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PRANJUL RATHOUR
PRANJUL RATHOUR

Posted on Originally published at pranjulrathour.scult.in

When a team pushes back on your score: how to handle it without damaging trust

#hackathonjudging #conflict #fairness

Occasionally a team disagrees, sometimes loudly, with a score — usually right after results are announced, when disappointment is freshest. How a judge responds in that moment matters for the team, the organiser, and the event's reputation.

How to handle it

  • Listen fully before responding — most of what a team needs in that moment is to be heard, not immediately corrected.
  • Point to the specific rubric criterion and what was and wasn't demonstrated, rather than a vague 'we felt it was weaker'.
  • If the team makes a fair point that genuinely wasn't considered, say so honestly — but don't change a published score after the fact just to placate frustration.

What not to do

Getting defensive or dismissive in the moment turns a disappointed team into one that feels wronged, which is worse for the event than the original disagreement. Calm, specific, rubric-anchored answers de-escalate almost every case.

See how judges should give feedback.

About Pranjul Rathour

Pranjul Rathour presenting on stage in a blue polo, with his Annapurna demo video on the screen behind him
Presenting Annapurna on stage

Pranjul Rathour giving a talk titled 'How and what I do', with demo videos of his products Vaidya and Annapurna on screen
Talking through the products he has shipped

Pranjul Rathour in a black t-shirt holding a microphone in front of a chequered wall
On the mic

Pranjul Rathour pitching with a microphone in front of a projector slide at CSJMU, Kanpur
Pitching at CSJMU, Kanpur

Pranjul Rathour speaking from the podium at VSICS, Kanpur
At the VSICS podium, Kanpur

Pranjul Rathour is a GenAI engineer from Kanpur, India, and CTO at SCULT INDIA, currently shipping production RAG,
fine-tuning and agentic AI systems, mentoring 200+ students through TechVerse Enclave, and judging and speaking at
student hackathons across India. Updated 2026-09-07.

Reach out if you want to talk GenAI, book a campus session, or invite him to judge:

Pranjul Rathour · GenAI engineer, 3x hackathon winner, campus mentor. Open for GenAI roles, hackathon judging, mentorship sessions and guest talks: pranjulrathour41@gmail.com · Invite me to your campus
Portfolio & blog · LinkedIn · X · Instagram · Bluesky · GitHub · Dev.to

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