Trihackathon, noun. /ˈtrīˌkärˌthän/ — try car thon, the h is silent.
Coined February 14, 2026.
A three stage build process where teams are evaluated progressively across architecture, implementation, and supervision, narrowing multiple ideas into one strong, viable direction.
Unlike a traditional hackathon, usually a 24 to 48 hour sprint, a trihackathon unfolds over months. It prioritizes system design before code, supervision before speed, and clarity before execution.
Fun fact, the word “hackathon” was first used for a cryptographic development event on June 4, 1999, in Calgary, Canada.
Yesterday I attended an incredible hackathon, shout out to MIT Media Lab and Mindful Makers.
Huge appreciation to Gabe Montague for hosting such an energizing space. Interestingly, he was also a judge in the Feed the Future Global competition where we were finalists a few years ago. We discovered we have a mutual connection. Small world.
Shout outs to my team, Oyedemi Samuel, Mavi Peru, and Bhuvan Raj, to Manaswi Mishra for excellent insights, and to Daniel Pillis for thoughtful contributions. And to everyone I worked with and learned from, thank you.
One demo stuck with me. An engineer played the violin while a computer listened to the key and generated harmonies alongside him in real time.
As a musician and engineer, I was hooked.
Hackathons sharpen technical skill and build confidence.
But as AI systems become more capable, writing code, generating tests, refactoring architecture, what becomes the most valuable human skill?
It may not be typing speed. It may be system thinking.
Before code is written, there must be clarity. What problem are we solving? Who are the stakeholders? What are the dependencies? Where are the risks? How do humans remain in control?
In an AI augmented world, that alignment between engineer and assistant becomes critical.
Stage 1, Architecture Before Code. No coding. Just problem definition, governance, security, accessability planning.
Stage 2, Intelligent Implementation. Plan before act AI workflows, repo wide reasoning, explainable changes, cohesive system design.
Stage 3, Supervision and Production Readiness. Human in the loop controls, runtime awareness, observability, real world viability.
Unlike many hackathons that generate short lived prototypes, trihackathons are designed to converge. Weak directions dissolve. Strong contributors merge forward. The goal is one sustainable direction built collectivly.
Hackathons strengthen technical execution. Trihackathons strengthen system design and supervision skills that will matter deeply in an AGI adjacent future.
This initiative is part of our mission at Fix AI Foundation Inc, democratising AI and building governance first, globally accesible systems.
Join us at the Cambridge Public Library.
826 Cambridge Street
Register here: https://luma.com/q4kqtf5e
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