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Netskope’s fifth Global Engineering Hackathon, held from December 9th to 11th, 2025, was far more than a typical coding sprint. This energetic, collaborative event was a definitive step into the future for our engineering teams, powered by artificial intelligence.
This year’s theme, “Innovation–Ready for the next wave,” was a direct challenge to our engineering community to go all-in on AI. The focus wasn’t just on using AI tools, but on mastering the new methodologies they enable, specifically, expert prompt engineering and disciplined spec-driven development (SDD). The event set new records for participation, project volume, and most importantly, demonstrable innovation.
Now that the air has cleared, the caffeine has worn off, and the intensive 72-hour coding marathon has concluded, let’s take a closer look at some of the results.
The numbers
The enthusiasm for this year’s Hackathon cemented its status as a cornerstone of our culture of innovation. Participation was record-breaking, with 463 engineer registrations, 134 projects submitted (up from 103 last year), and individuals from 14 countries.
Mastering the AI tools of the future
The 2025 Hackathon served as an internal boot camp for the next generation of software development on the Netskope engineering teams. Our objective was clear: master AI coding agents and integrate them seamlessly into our engineering workflows.
Engineers leveraged a range of tools including GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and Claude Code, experimenting with new development flows, including individual IDE power-ups, collaborative vibe coding, and the rigorous structure of SDD. As a result, the Hackathon was a critical proving ground, not only for innovative features, but also for innovative processes.
Crucially, the judging criteria mandated that teams detail their AI adoption process, including the specific prompts andAI assistance used, with detailed specifications. This requirement ensured that the focus remained on demonstrating mastery over the process of AI-driven development, rather than just the final result.
Showcasing engineering excellence
Following a rigorous evaluation process conducted by a panel of subject matter experts and senior leadership, the top 12 finalists presented their innovations on Demo Day. These projects represent the pinnacle of technical complexity, business impact, and AI mastery.
“The results were fantastic,” said Dave Wu, Chief Development Officer. “I’m so glad we got the chance to carve out time to really experience these AI tools. I’m blown away by the creativity and the level of production everyone brought to the table—honestly, it’s going to be hard to pick winners.”
Finally winners emerged in all four of the Hackathon categories:
- Elevating the Customer Experience (Customer Champion): Streamlining product adoption and configuration by leveraging AI to directly resolve customer pain points.
- Pioneering Product Capabilities (New Horizons): Driving innovation in collaboration security with a deliberate, customer-first strategy.
- Strengthening Operational Resilience (Shining a Light): Delivering significant enhancements to internal monitoring, threat detection, and overall operational visibility for engineering and security teams.
- Optimizing Core Infrastructure (Fixing the Foundations): Boosting developer velocity, platform stability, and fundamental code quality through intelligent automation initiatives.
Recognizing follow-through: The Finishiative Award
Innovation is only complete when it delivers value. While category winners take home glory, the Finishiative Award is the ultimate recognition of this principle, celebrating the projects from the previous year’s event where the teams went on to demonstrate exceptional GRIT and follow-through, and the ideas went on to make it into our production environment.
This year, a record-setting 12 projects from the 2024 Hackathon are now live in production, delivering quantifiable business impact to Netskope and our customers. While four teams took home the coveted award, eight others earned a special mention for their remarkable innovation. These teams embody the spirit of “Finishiative,” proving that our hackathons are not just about prototypes, but about generating long-term, tangible value.
A global community building the future
From our core hubs in Santa Clara, Bangalore, and Taipei, to our remote engineers spread across 14 countries, the fifth Global Engineering Hackathon was a resounding success, built on spirited collaboration and shared purpose. The global turnout is the clearest possible evidence that Netskope engineers are not merely preparing for the next wave of innovation; they are actively building it.
Bin He, Distinguished Engineer and a first-time participant, reflected, “It’s been an amazing experience observing the engineers brainstorm ideas and use AI tools for all kinds of projects. This is truly inspiring for me. What stood out most was the team’s energy and the culture.”
A sincere and deep appreciation goes out to the Engineering leadership, our meticulous judges, and the dedicated 2025 Hackathon Organizing Committee (Shantharam, Yihua, Chase, Sriram, Yanmin, Dee, Mandy, John, Peggy, Anjali, Sudipto, Ozelin, Rij, and Kartik) for their tireless effort in making this event the largest and most successful Hackathon.
We eagerly anticipate seeing the continued progress and maturation of these brilliant projects. Until then, Happy Hacking!
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