The hackathon challenges participants to create A.I. innovations for core business functions found at all financial services firms.
Officials at the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC) and the Fintech Open-Source Foundation (FINOS) recently announced that they are conducting the annual “Innovate.DTCC: Industry-Powered AI Hackathon,” from Feb. 23 to Feb 27, 2026.
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Participation in the hackathon is team-based only and individual entries are not allowed, officials note. “Teams may be of any size; however, a maximum of 10 members is recommended to ensure effective collaboration, productivity, and communication.”
Additionally, the event is a virtual experience, and all hackathon activities, including presentations and judging, will be conducted virtually.
The event aims to advance open-source efforts for software and systems that utilize artificial intelligence-based technologies. “Code contributed during the hackathon (outside of background IP [intellectual property] ) will be open-sourced through FINOS to support ongoing industry innovation,” officials say.
“DTCC will provide participants with AWS [Amazon Web Services] accounts, including access to AWS services and Fluxnova, for development needs during the hackathon. The DTCC-provided environment includes no-code/low-code tools, enabling broad participation regardless of technical skill level,” officials say. “Onboarding and training sessions will be offered prior to the event to familiarize participants with the environment and its capabilities. Participants may also choose to build on their own infrastructure and environments.”
Participating teams can compete in specialized tracks aligned to core business functions within financial services firms, such as:
- IT Innovation: Multi-agent development, A.I.-powered code review, automated testing, DevSecOps, and advanced security;
- Internal Audit & Assurance: A.I.-driven audits, predictive risk planning, and control effectiveness scoring;
- Financial & Cyber Risk Intelligence: Market/credit risk modeling, predictive risk scoring, real‑time fraud detection, and cyber threat assessment;
- Human Resources Innovation: A.I .for candidate screening, onboarding automation, personalized training, and employee engagement analytics;
- Generative AI for Finance: Personalized investment summaries, automated document processing, and explainable credit decisions;
- Customer Experience & Conversational AI: Multilingual chatbots, voice-enabled assistants, and A.I.-driven product recommendations; and
- Regulatory Compliance & Governance: automated know your customer (KYC), anti-money laundering (AML) monitoring, and natural language processing (NLP) tools for compliance alerts.
As for data requirements, hackathon participants “must bring their own publicly available and unrestricted data,” officials say.
“Whether you’re passionate about A.I., machine learning, or solving complex business problems, this event offers a dynamic platform to showcase your skills, expand your network, and contribute to solutions that will advance the industry,” according to the announcement. “Top teams will be recognized for their achievements, and all participants will help set the pace for innovation in financial markets.”
The contest is intended to bring together “industry leaders, experts, and innovators” who will collaborate and “tackle real-world challenges and drive transformative change across financial services,” officials say. “Participants are encouraged to form a ‘Super Team,’ a team with members from multiple organizations, to foster cross-industry collaboration and deliver stronger outcomes through diverse perspectives.”
To get help forming a Super Team, contact FINOS at help@finos.org for assistance.
Registration for the hackathon ends January 30, and the 2026 awards ceremony will be held March 9, 2026, officials add.
The reward for financial services industry partners will be a funding grant through FINOS “to fund future advancement of the winning initiatives,” officials say.
For the winning vendors/software providers, officials say there will be “exclusive industry exposure opportunities,” including:
- An invitation to showcase technology and products during future Innovate.DTCC events; and
- Featured placement in future DTCC marketing materials.
Teams can register here: https://communications.dtcc.com/dtcc-hackathon-registration-18146.html
For questions or further assistance, participants are encouraged to contact the DTCC AI Hackathon team via dtccaihackathon@dtcc.com
FINOS is an umbrella organization under the Linux Foundation, and it is focused on accelerating collaboration and innovation in financial services through the adoption of open source software, standards, and best practices, officials say. FINOS is composed of “a diverse community of developers, financial services, and technology companies large and small.”
The DTCC provides an infrastructure for global securities operations via software, systems, and services.
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