We’re expecting a full house of 350 attendees – 250 hackers, 100 teams – and an intense weekend of challenges, creativity, and collaboration. Mentors and experts at Swiss {ai} Weeks are here to act as force multipliers, keeping the momentum alive and helping hacker teams transform hacks into pitchable demos. Thanks to them for bringing their energy and expertise!
Mentors ( In-Person Only 🏠❗)
Mentors are expected to:
- Attend the initial pitches on Friday morning to understand the challenges from the start.
- Be available during official mentoring hours (see schedule below).
- Create a profile in the scheduling software with their expertise and availability.
- Meet teams at their tables for booked sessions.
- Use the dedicated mentor area during official hours when not booked, so teams can approach them directly.
- Join the final pitches on Saturday and stay for receptions and networking (optional).
Experts (In-Person & Online 🏠 / 🧑💻)
Experts provide deep knowledge in a specific field. They may be called in when a team faces a critical blocker that requires specialized guidance.
Experts are expected to:
- Create a profile in the scheduling software with their expertise and availability.
- Set time slots when they are available for sessions.
- Join sessions either in person (at hacker tables) or online, depending on their availability.
- Respect confidentiality: Discussions are confidential, hackers retain ownership of their work.
- Provide actionable advice only, keeping sessions focused (max 10 minutes).
😎 Challenges
Please review the challenges that the hackers will be working on.
They’ve been designed together with our partners to push boundaries and inspire high-impact solutions. Please review them in advance so you understand what teams are tackling.
🍺 Social & Community Events
🤝 How to Connect: The Scheduling Software
To make connecting with hackathon teams easier, we’ll be using Conversation Starter during the event. The platform manages profiles, availability, and bookings for the two hackathon days. You will shortly receive an email from Swiss {ai} Weeks: Zurich Hackathon with a pre-filled link to create your profile. Alternatively, you can also use this 👉 LINK 👈
❗A few key points:
📲 Profile Setup:
Mentors and experts are asked to complete their profiles in advance so teams can book time with them. Each bio should be clear and highlight their areas of expertise.
📆 Setting Up Availability:
Once a profile is created, mentors and experts can set their availability so that hackers can book 15-minute time slots.
🧑🏼🏫 Mentors (In-Person Only):
Teams will be able to book meetings with mentors in person.
Meetings take place in the Mentor/Expert area, and from there, sessions can continue anywhere. All scheduled meetings are visible in Conversation Starter. If someone previously registered as a mentor but cannot attend in person, they should select “Expert” in their profile instead.
🧑🏼💻 Experts:
Experts can join meetings either online or in person.
For online sessions, a link will be automatically included in the booking via Conversation Starter.
⏱️ On-Site Logistics & Schedule
Mentor ID:
At registration, mentors and experts will receive stickers so hackers can easily identify them.
Dedicated Mentor Area
During official mentor hours, mentors and experts who are not booked for individual slots should be in the mentor area to provide ad-hoc support.
Official Mentor Hours
- Friday, 26 Sept: 14:00 – 17:00
- Saturday, 27 Sept: 09:00 – 11:00
The full schedule is available here.
🤝 Rules of Engagement
Confidentiality is key. All discussions stay within the hackathon, and teams retain full ownership of their work.
✔️ The Do’s:
- Listen first.
- Be approachable and visible.
- Keep advice short and actionable (max 15 minutes).
- Escalate to an expert when needed.
❌ The Don’ts
- Do not code or build slides for teams.
- Avoid favoritism – do not “adopt” projects.
- No recruiting or pushing personal agendas.
🗺️ Zürich + Beyond
While supporting Zürich, mentors and experts may also be asked to provide short online mentoring for the parallel hackathons in Landsberg and Geneva, happening the same weekend.
Together, these events form a larger connected hackathon community.