DataForge 2026

Event Overview: Kharagpur Data Analytics Group (KDAG), IIT Kharagpur, presents DataForge 2026, a data science and analytics hackathon, designed to challenge participants with real-world data science and machine learning problems. Sponsored by Pathway and Rime. Prizes worth ₹3 lakhs up for grabs. An opportunity to compete with some of the brightest data science, analytics, and AI enthusiasts from across the country. About Pathway: Pathway is a frontier AI company known for its Dragon Hatchling (BDH) architecture, a post-Transformer approach to AI. Its architecture keeps memory and reasoning within the model, enabling AI systems to adapt as information changes. Led by co-founder and CEO Zuzanna Stamirowska, alongwith Adrian Kosowski and Jan Chorowski (ex-researcher - Google Brain) Backed by leading AI researchers, including Łukasz Kaiser, co-author of the paper that introduced the transformer architecture. About Rime:  Rime is a voice AI platform focused on building natural, expressive, and ultra-realistic speech models for human-like conversations. Provides high-quality, low-latency text-to-speech (TTS) models designed for conversational AI applications at scale. Offers a wide range of production-ready voices (like Arcana, Mist) with support for multiple languages, distinct tones and personalities. Recently raised $24M in Series A funding and its voice models power enterprise applications across industries.  Who Should Participate: Individuals passionate about data science, AI, and machine learning. Participants interested in solving real-world problems using data-driven approaches. Community: Join the Whatsapp Community for regular updates. Team Composition: Maximum of four members per team, including the team leader.  Teams are allowed to have members from different colleges. Rules and Guidelines: Requests for team changes or member swaps immediately before or during the event will not be entertained. Any form of misbehavior, misconduct, or violation of the event rules may result in disqualification. Any dispute arising during the event will be resolved at the discretion of the organizers. The decision of the judges and organisers will be final and binding. Final Note: Get ready to forge your ideas into data-driven solutions at DataForge 2026. Stay tuned for further announcements regarding registrations, problem statements, event schedules, resources, and other important updates.