Impact Osaka Hackathon 2026: Autonomous Agents for Real-World Impact

Impact Osaka Hackathon 2026: Autonomous Agents for Real-World Impact ​Build AI agents that do, not just respond.

​Date: October 5, 2026 Venue: Osaka, Japan

​Event Overview ​Impact Osaka 2026 is an international Autonomous Agents Hackathon bringing together students, developers, researchers, founders, designers, AI engineers, creators, and innovation enthusiasts to build practical AI solutions for real-world challenges.

​AI is rapidly moving beyond systems that simply answer questions. Autonomous agents can understand objectives, reason, plan, use tools and APIs, make decisions, execute workflows, and complete real tasks with human collaboration.

​This is not just a coding competition.

​It is a practical buildathon where participants move from idea → prototype → execution. Teams will build solutions that can support individuals, businesses, developers, organizations, and communities in Japan and beyond.

​Osaka represents entrepreneurship, commerce, creativity, technology, and international connection. Impact Osaka brings this energy together with the next generation of AI builders to create solutions that are practical, scalable, and grounded in real needs.

​Core Theme ​Autonomous Agents for Real-World Impact

​Participants will explore how AI can move beyond conversation and become capable of meaningful execution.

​The core idea is simple:

​AI that answers → AI that acts.

​Projects can use AI agents, APIs, automation platforms, voice AI, coding tools, databases, external services, and other technologies to create working solutions.

​Two Ways to Build ​Impact Osaka welcomes both technical agent development and AI-powered visualization of new concepts.

​Participants can choose the direction that best fits their skills and idea.

​Track 01 — Build a Working Autonomous Agent ​Build an AI agent that solves a real-world problem.

​Your system should go beyond simply generating responses. It can reason, use tools, connect with APIs or databases, automate workflows, and perform meaningful actions.

​Examples include:

​Business agents for sales, operations, research, marketing, or customer support.

​Personal agents for careers, productivity, learning, travel, or research.

​Developer agents for coding, testing, debugging, documentation, or deployment.

​Enterprise agents for knowledge management, document processing, analytics, and workflow automation.

​Social-impact agents for education, accessibility, communities, sustainability, or public services.

​Participants can also use ElevenLabs Agents to create voice-powered autonomous experiences and connect them with tools, APIs, and external workflows.

​The objective is:

​Understand → Reason → Use Tools → Take Action

​Track 02 — Visualize a New Business or Agentic Concept ​You don't need to have a fully developed product to participate.

​Have an idea for a new startup, business, AI product, autonomous agent, or social-impact solution?

​Use AI creative tools, including ElevenLabs, to turn the concept into a compelling product concept video or agentic presentation.

​Show us:

​The Problem → The Idea → How It Works → Who It Helps → The Impact

​Participants can combine AI-generated voice, narration, dialogue, sound, storytelling, visuals, and product concepts to communicate what the future solution could become.

​The focus is not simply on making a promotional video.

​The goal is to make an idea understandable, believable, and ready to demonstrate.

​Build with ElevenLabs ​ElevenLabs is supporting Impact Osaka as a Credit Sponsor, giving participants opportunities to build with its voice and AI technologies.

​Participants can explore:

​Voice AI × AI Agents × Audio × Storytelling × Multilingual Experiences

​ElevenLabs can be used in either direction: to build a working voice-enabled AI agent or to communicate and visualize a new business or agentic concept.

​One winning project will be selected from each track.

​What Makes Impact Osaka Different ​Execution > Conversation

​We want to see AI that performs useful tasks, not simply another chatbot.

​Build in 6 Hours

​Teams move rapidly from problem identification to a working prototype or demonstrable concept.

​Vibe Coding Friendly

​Use AI copilots, LLMs, APIs, automation platforms, agent frameworks, low-code tools, creative AI tools, or custom systems.

​Technical + Creative Builders

​You don't need to be an advanced engineer. Developers, designers, creators, founders, students, and business thinkers can contribute in different ways.

​Japan + Global

​Build something relevant to Japan with the potential to create value anywhere.

​What to Submit ​For Working Agent Projects

​Teams should submit:

​A working prototype or functional demo

​A clear problem and target user

​What the agent actually does

​Tools, APIs, models, or platforms used

​Demonstration of real execution

​Future potential or scalability

​For Business / Agentic Concept Projects

​Teams should submit:

​A concept video or agentic presentation

​Clear problem and target audience

​Proposed solution

​Explanation of how AI is used

​Potential business or social impact

​Vision for turning the concept into a real product

​Judging Criteria ​Projects will be evaluated based on:

​Problem Relevance Does it address something worth solving?

​Innovation Is the idea or approach interesting and differentiated?

​AI Usage Is AI being used meaningfully rather than added superficially?

​Execution Does the prototype work, or is the concept communicated convincingly?

​Real-World Potential Could this continue as a useful product, startup, business solution, or social-impact project?

​Impact Osaka's main judging philosophy is focused on whether projects can perform useful work and have potential beyond the hackathon.

​Who Should Join ​Impact Osaka is open to:

​Students and researchers

​Developers and AI engineers

​Startup founders

​Creators and storytellers

​Designers and product thinkers

​Business and operations professionals

​Automation specialists

​Researchers and domain experts

​Anyone interested in building practical AI solutions

​No prior hackathon experience is required.

​You don't need to know everything.

​Bring your skills. Find your team. Build something real.

​Impact Osaka 2026 ​October 5, 2026 Osaka, Japan

​Build AI agents that do, not just respond.

​Build. Create. Automate. Deploy.

​Organizer ​Cognisor AI

​Co-Hosts ​TIU Impact Next Creators Circuit

​Credit Sponsor ​ElevenLabs