Women in Tech Hackathons: How HERE Technologies and Microsoft Are Driving Inclusion

Women make up only about 26% of India’s tech workforce, according to NASSCOM. In hackathons, that number drops even further — most events see less than 15% female participation. The problem isn’t that women don’t want to participate. It’s that most hackathons aren’t designed with them in mind.

Two companies decided to change that. HERE Technologies launched the HERE India Hackathon: Women in Tech, and Microsoft ran the Copilot Pathfinder Skilling Campaign — both hosted on Reskilll. Together, these events created dedicated spaces for women and underrepresented groups to build, learn, and compete on their own terms.

HERE India Hackathon: Women in Tech

HERE Technologies — the company behind the location data that powers navigation in cars, logistics systems, and smart cities worldwide — ran a hackathon exclusively for experienced women working professionals in tech.

This wasn’t a beginner workshop or a diversity checkbox exercise. It was a serious, competitive hackathon where women professionals built innovative, real-world solutions using HERE’s powerful suite of location APIs and SDKs.

The Hybrid Format: Maximum Reach, Maximum Impact

The HERE India Women in Tech hackathon ran in two carefully designed phases:

• Online phase (August – October 2025) — 471 teams registered and worked on their solutions remotely, with full access to HERE’s APIs, documentation, and mentorship. The extended timeline gave working professionals the flexibility to participate without taking leave from their jobs.
• Offline finale (September 24-30, 2025) — 28 shortlisted teams came together for the final sprint, live presentations, and direct interaction with HERE’s engineering team and leadership.

This hybrid approach was deliberately chosen to maximize participation. The online phase removed geographic barriers — women from any city in India could participate without travel, childcare arrangements, or time away from work. The offline finale provided the energy, networking, and face-to-face collaboration that in-person events uniquely deliver.

What Participants Built with Location Technology

Using HERE’s location APIs and SDKs, teams built solutions across several high-impact domains:

• Women’s safety applications — real-time safe route suggestions for women commuters, using location data combined with time-of-day analysis to identify well-lit, populated paths and flag potentially unsafe areas
• Logistics optimization — smarter delivery routing algorithms that reduce fuel costs, delivery times, and carbon emissions for last-mile delivery operations
• Urban planning tools — analyzing location data to identify underserved areas for public services like healthcare facilities, schools, and public transport
• Accessible navigation — navigation solutions designed for people with disabilities, including wheelchair-accessible routes and audio-described navigation for visually impaired users
• Emergency response — location-aware emergency alert systems that automatically share precise location with emergency contacts and nearby help services

Why Women-Only Hackathons Create Better Outcomes

The data consistently shows that women participate more actively, take more creative risks, and build more ambitious projects when they’re in environments designed for them. HERE’s women in tech hackathon created that environment through:

• Women mentors and judges — role models who understand the unique challenges women face in tech
• Peer community — 471 teams of women professionals supporting and inspiring each other
• Safe space for experimentation — freedom to try new technologies without the pressure of being “the only woman on the team”
• Professional networking — connections with HERE’s engineering leadership and other women in senior tech roles

With 471 teams in the online phase alone, the demand for these events is undeniable. The question isn’t whether women want to participate in hackathons — it’s whether the events are designed to include them meaningfully.

Copilot Pathfinder Skilling Campaign

Microsoft took a different but complementary approach to inclusive tech education with the Copilot Pathfinder Skilling Campaign — a virtual hackathon running November through December 2025 that focused on AI-assisted development using GitHub Copilot and Microsoft technologies.

The Concept: Learning to Build with AI

The Copilot Pathfinder campaign was designed to empower innovators, developers, and learners — particularly those early in their careers — to explore the power of AI-assisted development. Participants enhanced their coding skills, collaborated on creative solutions, and tackled real-world challenges while learning to work effectively with GitHub Copilot.

With approximately 140 teams across two tracks on Reskilll, the event attracted a mix of students and early-career professionals who wanted hands-on experience with AI coding tools.

What Made the Copilot Campaign Different

Unlike traditional hackathons where you build everything from scratch, the Copilot Pathfinder campaign was specifically about learning to build with AI as your coding partner. Participants learned critical skills for the modern development workflow:

• Effective prompting for code generation — how to describe what you want so Copilot generates useful, correct code
• When to accept and when to override — developing judgment about AI suggestions, understanding when they’re helpful and when they’re wrong
• AI-assisted testing and documentation — using Copilot to write tests, generate documentation, and create API specifications
• Code review with AI — leveraging Copilot to review code for bugs, security issues, and style inconsistencies
• Building complete applications — going from idea to working product with AI as a collaborative partner throughout

This is a critical skill set for 2026 and beyond. Developers who can effectively collaborate with AI tools are measurably more productive than those who can’t, and companies are increasingly looking for this capability in hiring.

The Broader Impact of Inclusive Hackathons

Events like the HERE Women in Tech hackathon and the Copilot Pathfinder campaign have ripple effects that extend far beyond the participants themselves:

Creating Role Models

Women who win hackathons become visible role models who inspire other women to participate. When a woman sees someone who looks like her winning a tech competition, the implicit message is powerful: “this space is for you too.” Each successful participant creates a multiplier effect.

Building Hiring Pipelines

Companies like HERE and Microsoft use these events to identify diverse talent that traditional recruitment channels miss. A hackathon submission is a far better signal of capability than a resume, and inclusive events surface talent from demographics that are underrepresented in standard applicant pools.

Forming Lasting Communities

Participants form networks that support their careers long after the event ends. The women who participated in HERE’s hackathon now have connections with 470 other teams of women professionals — a professional network that provides mentorship, job referrals, collaboration opportunities, and moral support.

Developing Industry-Relevant Skills

Hands-on experience with industry tools — HERE’s location APIs, GitHub Copilot, Microsoft Azure — directly translates to job readiness. These aren’t academic exercises; they’re the same tools that companies use in production.

How Reskilll Supports Inclusive Events

Both events were hosted on Reskilll’s platform, which provides the infrastructure for any type of hackathon — whether it’s a women-only event, a student hackathon, a corporate challenge, or a community-driven competition.

Key features that support inclusive events:

• Flexible registration — custom forms through Reskilll Forms that can collect relevant information while respecting privacy
• Online + offline support — hybrid events that remove geographic and logistic barriers to participation
• Mentor matching — MentorVerse can match participants with mentors who share their background, interests, or career goals
• Scalable infrastructure — handles events from 28 teams (HERE offline finale) to 13,200 teams (GizPitch) with equal reliability
• AI-powered evaluation — the Evaluator Platform ensures fair, consistent judging regardless of event size

What Companies Can Learn

HERE and Microsoft demonstrated that inclusive hackathons aren’t charity or CSR exercises — they’re smart business strategy. These events:

• Access untapped talent pools — reaching skilled professionals that traditional hackathons and recruitment channels miss
• Build authentic brand loyalty — among communities that remember which companies invested in their growth
• Generate innovative solutions — diverse teams consistently produce more creative solutions than homogeneous ones
• Create positive employer branding — demonstrating commitment to inclusion through action, not just statements
• Develop product insights — understanding how underrepresented users interact with your technology

If your company is looking to run an inclusive hackathon, the playbook is clear: partner with a platform that has the infrastructure and community, design the event specifically for your target audience, provide real mentorship and meaningful prizes, and commit to follow-through after the event.

Join the Movement

Whether you’re a woman in tech looking for your next hackathon, a company wanting to run an inclusive event, or a developer who wants to build with cutting-edge AI tools — there’s an event for you on Reskilll.

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