Defence AI Hackathon 2025

The kood/Jõhvi community showed up in full force at the 72-hour Defence AI Hackathon, organised by the Kaitseministeerium / Ministry of Defence of Estonia and Estonian Business School, to develop AI-based solutions to help strengthen Estonia’s and NATO’s defence capabilities

Shoutout to our rockstar team members, students, and alumni who participated – Erki Veiko, Imbi Haljasorg, Karl Elmik, Iryna Velychko, Jaanus Lille, Nikita Strekalov, Sergiu Frunze, Fred Kaur, Marko Mägi, Kõu Kaur, Ekke Tristan Uibo, Joosep Purde-Prits, Aleksei Kurõljov, Lukas Haavel 

Imbi shared: “One of my key takeaways from my very first hackathon was that even if the problem stays the same, the idea for a solution can change multiple times based on expert feedback and new insights.”

Erki reflected: “Having previously participated in Garage48, I knew to expect a mix of excitement and exhaustion. This time, I reminded the team to value rest, knowing that a tired mind isn’t productive. The hackathon offered the right pace, training, and support to develop real solutions, and the team quickly adapted to the intensity. The feedback was honest and positive — no sugarcoating, just solid work, much like our entrance sprints at kood/Jõhvi.”

We’re especially thrilled to congratulate our alumni Ekke Tristan Uibo and Joosep Purde-Prits, who were part of the team VoxIntel team that won second place and received Darkstar’s bonus prize