Topcoder

Build a working AI-powered learning platform in 48 hours.

Not a quiz, not a prompt exercise - a real MVP, built and running.

The task: a connected learning app with an AI tutor that adapts to the learner, pre-built missions, quiz and flashcard progress tracking, and grounded AI that doesn't hallucinate its way through a lesson.

A few things worth knowing:
→ Open to all levels - the spec welcomes everyone from beginners to seasoned AI builders
→ Submissions reviewed by AI first, then human approval - AI-native from build to review

Two days. One self-contained problem. A real thing to show at the end of it.

If you've been meaning to ship something with AI instead of just experimenting with it, this is a clean place to start.

Link in the comments.

Marathon Match 166 is live.

Here's the board: a hexagonal grid of tiles, each carrying segments that run across its edges. You rotate a single tile at a time - clockwise or anti-clockwise - to connect paths between exit points on the border. Paths that cross the bonus tiles are worth more.

The goal is to connect as many paths as you can, then route them through the bonus tiles to push your score higher. The competitors who win this one will see the connections others miss.

Submission phase closes August 19. This match earns leaderboard points toward the 2026 Marathon Match Tournament, which runs through March 2027 - top 12 at season end advance to the Championship Round.

The season rolls on. Best of luck.

Link in the comments.

Jay just won season 1 of the AI Exponential League.

Ask him how, and he barely mentions the AI.

jaypatel1325 finished at the top of the leaderboard across an entire season of AI challenges - agent workflows, evaluation harnesses, go-to-market systems, and more. So we asked him what actually made the difference.

It came down to planning and feedback. He reads every reviewer comment after every challenge - even the ones he won - notes what he got wrong, and doesn't repeat it. He plans the whole solution before writing a line of code.

And one principle worth taping to your monitor:
"Never trust an AI component without testing it."

The models he used are available to everyone. The habits are what set him apart - plan before you build, test every AI step before you rely on it, keep the rest simple and predictable.

The tools change every few months. The discipline doesn't.

Congratulations, Jay - well earned!

Link in the comments.

The AI Exponential League season 1 is done.

These are the AI Exponential Engineers who finished at the top - four months of real AI challenges across industries, and this is where the board landed:
🥇 jaypatel1325 - $2,500
🥈 gughanrk - $1,000
🥉 dileepa - $600
4. diwosuwanto - $400
5. Om2707 - $200
6. Tsegaye16 - $100
7. mp.rise - $50
8. shxzhaosr - $50
9. sohamactive - $50
10. nqv2018 - $50

Hats off to all ten! And to everyone who competed this season - you made it one worth watching.

New open engagement:
Oracle Finance Transformation Consultant.

This one is dedicated support for Oracle EDMCS, AHCS, and ARCS - ensuring month-end close stability, proactive system monitoring, BAU support, and enhancement delivery across business-critical financial processes.

You'd own month-end close activities, production stability, configuration and hierarchy changes in EDMCS, accounting rules in AHCS, and reconciliation workflows in ARCS - plus integration support across Oracle ERP and connected systems.

What's needed: strong hands-on experience with Oracle EDMCS, AHCS, and ARCS, financial close support, knowledge of Oracle Cloud ERP Financials (GL, AP, AR), and solid troubleshooting and production support capabilities.

Link in the comments.

Open engagement: Snowflake Data Engineer.

24 weeks, full time, based in India, immediate start.

This one goes beyond ticket ex*****on. You'd own the work across architecture, implementation, documentation, and production support - designing scalable pipelines in Snowflake, building dimensional models and semantic layers, and optimizing query performance and data quality.

What's needed: strong Snowflake experience, expertise in SQL, data modeling and ETL/ELT, familiarity with CI/CD and data quality frameworks, and the communication skills to work with analytics and business teams directly.

Weekly compensation negotiable.

Link in the comments.

On almost every challenge, registrations outnumber submissions by a wide margin.

Some of that is life getting in the way. But a lot of it is people deciding somewhere in the middle that what they have isn't good enough to send.

Here's the thing: a submission that doesn't place still gets you a scorecard, reviewer feedback, and a clear read on where you stand. Nothing you learn from not submitting.

If you're sitting on something unfinished right now, send it.

Most developers spend a career without touching work at this level.
Look at what's come through this community.

Zurich. T-Mobile. Macy's. SpaceNet. Land O'Lakes - and plenty of other names. Real problems from real brands, solved by members competing on the platform, across finance, telecom, retail, geospatial ML, and more.

That's what building here looks like - and it's something you could be part of. Serious companies bring serious problems, and the people who solve them are the community.

Take a look through the customer stories - the names, the industries, the scale of what's been delivered.

Link in the comments.

We redesigned the Community App - challenges, engagements, copilot roles, and review work in one place.

It's still a prototype, and we want your feedback before it goes to development.

No design skills needed.
4 short tasks, about 15 minutes, open to any track.
Your input shapes what we change.

Top 10 submissions win. Closes in 2 days.

Link in the comments.

Marathon Match 165 is complete.

The problem: a grid, a set of hidden ships, and a limited budget of scans and shots. Locate every ship in as few moves as you can.

Congratulations to the winners:
1. terry_u16
2. jinapetto
3. frictionless

Full top 10 is in the image. The next Marathon Match starts on August 12. Stay tuned!