Elasticsearch Agent Builder Hackathon

Elasticsearch Agent Builder Hackathon (the “Hackathon”) Official Rules

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. THIS HACKATHON IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW, RULE, OR REGULATION. Hackathon is subject to all applicable federal, state, territorial, provincial and local laws. 

SUBMISSION OF ANY ENTRY CONSTITUTES AGREEMENT TO THESE OFFICIAL RULES AS A CONTRACT BETWEEN ENTRANT (AND EACH INDIVIDUAL MEMBER OF ENTRANT), THE HACKATHON SPONSOR, AND DEVPOST.

1. Dates and Timing

Registration & Submission Period: January 22, 2026 (2:00 pm Eastern Time) – February 27, 2026 (1:00 pm Eastern Time) (“Registration & Submission Period”).

Judging Period: February 27, 2026 (1:15 pm Eastern Time) – March 14, 2026 (9:00 pm Eastern Time) (“Judging Period”).

Winners Announced: On or around March 16, 2026 (2:00 pm Eastern Time).

Entrants are responsible for determining the corresponding time zone in their respective jurisdictions.

The sole determinant of time for the purposes of this Hackathon will be the Hackathon server machines. Only submissions that are received during a current Hackathon Period are capable of being Submissions. 

2. Sponsor and Administrator

Sponsor: Elasticsearch Inc. 88 Kearny St, Floor 19, San Francisco, CA 94108, United States

3. Eligibility

• The Hackathon IS open to: 

• Except for the countries specified below, the Hackathon is open only to legal residents of the following countries within the three (3) regions listed below:

1. • “AMER Region” consists of North America, Latin America and the Caribbean.

   • “APJ Region” consists of Central Asia, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania.

   • “EMEA Region” consists of Europe, Western Asia, and Africa.

• For a full list of countries by region, see the UN Statistics Division Geographic Regions list located at https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/. In these Official Rules, AMER Region, APJ Region, and EMEA Region are each individually referred to as a “Territory” and are collectively referred to as the “Territories”.

• Individuals must be at least the age of majority where they reside as of the time of entry (“Eligible Individuals”);

• Teams of Eligible Individuals (“Teams”); and

• Organizations (including corporations, not-for-profit corporations and other nonprofit organizations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and other legal entities) that exist and have been organized or incorporated at the time of entry.

(the above are collectively, “Entrants”)

An Eligible Individual may join more than one Team or Organization and an Eligible Individual who is part of a Team or Organization may also enter the Hackathon on an individual basis. If a Team or Organization is entering the Hackathon, they must appoint and authorize one individual (the “Representative”) to represent, act, and enter a Submission, on their behalf. By entering a Submission on behalf of a Team or Organization you represent and warrant that you are the Representative authorized to act on behalf of your Team or Organization.

• The Hackathon IS NOT open to: 

• No one outside the Territories is eligible to participate in this Hackathon, including but not limited to Brazil, Quebec,  Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea (DPRK), Sudan, Syria, Russia, including the Ukrainian territories annexed by Russia (The Crimea region of Ukraine, The Donetsk People's Republic (DNR), The Luhansk People's Republic (LNR), Kherson and Zaporizhzhia). 

• The Hackathon is not open to anyone prohibited from participating by law, rule, or regulation. The Hackathon is not open to any person to whom Sponsor would otherwise be prohibited from awarding a prize under any applicable law, rule, or regulation or any internal policies of Sponsor or your employer. If Sponsor, in its sole discretion, considers that a Prize may not be awarded to a potential Prize winner due to any applicable law, rule, or regulation or any internal policies of the potential Prize winner’s employer, then it may instead, but shall not be obliged to, offer a substitute Prize, of the same or differing value. If you are entering as part of a company or on behalf of your employer, these rules are binding on you, individually, and/or jointly with your employer. You represent and warrant that your employer has full knowledge of, and has consented to, your actions, including your potential receipt of a prize.

• • Organizations involved with the design, production, paid promotion, administration, fulfillment, execution, or distribution of the Hackathon, including the Sponsor and Administrator (“Promotion Entities”).

• • Officers, directors, employees, representatives and agents** of such Promotion Entities, and all members of their immediate family or household*

  • Any other individual involved with the design, production, promotion, execution, or distribution of the Hackathon, and each member of their immediate family or household*

  • Any Judge (defined below), or company or individual that employs a Judge

  • Any parent company, subsidiary, or other affiliate*** of any organization described above

  • Any other individual or organization whose participation in the Hackathon would create, in the sole discretion of the Sponsor and/or Administrator, a real or apparent conflict of interest 

*The members of an individual’s immediate family include the individual’s spouse, children and stepchildren, parents and stepparents, and siblings and stepsiblings. The members of an individual’s household include any other person that shares the same residence as the individual for at least three (3) months out of the year. 

**Agents include individuals or organizations that in creating a Submission to the Hackathon, are acting on behalf of, and at the direction of, a Promotion Entity through a contractual or similar relationship.

***An affiliate is: (a) an organization that is under common control, sharing a common majority or controlling owner, or common management; or (b) an organization that has a substantial ownership in, or is substantially owned by the other organization.

• Any participant who is also a Government or Public Official must ensure their participation and acceptance of any Prize fully complies with the local anti-bribery laws of their country and the policies of their external employing agency. Additionally, to receive the Prize, the participant must provide written confirmation to Sponsor, via email, stating that their organization has reviewed and approved their acceptance of the Prize.

• By entering this Hackathon, you represent and warrant that you:

• Are not located in a destination prohibited by the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) (15 C.F.R. Parts 730-774 (2010)) and are not a person or entity listed on the economic sanctions regulations and guidelines of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Asset Control (“Restricted Parties”), 

• Will not export, re-export, or otherwise transfer any of Elastic’s products, technology, content, information, services, or any intellectual property rights therein or related to any of the foregoing (“Elastic Technology”), or permit any Elastic Technology to be used by, or disclose any Elastic Technology to, any prohibited destination or Restricted Party; 

• Your Submission is compliant with the requirements set out in Section 4.

• You shall indemnify and hold Sponsor harmless from and against claims, losses, costs, or liability arising out of or in connection with your breach of this section. 

4. How To Enter

Entrants may enter by visiting elasticsearch.devpost.com (“Hackathon Website”) and following the below steps:

• Register for the Hackathon on the Hackathon Website by clicking the “Join Hackathon” button. To complete registration, sign up to create a free Devpost account, or log in with an existing Devpost account. This will enable you to receive important updates and to create your Submission.

• Entrants will obtain access to the required developer tools/platform by registering at https://cloud.elastic.co/registration?cta=agentbuilderhackathon and complete a Project described below in Project Requirements. Use of the developer tools will be subject to the license agreement related thereto. Entry in the Hackathon constitutes consent for the Sponsor and Devpost to collect and maintain an entrant’s personal information for the purpose of operating and publicizing the Hackathon.

• To be assessed on the Social judging criteria, share/post the Project on social media and add the URL and hashtags to those posts within the Submission defined below.

• Complete and enter all of the required fields on the “Enter a Submission” page of the Hackathon Website (each a “Submission”) during the Submission Period and follow the requirements below.

Project Requirements

• What to Create: Entrants must develop a custom multi-step AI agent that leverages the Elastic Agent Builder and Elasticsearch to automate real-world tasks. This requires:

1. 1. Use of Elastic Agent Builder custom agent and tool

   2. Use of  data in Elasticsearch 

   3. Automation of a clear business task or improvement in productivity 

(each a “Project”). 

• Functionality: The Project must be capable of being successfully installed and running consistently on the platform for which it is intended and must function as depicted in the video and/or expressed in the text description.

• Platforms: A submitted Project must run on the platform for which it is intended and which is specified in the Submission Requirements. 

• New & Existing: Projects must be either newly created by the Entrant or, if the Entrant’s Project existed prior to the Hackathon Submission Period, must have been significantly updated after the start of the Hackathon Submission Period. Entrants should explain how their Project was significantly updated during the Submission Period.

• Third Party Integrations: If a Project integrates any third-party SDK, APIs and/or data, Entrant must be authorized to use them in accordance with any terms and conditions or licensing requirements of the tool.

Submission Requirements 

Submissions to the Hackathon must meet the following requirements:

• Include a Project built with the required developer tools and meets the above Project Requirements.

• Provide a URL to your code repository for judging and testing. The repository must contain all necessary source code, agent instructions, custom queries for the tools and any workflows required for the project to be functional. The repository must be public and open source by including an open source license file. This license should be detectable and visible at the top of the repository page (in the About section).  

• Include a text description of roughly 300 words that should explain the features and functionality of your Project. Must include the problem solved, features used, and 2-3 features you liked or challenges you had.

• (Optional) Project a URL to any social media posts about the Project. If you create a social media post, you must include @elastic_devs or @elastic on X

• Include a demonstration video of your Project. The video portion of the Submission:

• should be less than three (3) minutes. Judges are not required to watch beyond three minutes 

• should include footage that shows the Project functioning on the device for which it was built

• must be uploaded to and made publicly visible on YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook Video, or Youku, and a link to the video must be provided on the submission form on the Hackathon Website; and

• must not include third party trademarks, or copyrighted music or other material, or personal data unless the Entrant has permission to use such material.

Multiple Submissions 

An Entrant may submit more than one Submission, however, each Submission must be unique and substantially different from each of the Entrant’s other Submissions, as determined by the Sponsor and Devpost in their sole discretion.

Use of Data. 

All data used in your Submission must be open source or synthetic, and contain no confidential or personal data.

Third Party Integrations. 

If a Submission integrates any third-party SDK, APIs,  data, and/or any information belonging to a third party, you must be authorized to use these third party tools and information in your Submission in accordance with any terms and conditions or licensing requirements of the tool.

Compliance with Laws and Rules. 

Your Submission must be compliant with these Official Rules, Elastic’s Community Code of Conduct, and must not contain any content, material or any element that is unlawful, illegal, derogatory, offensive, defamatory, libelous, slanderous, or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate, and must not be in violation of any applicable laws and regulations in any jurisdiction.

Third Party Materials. 

Your Submission must not contain any content, material or element that displays any third party advertising, slogan, logo, trademark or branding, and must not indicate or suggest a sponsorship or endorsement by a third party.

Free from Malware. 

Must be free from malware or other content adverse to the Hackathon.

Use of Artificial Intelligence. 

Entrant represents and warrants that the third-party AI tools they select, and their use thereof for the purposes of this Hackathon, comply with all applicable laws, including but not limited to privacy and data protection. Entrant shall indemnify and hold Sponsor harmless from and against claims, losses, costs, or liability arising out of or in connection with Entrant's breach of this rule.

Submission Evaluation. 

During the Judging Period, the Sponsor, its agents and/or the Judges (described below) will be evaluating each Submission to ensure that it meets all the requirements set out herein. The Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any entrant who submits a Submission that does not meet the requirements. 

Submission ownership

Be the original work of the Entrant, be solely owned by the Entrant, and not violate the IP rights of any other person or entity.

Testing 

Access must be provided to an Entrant’s working Project for judging and testing by providing a link to a website, functioning demo, or a test build. If Entrant’s website is private, Entrant must include login credentials in its testing instructions. The Entrant must make the Project available free of charge and without any restriction, for testing, evaluation and use by the Sponsor, Administrator and Judges until the Judging Period ends. Judges are not required to test the Project and may choose to judge based solely on the text description, images, and video provided in the Submission.

If the Project includes software that runs on proprietary or third party hardware that is not widely available to the public, including software running on devices or wearable technology other than smartphones, tablets, or desktop computers, the Sponsor and/or Administrator reserve the right, at their sole discretion, to require the Entrant to provide physical access to the Project hardware upon request.  

Language Requirements

All Submission materials must be in English or, if not in English, the Entrant must provide an English translation of the demonstration video, text description, and testing instructions as well as all other materials submitted. 

Team Representation

If a team or organization is entering the Hackathon, they must appoint and authorize one individual (the “Representative”) to represent, act, and enter a Submission, on their behalf. The Representative must meet the eligibility requirements above. By entering a Submission on the Hackathon Website on behalf of a team or organization you represent and warrant that you are the Representative authorized to act on behalf of your team or organization.

Intellectual Property 

Your Submission must: (a) be your (or your Team, or Organization’s) original, work product; (b) be solely owned by you, your Team, your Organization with no other person or entity having any right or interest in it; (c) except for as set out herein, not does not contain, incorporate or otherwise use any content, material or element that is owned by a third party or entity, and (d) not violate the intellectual property rights or other rights including but not limited to copyright, trademark, patent, contract, and/or privacy rights, of any other person or entity. An Entrant may contract with a third party for technical assistance to create the Submission provided the Submission components are solely the Entrant’s work product and the result of the Entrant’s ideas and creativity, and the Entrant owns all rights to them. An Entrant may submit a Submission that includes the use of open source software or hardware, provided the Entrant complies with applicable open source licenses and, as part of the Submission, creates software that enhances and builds upon the features and functionality included in the underlying open source product. By entering the Hackathon, you represent, warrant, and agree that your Submission meets these requirements.

Financial or Preferential Support 

A Project must not have been developed, or derived from a Project developed, with financial or preferential support from the Sponsor or Administrator. Such Projects include, but are not limited to, those that received funding or investment for their development, were developed under contract, or received a commercial license, from the Sponsor or Administrator any time prior to the end of Hackathon Submission Period. The Sponsor, at their sole discretion, may disqualify a Project, if awarding a prize to the Project would create a real or apparent conflict of interest.

5. Submission Modifications

Draft Submissions 

Prior to the end of the Submission Period, you may save draft versions of your submission on Devpost to your portfolio before submitting the Submission materials to the Hackathon for evaluation. Once the Submission Period has ended, you may not make any changes or alterations to your Submission, but you may continue to update the Project in your Devpost portfolio.

Modifications After the Submission Period

The Sponsor and Devpost may permit you to modify part of your Submission after the Submission Period for the purpose of adding, removing or replacing material that potentially infringes a third party mark or right, discloses personally identifiable information, or is otherwise inappropriate. The modified Submission must remain substantively the same as the original Submission with the only modification being what the Sponsor and Devpost permits. 

6. Judges & Criteria

Eligible submissions will be evaluated by a panel of judges selected by the Sponsor (the “Judges”). Judges may be employees of the sponsor or third parties, may or may not be listed individually on the Hackathon Website, and may change before or during the Judging Period. Judging may take place in one or more rounds with one or more panels of Judges, at the discretion of the sponsor. 

Stage One) The first stage will determine via pass/fail whether the ideas meet a baseline level of viability, in that the Project reasonably fits the theme and reasonably applies the required APIs/SDKs featured in the Hackathon.

Stage Two) All Submissions that pass Stage One will be evaluated in Stage Two based on the following equally weighted criteria (the “Judging Criteria”):

Entries will be judged on the following equally weighted criteria, and according to the sole and absolute discretion of the judges:

• Technical Execution (30%): Does the project demonstrate quality application development? Does the project leverage Elastic Agent Builder and Elasticsearch? Is the code of good quality and is it functional?

• Potential Impact & Wow Factor  (30%): How big of an impact and useful is the project? How significant is the problem the project addresses, does it efficiently solve it? How novel and original is the idea? Does it address a significant problem or create a unique solution?

• Demo Quality  (30%): Demo shows the problem clearly defined, and is the solution effectively presented through a demo and documentation? Have they explained how they used Agent Builder and any relevant tools? Have they included documentation or an architectural diagram?

• Social  (10%): Was the project shared on social channels that can be verified with a link to the post or tagged to @elastic_devs or @elastic on X?

Tie Breaking 

For each Prize listed below, if two or more Submissions are tied, the tied Submission with the highest score in the first applicable criterion listed above will be considered the higher scoring Submission. In the event any ties remain, this process will be repeated, as needed, by comparing the tied Submissions’ scores on the next applicable criterion. If two or more Submissions are tied on all applicable criteria, the panel of Judges will vote on the tied Submissions.

In the event a potential winner is disqualified for any reason, the Submission that received the next highest total score may be chosen as the potential winner. All decisions of the judging panel are made by the panel acting in its sole and absolute discretion, and are final and binding. 

7. Intellectual Property Rights

Except as expressly set forth in this section, participating in this Hackathon does not grant you any rights in or to Elastic’s intellectual property rights. Participants acknowledge and agree that Elastic (or its licensors) retains sole and exclusive ownership of all right, title, and interest in and to the Elastic products, services, software, source code, APIs, documentation, trademarks, and any other proprietary materials provided for or used during the Hackathon (collectively, "Elastic IP"). Participants are granted a limited, non-exclusive, revocable license to use the Elastic IP solely for the purpose of participating in the Hackathon and developing their Submission. This license does not convey any ownership rights in the Elastic IP to the Participant. Elastic retains all right, title, and interest in and to Elastic Technology. To the extent that a Submission incorporates, is based upon, or constitutes a derivative work of any Elastic IP, the Participant’s ownership is limited strictly to the original portions of the Submission created by the Participant. The Participant shall not acquire any ownership interest in the underlying Elastic IP through its incorporation into a Submission.

To the extent participants have ownership or intellectual property rights in their Submission, or any element thereof, and subject to the paragraph above, all Submissions remain the intellectual property of the individuals or organizations that developed them.  By participating in the Hackathon, each Participant (and the entire team, as applicable) hereby grants to Elastic a perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, fully-paid, royalty-free, transferable, assignable, sublicensable, and worldwide license (the "License") to use, reproduce, modify, create derivative works of, display, adapt, perform, distribute, and otherwise exploit, in any medium now known or later developed, any and all intellectual property, data, materials, deliverables, concepts, ideas, code, designs, documentation, and other creative works or outputs created, developed, or submitted to or in connection with the Hackathon, for purposes including, but not limited to: (i) showcasing winning projects on the Hackathon website, social media, and promotional materials; (ii) internal evaluation and review; and (iii) demonstrating the outcomes of the Hackathon to stakeholders.

Entrants agree that the sponsor and Devpost shall have the right to promote the Submission and use the name, likeness, voice and image of all individuals contributing to a Submission, in any materials promoting or publicizing the Hackathon and its results, during the Hackathon Period and for three years thereafter.  Some Submission components may be displayed to the public. Other Submission materials may be viewed by the sponsor, Devpost, and judges for screening and evaluation. Entrants hereby waive any right to inspect or approve any such use and releases Sponsor from any and all liability related to such uses.  

By submitting an entry or accepting any prize, entrants represent and warrant that (a) submitted content is not copyrighted, protected by trade secret or otherwise subject to third party intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights, unless entrant is the owner of such rights or has permission from their rightful owner to post the content; (b) you have the full power, right and authority to submit the Submission in the Hackathon and to grant the licenses and rights set out in these Official Rules, without violating any third-party rights, contractual obligations, or non-disclosure agreements; and (c) the content submitted does not contain any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, spyware or other disabling devices or harmful or malicious code.

As Sponsor currently provides and develops products and services related to the Hackathon's subject matter, future products and services may present similar characteristics to Submission, and you acknowledge that Sponsor may currently or in the future be developing information internally, or receiving information from other parties, that is similar to your ideas, technology or Submission. Nothing in these Official Rules shall be construed as a representation or agreement that Sponsor will not develop or have developed products, concepts, systems or techniques that are similar to or compete with the products, concepts, systems or techniques contemplated by or embodied in any Submission. Organization of the Hackathon does not limit in any way Sponsor’s right to develop products, processes or services similar or related to a Submission. Further you understand that we will not restrict work assignments of representatives who have had access to your entry, and you agree that use of information in our representatives’ unaided memories in the development or deployment of our products or services does not create liability for us under this agreement or copyright or trade secret law. 

8. Prizes

IMPORTANT NOTES ON MULTIPLE PRIZE ELIGIBILITY:

• An eligible project can only win one (1) prize.

1. Substitutions & Changes: No substitution or cash redemption of any Prize by you is permitted. Elastic reserves the right to substitute a Prize with another of comparable or greater value, change the type of Prize offered or add additional Prizes for any reason. Each winner of a Prize must follow all of the applicable Prize redemption instructions. Prizes are subject to the issuer's restriction, terms and conditions. All federal, state, provincial, territorial, and local taxes, as well as any other costs and expenses associated with Prize acceptance and use are your sole responsibility. Elastic will not be held responsible in the event of loss, theft or unauthorized use of your Prize. Prizes may not be exactly as described, illustrated or displayed. Value is subject to market conditions and currency exchange, which can fluctuate and any difference between actual market value and ARV will not be awarded. The winner shall bear all responsibility for use of the prize(s) in compliance with any conditions imposed by such manufacturer(s), and any additional costs associated with its use, service, or maintenance. All Prizes are subject to the issuer's restrictions and applicable terms and conditions. Sponsor will not be held responsible in the event of loss, theft or unauthorized use of your Prize. If any of these situations should occur, your balance will not be refunded and your Prize will not be replaced.Sponsor will not award a prize if there are no eligible Submissions entered in the Hackathon, or if there are no eligible Entrants or Submissions for a specific prize.

2. Verification Requirement: THE AWARD OF A PRIZE TO A POTENTIAL WINNER IS SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION OF THE IDENTITY, QUALIFICATIONS AND ROLE OF THE POTENTIAL WINNER IN THE CREATION OF THE SUBMISSION. Prize award is subject to eligibility verification. Prior to receiving any Prizes, potential winners may be required to complete, sign, have notarized (if applicable), and return, by the date specified by Sponsor: (i) an affidavit of eligibility and liability/publicity release, which may require successfully completing any jurisdiction specific requirements; (ii) applicable tax documentation for their  jurisdiction; (iii) applicable employment agreement or policy to verify such policies permit the acceptance of a Prize; and / or (iv) any agreement or terms of use applicable to the Prizes. In the event the Prize cannot be claimed or awarded in accordance with these Official Rules, then at Sponsor’s option, the Prize may be forfeited and/or awarded to an alternate winner of Sponsor’s choosing, or Sponsor may elect not to award that Prize. No Submission or individual shall be deemed a winning Submission or winner until their prize documents have been completed and verified. No Submission or Entrant shall be deemed a winning Submission or winner until their post-competition prize affidavits have been completed and verified, even if prospective winners have been announced verbally or on the competition website. The final decision to designate a winner shall be made by the Sponsor and/or Administrator. 

3. Prize Delivery: Prizes will be payable to the Entrant, if an individual; to the Entrant’s Representative, if a Team; or to the Organization, if the Entrant is an Organization. It will be the responsibility of the winning Entrant’s Representative to allocate the Prize among their Team or Organization’s participating members, as the Representative deems appropriate. A monetary Prize will be mailed to the winning Entrant’s address (if an individual) or the Representative’s address (if a Team or Organization), or sent electronically to the Entrant, Entrant’s Representative, or Organization’s bank account, only after receipt of the completed winner affidavit and other required forms (collectively the “Required Forms”), if applicable. The deadline for returning the Required Forms to the Administrator is ten (10) business days after the Required Forms are sent. Failure to provide correct information on the Required Forms, or other correct information required for the delivery of a Prize, may result in delayed Prize delivery, disqualification of the Entrant, or forfeiture of a Prize. Prizes will be delivered within 60 days of the Sponsor or Devpost’s receipt of the completed Required Forms. If (i) a potential winner does not respond within the timeframe provided in that email or cannot be reached after a reasonable attempt has been made, (ii) any prize notification or Hackathon-related communications are rejected, faulty, or returned as undeliverable, (iii) the potential winner cannot attend or participate in any portion of the Prize, and / or (iv) the potential winner does not sign the documents described above, then in each case that potential winner may be disqualified and Sponsor may select an alternate winner in Sponsor’s sole discretion. Sponsor shall have no responsibility or liability towards a potential winner. Sponsor is not obligated to pursue any alternate winners; in which case, some Prizes may go unawarded. In the event that no entries are received, no Prize will be awarded.

4. Fees & Taxes: Winners (and in the case of Team or Organization, all participating members) are responsible for any fees associated with receiving or using a prize, including but not limited to, wiring fees or currency exchange fees. Winners (and in the case of Team or Organization, all participating members) are responsible for reporting and paying all applicable taxes in their jurisdiction of residence (federal, state/provincial/territorial and local). Winners may be required to provide certain information to facilitate receipt of the award, including completing and submitting any tax or other forms necessary for compliance with applicable withholding and reporting requirements. United States residents may be required to provide a completed form W-9 and residents of other countries may be required to provide a completed W-8BEN form. Winners are also responsible for complying with foreign exchange and banking regulations in their respective jurisdictions and reporting the receipt of the Prize to relevant government departments/agencies, if necessary. The Sponsor, Devpost, and/or Prize provider reserves the right to withhold a portion of the prize amount to comply with the tax laws of the United States or other Sponsor jurisdiction, or those of a winner’s jurisdiction.

9. Entry Conditions and Release

1. By entering the Hackathon, you (and, if you are entering on behalf of a Team, Organization each participating members) agree(s) to the following:

1. The relationship between you, the Entrant, and the Sponsor and Administrator, is not a confidential, fiduciary, or other special relationship.

2. You will be bound by and comply with these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor, Administrator, and/or the Hackathon Judges which are binding and final in all matters relating to the Hackathon.

3. You release, indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Promotion Entities, and their respective parent, subsidiary, and affiliated companies, the Prize suppliers and any other organizations responsible for sponsoring, fulfilling, administering, advertising or promoting the Hackathon, and all of their respective past and present officers, directors, employees, agents and representatives (hereafter the “Released Parties”) from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liabilities (including reasonable attorneys’ fees), including but not limited to negligence and damages of any kind to persons and property, defamation, slander, libel, violation of right of publicity, infringement of trademark, copyright or other intellectual property rights, property damage, or death or personal injury arising out of or relating to a Entrant’s entry, creation of Submission or entry of a Submission, participation in the Hackathon, acceptance or use or misuse of the Prize (including any travel or activity related thereto) and/or the broadcast, transmission, performance, exploitation or use of the Submission as authorized or licensed by these Official Rules. 

2. Without limiting the foregoing, the Released Parties shall have no liability in connection with: 

1. Any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by the Sponsor or Administrator’s electronic or printing error, or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Hackathon; 

2. Technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines, internet connectivity or electronic transmission errors, or network hardware or software or failure of the Hackathon Website;

3. Unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Hackathon; 

4. Technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Hackathon or the processing of Submissions; or 

5. Any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from the Entrant’s participation in the Hackathon or receipt or use or misuse of any Prize.

The Released Parties are not responsible for incomplete, late, misdirected, damaged, lost, illegible, or incomprehensible Submissions or for address or email address changes of the Entrants. Proof of sending or submitting the aforementioned will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by the Sponsor or Administrator. If for any reason any Entrant’s Submission is determined to have not been received or been erroneously deleted, lost, or otherwise destroyed or corrupted, the Entrant’s sole remedy is to request the opportunity to resubmit its Submission. Such a request must be made promptly after the Entrant knows or should have known there was a problem and will be determined at the sole discretion of the Sponsor.

TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, SPONSOR MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS, CONDITIONS, GUARANTEES OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING ANY PRIZE OR YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THE HACKATHON AND EACH WINNER AGREES THAT THE PRIZE IS PROVIDED AS-IS. 

10. Publicity

By participating in the Hackathon, Entrant consents to the promotion and display of the Entrant’s Submission, and to the use of personal information about themselves for promotional purposes, by the Sponsor, Administrator, and third parties acting on their behalf. Such personal information includes, but is not limited to, your name, likeness, photograph, voice, opinions, comments and hometown and country of residence. It may be used in any existing or newly created media, worldwide without further payment or consideration or right of review, unless prohibited by law. Authorized use includes but is not limited to advertising and promotional purposes. 

11. General Conditions 

1. Sponsor and Administrator reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Hackathon, or any part of it, in the event of a technical failure, fraud, or any other factor or event that was not anticipated or is not within their control.

2. Sponsor and Administrator reserve the right in their sole discretion to disqualify any individual or Entrant if it finds to be actually or presenting the appearance of tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Hackathon or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or in a manner that is inappropriate, unsportsmanlike, not in the best interests of this Hackathon, or a violation of any applicable law or regulation.

3. Any attempt by any person to undermine the proper conduct of the Hackathon may be a violation of criminal and civil law. Should the Sponsor or Administrator suspect that such an attempt has been made or is threatened, they reserve the right to take appropriate action including but not limited to requiring an Entrant to cooperate with an investigation and referral to criminal and civil law enforcement authorities.

4. If there is any discrepancy or inconsistency between the terms and conditions of the Official Rules and disclosures or other statements contained in any Hackathon materials, including but not limited to the Hackathon Submission form, Hackathon Website, or advertising, the terms and conditions of the Official Rules shall prevail.

5. The terms and conditions of the Official Rules are subject to change at any time, including the rights or obligations of the Entrant, the Sponsor and Administrator. The Sponsor and Administrator will post the terms and conditions of the amended Official Rules on the Hackathon Website. To the fullest extent permitted by law, any amendment will become effective at the time specified in the posting of the amended Official Rules or, if no time is specified, the time of posting.

6. If at any time prior to the deadline, an Entrant or prospective Entrant believes that any term in the Official Rules is or may be ambiguous, they must submit a written request for clarification. 

7. The Sponsor or Administrator’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. Should any provision of these Official Rules be or become illegal or unenforceable in any jurisdiction whose laws or regulations may apply to an Entrant, such illegality or unenforceability shall leave the remainder of these Official Rules, including the Rule affected, to the fullest extent permitted by law, unaffected and valid. The illegal or unenforceable provision shall be replaced by a valid and enforceable provision that comes closest and best reflects the Sponsor’s intention in a legal and enforceable manner with respect to the invalid or unenforceable provision.

8. Excluding Submissions, all intellectual property related to this Hackathon, including but not limited to copyrighted material, trademarks, trade-names, logos, designs, promotional materials, web pages, source codes, drawings, illustrations, slogans and representations are owned or used under license by the Sponsor and/or Administrator. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized copying or use of any copyrighted material or intellectual property without the express written consent of its owners is strictly prohibited. Any use in a Submission of Sponsor or Administrator’s intellectual property shall be solely to the extent provided for in these Official Rules.

12. Limitations of Liability

By entering, all Entrants (including, in the case of a Team or Organization, all participating members) agree to release the Released Parties from any and all liability in connection with the Prizes or Entrant’s participation in the Hackathon. Provided, however, that any liability limitation regarding gross negligence or intentional acts, or events of death or body injury shall not be applicable in jurisdictions where such limitation is not legal.

13. Disputes

1. Except where prohibited by law, as a condition of participating in this Hackathon, Entrant agrees that:

1. Any and all disputes and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Hackathon, or any Prizes awarded, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action lawsuit, and exclusively by final and binding arbitration under the rules of the American Arbitration Association and held at the AAA regional office nearest the contestant;

2. The Federal Arbitration Act shall govern the interpretation, enforcement and all proceedings at such arbitration; and

3. Judgment upon such arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction.

2. Under no circumstances will Entrant be permitted to obtain awards for, and Entrant hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental or consequential damages, or any other damages, including attorneys’ fees, other than contestant’s actual out-of-pocket expenses (i.e., costs associated with entering this Hackathon), and Entrant further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased.

3. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the Entrant and Sponsor in connection with this Hackathon, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the substantive laws of the State of New York, USA without regard to New York choice of law rules.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

14. Additional Terms

Please review the Devpost Terms of Service at https://info.devpost.com/terms for additional rules that apply to your participation in the Hackathon and more generally your use of the Hackathon Website. Such Terms of Service are incorporated by reference into these Official Rules, including that the term "Poster" in the Terms of Service shall mean the same as "Sponsor" in these Official Rules." If there is a conflict between the Terms of Service and these Official Rules, these Official Rules shall control with respect to this Hackathon only.

15. Entrant’s Personal Information

Information collected from Entrants is subject to Devpost’s Privacy Policy, which is available at https://info.devpost.com/privacy. Devpost may share such information with Elasticsearch, as Sponsor, as necessary for the purposes of this Hackathon. Elasticseach’s processing of such information is subject to the Elastic General Privacy Statement available at https://www.elastic.co/legal/privacy-statement. Administrator and Sponsor remain independent controllers of such information, each solely responsible for their own compliance with applicable laws.

For questions, send an email to support@devpost.com.