Build Anything with Codex Hackathon — Istanbul Ignited by Slush’D x OpenAI

Build anything with Codex What could you build from scratch in a single day that makes the world more useful? 📅 Monday, October 12, 2026🕙 10:00 AM–6:00 PM📍 DotsHub, Istanbul 🎟️ Limited capacity — application required Join us at Istanbul Ignited by Slush’D — Day 0: Founders Day for a hands-on hackathon presented with OpenAI. In this full-day build session, founders, engineers, designers, product thinkers, operators, and ambitious beginners will use Codex to turn a meaningful problem into a working product. Everyone starts from the same place: a blank page. You do not need to arrive with an existing startup, project, or finished concept. During the event, you will identify a real problem, shape a useful solution, and use Codex to research, plan, build, debug, improve, and ship it. Codex can help you explore a problem, structure your approach, write and review code, troubleshoot issues, build features, and move from prompt to production. You choose the problem. Codex helps you build the solution. The Challenge Start with: A real problem worth solving A group of people who would benefit from a better solution A useful outcome you want to create Your project could help: People work more effectively Small businesses operate better Communities access useful information or services Teams eliminate repetitive or frustrating work People learn, create, communicate, or make better decisions Solve a problem that deserves a better tool By the end of the day, you should have something real to demonstrate: a working application, AI agent, internal tool, automated workflow, prototype, or product that people could genuinely use. The focus is simple: Build something useful. What problem did you identify and what did you create from scratch to solve it? Every team will have the opportunity to present what they built. The strongest projects will pitch on the main stage, with prizes awarded to the top teams. Every participant receives $100 in free Codex credits to build. Connect to Fal.ai Connect fal.ai to your project to generate and edit images, videos, audio and 3D content. Combine creative models with Codex to build richer, more interactive products. Agenda 9:30–10:00 | Doors Open / Registration & Check-in — Arrivals, coffee, badge pickup, team sign-up, and Codex onboarding 10:00–10:30 | Welcome + Challenge & Judging Criteria — Hosts open the day, reveal the challenge, and explain how teams will be scored 10:30 | Hacking Officially Begins (main floor) 11:15–12:00 | Build Faster with Codex: Live Demos, New Features & Hacks — Hosted by @Emre Okcular, Solutions Architect, OpenAI. A fast-paced session packed with live Codex demos, new OpenAI features, building tricks, and ideas teams can use for their hackathon projects. 12:00–1:00 | Lunch Break — Food, fuel, and informal mentor conversations 1:00 | Hacking Resumes 4:00 | Final Submissions — Last push before submissions lock 4:00–4:45 | Preliminary Judging — Each team gets 3 minutes to pitch to judges; Top 6 selected 4:45–5:15 | Final Pitches: Top 6 Teams (main stage) — Four-minute pitch plus one-minute Q&A, judged live 5:15–5:45| Final Judging, Winners announcement & Wrap-Up 6:00 | Event Ends Judging Criteria Projects will be judged across four areas: 🌍 Usefulness — Does the project solve a meaningful, real-world problem? ⚡ Execution — How much did the team genuinely build and ship during the event? 🛠️ Use of Codex — How meaningfully did Codex support the process from idea to working product? 🚀 Potential — Could the solution grow into a real product, workflow, company, or public tool? Prizes 🥇 1st Place: $5,000 in OpenAI API credits🥈 2nd Place: $2,500 in OpenAI API credits🥉 3rd Place: $1,000 in OpenAI API credits 👕 4th–6th Place: OpenAI merchandise for each team Who Is This For? Founders who want to turn a meaningful problem into a working product Engineers exploring agentic coding and faster development workflows Operators who understand broken workflows and want to fix them Curious, ambitious people who want to ship with AI You do not need an existing company, project, or finished idea. Bring your laptop, your curiosity, and your willingness to build something that matters. ⚡