IDEAS IN MOTION
Build, train, and deploy production-grade AI Agents on the ASTEAI.com platform before departure, and prove they work live during a real-world train journey!
Organized by Department of Predictive Engineering · SIMATS Saveetha Institute
One Journey. Endless Possibilities.
Traditional hackathons happen in static auditoriums. HACKXPRESS 1.0 takes innovation onto the rails. You and your team will board a train departing Chennai at 6:00 AM, traveling all the way to Pondicherry with your AI agents active in production.
Build & Train Before Departure
Teams receive problem statements through ASTEAI.com. You must architect, train, and deploy your intelligent agents ahead of the journey within the given timeline.
Live Onboard Testing
During the Chennai → Pondicherry transit, juries test your agents live under real network conditions, assessing conversational IQ/EQ, latency, and operational depth.
Cash Prizes & ASTEAI Incubation
Top teams earn ₹10,000 (1st), ₹5,000 (2nd), and ₹2,000 (3rd), alongside potential deployment opportunities on ASTEAI's commercial workforce platform.
ASTEAI Mock Interview & Eligibility Workflow
To guarantee high technical standards, all hackathon participants must complete a mock interview on the ASTEAI platform before registering.
Register on ASTEAI Platform
Create your profile on asteai.com. Complete your profile details and skill tags.
Navigate to Mock Interview
On the ASTEAI landing page, click Bulk Hiring → Log in → Go to Find Jobs → Select Mock Interview to initiate the AI assessment.
Complete Interview & Payment Tiers
Submit Certificate & Choose Track
Input your Certificate ID in the registration form below, then select your Development Track: Blue-Collar Interviewer Voice Agent or Non-Technical / HR Voice Agent.
Visual workflow for ASTEAI registration, mock interview timelines, and hackathon track allocation.
4 Hackathon Topics (Max 10 Teams per Topic)
Choose one of the specialized topics suggested by the advisory team. Once 10 teams select a topic, it is removed from registration!
Emotion Quotient / OCEAN Strategy Agent
Build a deep psychometric AI agent utilizing the Big Five (OCEAN: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism) framework to dynamically evaluate candidate emotion quotient, stress tolerance, and behavioral adaptations in real-time conversations.
Depth of Knowledge (DoK) for the AI Interviewer
Engineer an intelligent interviewing engine powered by Webb's Depth of Knowledge hierarchy. The agent autonomously grades whether a candidate's answer demonstrates basic recall (Level 1), conceptual application (Level 2), strategic thinking (Level 3), or extended cross-domain synthesis (Level 4).
Blue-Collar Interviewer Voice Agent
Develop an ultra-low-latency, dialect-tolerant voice agent tailored for blue-collar candidates (drivers, warehouse staff, field technicians). The agent must screen for hands-on equipment proficiency, industrial safety awareness, and work ethics without requiring written resumes.
Myers-Briggs & EQ Determining AI Agent
Create an NLP agent that determines a candidate's Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) profile and emotional quotient directly from spontaneous spoken dialogue, evaluating linguistic cues, empathy markers, and cognitive patterns during real-time speech.
Rules & Regulations
All teams and participants must review and comply with the following regulations. Strict compliance ensures fair competition and passenger safety aboard the train.
1. Eligibility & Team Composition
- Each team can consist of up to a maximum of 8 members (students, developers, or researchers).
- Interdisciplinary teams with mixed skill sets (AI/ML, NLP, Voice AI, Frontend, and Systems) are strongly encouraged.
- Every team must designate a Team Leader who acts as the single point of contact for all hackathon communications and evaluation scheduling.
- Mandatory Prerequisite: To be eligible, teams must complete their mock interview and obtain their certificate on ASTEAI.com before registering.
2. ASTEAI Mock Interview & Fee Tiers
- Participants must register on asteai.com, navigate to 'Bulk Hiring' on the landing page, log in, click 'Find Jobs', and complete the Mock Interview.
- Free 24-Hour Tier: Completing the mock interview within 24 hours of ASTEAI registration grants a 100% FREE Certificate (valued at ₹499).
- Paid 7-Day Tier: If completed between 24 hours and 1 week, participants can obtain the certificate by paying the ₹49 processing fee.
- Ineligibility Clause: Failure to complete the mock interview within 1 week of registration forfeits hackathon eligibility entirely. Hackathon access will be denied.
3. Topic Selection & 10-Team Cap Policy
- There are 4 specialized project topics covering Emotion Quotient (OCEAN), Depth of Knowledge (DoK), Blue-Collar Interviewing, and Myers-Briggs (MBTI) profiling.
- Strict Slot Limit: To maintain balanced competition and evaluation quality, a strict limit of 10 teams per topic is enforced.
- Once 10 teams have registered for a particular topic, that topic is immediately closed and removed from the registration options.
- Topic assignments are on a strict first-come, first-served basis upon verified registration.
4. Pre-Journey Development & Train Demonstration
- Teams are required to build, train, and deploy their AI Agents on the ASTEAI platform before boarding the train.
- The onboard train journey (Chennai to Pondicherry) is the live operational testing ground: solutions must function in real time during the journey.
- Teams must engineer resilience for transit network fluctuations by implementing efficient edge caching, low-bandwidth audio compression, and low-latency voice endpoints.
- Jury members will assess live agent interactions, conversational fluency, and prompt reasoning directly during the transit.
5. Train Journey Discipline & Safety Regulations
- All participants must report at the designated Chennai railway platform by 6:00 AM sharp on 30th September 2026.
- Strict adherence to Indian Railways safety regulations and train decorum is mandatory at all times.
- Any unsafe behavior, roaming outside designated train coaches, or disruption to fellow passengers will lead to immediate disqualification and removal from the event.
- Teams must carry valid college identity cards and government-issued photo identification.
6. Evaluation Criteria & Code of Conduct
- Technical Depth & Innovation (25%): Sophistication of agent architecture, prompt engineering, and memory/reasoning state management.
- Real-World Transit Performance (25%): Responsiveness, robustness, and stability under moving transit conditions.
- Domain Accuracy (25%): Precise assessment of candidate skills, EQ/OCEAN calibration, or Depth of Knowledge scoring.
- User Experience & Voice Naturalness (25%): Low latency, intuitive turn-taking, and accessibility for candidate demographics.
- Plagiarism or submission of pre-packaged commercial software without significant custom training on ASTEAI results in instant disqualification.
Faculty Coordinators & Student Convenor Contact
Register for HACKXPRESS 1.0
Enter your ASTEAI mock interview certificate details, team roster (max 8 members), and select your development track & topic.