working through it before a single dollar of prize money is on the table.

What your gift actually buys

Twelve hundred dollars runs the final day. Not a slice of it. All of it.

The machines and the internet the whole thing depends on. Meals. Judges. Certificates and the awards ceremony. The film crew that turns one day in Lima into something we can show the next cohort. A cash prize and support to grow their initiave goes to the students who win it.

JGM Innovation is a 501(c)(3) public charity. EIN 87-4083730. Your gift is tax deductible.

JGM AI Hackathon in Lima Peru

Build with AI on the clock. Defend it to judges. Final day October 24, 2026 at UTP, Lima.