Icertis, the leading provider of enterprise contract management in the cloud, today announced the winners of Icertis’ AI/ML and Blockchain Hackathon, at the grand finale held in Pune. The winning team’s innovative solution utilized machine learning models to analyze crop distress and weather patterns. It then harnessed blockchain-enabled smart contracts for instant and automated claim settlements to those adversely affected by crop failures and natural disasters. The winning team, ‘BlockchainMegaminds’ claimed the grand prize of Rs 5,00,000 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Seattle, a global hub of innovation in cloud computing.

The hackathon, which kicked-off online in October, was India’s largest focused on artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and Blockchain, attracting nearly 10,000 participants across India, of which 1,306 passed through to the final submission phase. The highly selective criteria resulted in 12 elite teams competing on-site at the Icertis office in Pune for a nonstop 24-hour hack.

The Hackathon challenge required the teams to build a web and mobile interface, develop and train their AI/ML algorithms and utilize appropriate cloud services including the Microsoft Azure Blockchain as a Service.

“I would like to thank all the 10,000 participants in the Hackathon,” said Monish Darda, CTO & Co-founder, Icertis. “We were amazed by the range and depth of submissions and the sheer quality of talent on display. It also underscores the talent across the nation and strengthens our resolve to nurture original thinkers and support the communities that are so vital for innovation to thrive! We are looking forward to welcoming the winning team to Seattle.”

The two-day event took place on December 21 and 22, at the Icertis R&D center in Pune.

“We all hail from farming families from remote parts of India,” said Dattatray Jadhav, from the winning team BlockchainMegaminds. “We are delighted that we could combine our understanding of farming and agrarian challenges with our software expertise, to build a solution using the latest AI and Blockchain technology.” “We learned a lot from the Hackathon, and are thankful to Icertis for not just the opportunity, but also for getting their finest developers and architects to guide and mentor us throughout,” added his teammate Bhausaheb Galande.

“We are very happy and proud that we could bring together multiple technologies including web, AI, Blockchain and IoT, to tackle a very serious real-world problem,” said Saraniyaa Shrii N from the 1st runner-up Team Boopalan from Coimbatore.

“Recognition and guidance from a software leader like Icertis goes a long way in helping youngsters like us think big and explore how we could use technology to tackle some of the greatest challenges faced by our generation,” said Laisha Wadhwa from Team Heuristic from Delhi.

“The best thing about this hack was providing us with dedicated mentors who were there to help us all along. The fact that we had so much fun at the hackathon has made it even more memorable! I hope Icertis comes up with more such hackathons where technology can be used to solve such crucial problems of the society,” added her teammate, Garima Yadav from Team Heuristic.

Microsoft was the Cloud Sponsor of the Hackathon and provided its cloud services and certifications to all teams.