Calling all builders, tinkerers, and API innovators. The Kong Hackathon is back for API Summit 2025!
This year, we’re challenging developers worldwide to create projects that don’t just react, they think, adapt, and act. The theme? Agentic AI: solutions that take initiative, make decisions, and solve real-world problems without being told what to do at every step.
Whether you're a solo hacker or a full-stack dream team, this is your chance to push boundaries, sharpen your skills, and get recognized for your work with $10,000 in prizes up for grabs. Sign up now!
For years, we've built software that just waits for a request and sends a response. That's changing. We're now building agentic AI, smart systems that don't wait. They have goals, they plan, and they act on their own to get things done. Think of them less like a passive tool and more like an autonomous teammate.
But giving AI this much freedom is risky. Without guardrails, you get chaos: spiraling costs from uncontrolled API calls, new security holes, and zero visibility into what the agent is actually doing. It’s a recipe for a production nightmare.
This is where the AI gateway comes in. It's the essential infrastructure that sits between your agent and the APIs it needs to use. The gateway is your control plane. It enforces security, manages costs, and gives you the observability you need to trust your AI.
For the Kong Agentic AI Hackathon, your mission is to bridge these two worlds. The challenge isn't just about building a clever agent "brain." It's about connecting that brain to the real world through a secure and scalable gateway.
Nail this relationship between the agent and the gateway, and you'll build something that's not just a cool demo, but a production-ready application. Let's build.
The most powerful projects solve real problems. For this hackathon, draw your inspiration from how global enterprises and past winners have used Kong to innovate.
Check out some of the projects from last year’s hackathon:
Join our Slack community to find inspiration, guidance, and resources to help you build.
We get it. Building something new takes time. But here’s why it’s worth it:
Don’t overthink it — just start building! Sometimes the best ideas are the ones that surprise even you. 🔗 Join the Hackathon
Got questions? Hit us up on Slack. Let’s build something awesome together.
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