With over 50 teams, 40 mentors, and 30 real-world challenges, this year’s Cluj Hackathon, held from May 24–26 2025, pushed boundaries in agentic AI — and made space for some of the brightest young minds in Romania and beyond to shine. The three-day innovation marathon, hosted by Bosch Engineering Center Cluj, drew not only hackers and developers but also investors, accelerators, and founders curious about the next wave of AI-native startups.

Organized by Adrian Vlasiu, the hackathon aimed to harness the power of artificial intelligence to address real-world societal issues. Participants were encouraged to develop AI-driven solutions across various domains, including education, healthcare, and emergency response. The event’s mission was clear: to create impactful technologies that serve the community.

Now in its third edition, Cluj Hackathon has established itself as a consecrated name in the global hackathon scene, recently recognized by the Major League Hacking as one of the top 100 hackathons in the world.

“That kind of recognition validates the quality of our teams, our mentors, and the energy we’ve been building here in Cluj,” said Adrian Vlasiu, the event’s founder and organizer.

The winners? Three radically different teams united by one trait: they built useful, human-centered products with global potential.

First Prize: AI Interior Design Assistant That Understands Your Style

Filip Csibi, a computer science student at the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, teamed up with Mark Renner, a theology high school student passionate about computer science and one of the youngest participants of the hackathon, to win first place with a product that turned heads.

Their AI-powered interior design app that helps users visualize room layouts and purchase suggested furniture in a few clicks. Using OpenAI APIs and DALL·E 3, the app generates personalized room visuals and learns user preferences over time. Ideal for people who move often or want quick, affordable design help, the app could soon evolve into a 3D and VR-based design platform.

Despite being just a duo, the team delivered a highly-polished prototype and impressed judges with both technical execution and vision. Filip said the experience reinforced the importance of teamwork — and they are already planning to expand the team for next year’s edition.

Second Prize: A Chatbot to Fix University Bureaucracy

Few things frustrate students more than getting information from university secretariats. Matei Botezat, Bogdan Buruian, Luca Balasoiu and Bogdan Biris, all four computer science students from Babeș-Bolyai University, created a smart fix: a university helper chatbot powered by Google Dialogflow and Cloud Functions.

Their idea? Free up secretaries’ time and reduce student stress by automating answers about scholarships, Erasmus programs, student IDs, and more. Mentorship from experts like Maria and Zoli (Fetch.ai) helped them refine the app’s business potential and prepare it for rollout.

The next step: test a prototype at their own university and explore expanding across campuses via European grants or university consortia. It’s a hyper-local solution with cross-border relevance — and a practical example of AI as administrative glue.

Third Prize: Angel AI — A Calm Voice in an Emergency

From travel panic to cultural misunderstandings, the Angel AI team tackled a universal pain point: what happens when travelers face danger in unfamiliar places? Their AI-powered assistant app aims to provide immediate, culturally aware support in high-stress situations — from medical emergencies to legal trouble or natural disasters.

Originally pitched as a dynamic travel planner, the idea pivoted mid-hackathon to focus on preventive alerts, real-time assistance, and actionable advice in moments of crisis. The team — Cristiana Constantin, Marius Manea and Bogdan Caraeane, all three students at  the University of Bucharest — received key mentorship on shaping their go-to-market strategy and decided to explore white-label partnerships with insurers, travel platforms, or even competitors.

With a rebrand in the works and small features being rolled out to collect traction and data, Angel AI is aiming to become a digital safety net for travelers worldwide.

Mentors: Cluj’s Secret Weapon

Mentors played a critical role in guiding teams toward clarity and viability. One of them, Mo Zidan, highlighted just how far the Cluj tech scene has come, not trying to replicate Silicon Valley, but growing with its own distinct identity.

He was also struck by the confidence and global mindset of young Romanian talent — like the 14-year-old who pitched fluently to a panel of international judges. For Moe, participating as a mentor was a way to “give back” and help build bridges between Cluj and other tech hubs in Eastern Europe and Asia.

“It’s not about copying Berlin or San Francisco. Cluj should link with other rising hubs — places like Prague, Budapest, Jakarta, Seoul. We have the mindset now. And the talent.”

One major evolution at this year’s event? Teams didn’t just use AI as a gimmick — they built AI agents that could act: book transport, send documents, or adapt in real time to changing user needs. Mo described this as “the biggest leap forward” he’s seen at any hackathon so far.

“This year’s AI agents weren’t just reactive chatbots,” said Mo Zidan, one of the lead mentors. “They were capable of taking action — booking taxis during emergencies or rerouting flights. That’s a massive shift.”

AI, Creativity, and the Future: A Bosch Perspective

As the host of the Cluj Hackathon 2025, Bosch Engineering Center Cluj provided not just the venue, but a fertile ground for forward-looking innovation. For Maria Barbatei, Group Leader of VR & AR Activities at Bosch, what stood out most was the breadth and relevance of the solutions.

“First of all, in this edition, the variety of solutions was extremely wide,” Maria noted. “The participants tackled problems from several industries, and especially the winners provided a solution which is relevant to all of us as it influences our daily lives and helps us to design our work environment at the office or at home as it fits us best.”

Beyond the creativity and boldness of the teams, Maria emphasized Bosch’s ongoing investment in AI-driven development and a data-first culture:

“I believe that the development of AI in the next five years will be fast-paced, and this is the reason why at Bosch we focus on data-driven development, and aim to foster a data-first culture while staying ahead with the AI advancements. We do this with the projects and activities in the data-development area as well as with building communities to expand these competencies in the organization with a rich mix of learning formats and collaborative activities.”

Bosch’s innovation programs don’t just support external events like the hackathon; they’re also fueling internal breakthroughs, with multiple invention reports being generated every year. It’s a model of how corporate R&D and grassroots innovation can work hand-in-hand — and how Cluj’s tech ecosystem is positioning itself for long-term, AI-powered growth.

What’s Next for Cluj Hackathon?

The 2025 edition marked a turning point — with agentic AI becoming not just a buzzword but a tool for building real products with real users. The energy was palpable. So was the ambition.

As the Cluj tech ecosystem continues to mature, the hackathon proves it’s not just a launchpad for code, but a catalyst for startups, mentorship, and international partnerships.

Organizer Adrian Vlasiu sees even bigger things on the horizon: an expansion across Romania and Europe, the launch of a Senior Hackathon for professionals aged 30+, and the formation of a European Hackathon League to foster a cross-border community of builders.

“We’re creating a platform where ideas meet capital, mentorship meets execution, and regional talent meets global relevance”, Adrian said.

One thing’s certain: the future of AI isn’t being built in Silicon Valley alone — it’s also coming from a theology high school student in Cluj, a chatbot for university offices, and a virtual guardian angel for tourists.

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The inaugural Cluj Hackathon, the first hackathon in Romania focused on Artificial Intelligence, and Generative AI took place between June 16-18, 2023, at the Bosch Engineering Center Cluj. More than 115 participants, organized into 43 teams, enthusiastically joined the hackathon, making it one of the most successful events of this kind in Romania.

For three days, the participants had the opportunity to build and develop revolutionary applications and platforms, with access to high-quality mentoring, a wide range of resources, and networking opportunities, with participants from across the country. 

Remarkably, the youngest contestants in the hackathon were two boys, aged only 12, who independently acquired coding skills at home. Motivated to learn new things and connect with like-minded individuals, they opted to participate. With the guidance of mentors, they successfully developed an AI story generator. “It feels immensely gratifying when you code something and witness its functionality. That’s what drives me,” expressed Prisăcaru Thomas, one of the youngest participants in the hackathon.

The inception of the hackathon took shape when Adrian Vlasiu discovered the boundless potential of ChatGPT. His early engagement with OpenAI’s groundbreaking technology evoked a “deja-vu” moment, similar to the iPhone’s initial market launch. Fuelled by this profound insight, Vlasiu resolved to orchestrate a hackathon, thereby providing a platform for others to explore and harness the transformative power of this remarkable technological advancement.

“I wanted to organize the biggest hackathon in Cluj. And I wanted to organize the Untold Festival of hackathons to set a new standard in terms of satisfaction for the participants, satisfaction for the sponsors, and the whole overall experience of the competition. The engaging format of the Cluj Hackathon proved to be a winning recipe because the participants saw a different hackathon format. It’s not just about the competition or the prizes; it’s all about building community, engaging with each other, and succeeding by helping others succeed. We had very generous sponsors and top-class companies like Bosch that enabled us the hackathon location within Cluj-Napoca at the Bosch Engineering Center Cluj, one of the smartest buildings in the office scene in Romania. Untold Festival and Banca Transilvania supported our initiative, giving us a huge boost of confidence. And, of course, we had a scorching topic, artificial intelligence, and ChatGPT.”, said Adrian Vlasiu, founder of the Cluj Hackathon.

Out of the 43 teams which took part, team TestBusters emerged triumphant as they won the first prize in the hackathon. Their creation, an AI-powered solution for automated software testing, showcased ingenuity that pleased all the judges. There were other outstanding projects, and eventually, the score was tight. However, when measured against the hackathon’s primary objective of delivering a functional product within the allotted time, TestBusters stood firmly at the forefront, embodying the essence of the event.

“We have created a solution that uses artificial intelligence to test applications automatically, but not only does the test, it also creates tests automatically. With artificial intelligence, it’s possible to automate more and do more. Basically, those tests are needed in every software or manufacturing firm, so we can solve them by automating them. The goal of this kind of application is ease of use. The product manager or the product owner can use it because it’s very simplified; you don’t need to know how to code; you need to fill out a form, and the computer will be able to understand what you want to do.” explained their solution, Gaëtan de Smet and Stan Ciprian, two of the members of the winning team.

The second place was awarded to the Tech Titans, who worked on detecting anomalies in a dataset from a sensor system (car batteries). Their project underscores the importance of data analysis in solving real-world issues. And, not to be overshadowed, Brainiax took the third spot for their effective solution for detecting potholes on the road. As one of the lead engineers from Bosch pointed out, detecting and analyzing potholes on the road in real-time is one of the toughest engineering challenges in the auto industry today.

A team of mentors from diverse backgrounds in technology and entrepreneurship extended unwavering support to the hackathon participants. Their invaluable expertise and guidance catalyzed innovation and critical thinking, nurturing an environment where teams could thrive and unleash their true potential. Through their mentorship, these seasoned professionals empowered the participants, enabling them to transcend boundaries and realize their ideas.

“We started with 43 teams. I was amazed by how motivated they were and how fast they developed a functional prototype that fit the purpose they created it for. It was an excellent start for the participants, and I think that maybe all the startups should go through a hackathon at some point to kickstart their idea.”, said Smaranda Ignat, mentor.

“I’ve seen some great ideas, for example, one team taking care of the blind people and trying to integrate them in society by offering an easier integration in the digital world, like websites that can be translated into Braille, using speech-to-text. I’ve learned a lot from the teams. I believe this mentorship experience happened from both sides. I hope to see at least one or two of the teams hopping to the next stage and talking to some investors.” added Victor Dinică, mentor.

The host for the hackathon was none other than the Bosch Engineering Center Cluj. Renowned for its cutting-edge work in developing software and hardware solutions for automated, electric, and connected driving technologies, the center boasts an end-to-end approach. Bosch Engineering Center Cluj is a pivotal software hub in the realm of automated driving innovation, from crafting the software integrated within the vehicle to the cloud-based software that facilitates seamless connectivity.

“We’ve hosted the Cluj Hackathon to enable the community to grow because AI is a promising technology. Reflecting on our collaborative internal working environment, one of our goals as an engineering center is to develop with the local and international communities. We cannot do a one-man-show these days, it takes teams to build big things, and as a reflection of that, we want to be part of the community, the ecosystem and develop together with the universities, other companies, and startups.”, said Cătălin Golban, responsible for the Department developing Computer Vision technology for automated driving at Bosch Engineering Center Cluj.

When considering productivity enhancements, implementing AI can yield significant optimizations across various job domains, encompassing software development and testing. However, the realm of technology development is also profoundly impacted. Notably, Bosch has been harnessing the power of AI for an extensive duration, commencing a decade ago with the ambitious objective of assembling a team specializing in computer vision for automated driving. The outcomes of this endeavor have been truly remarkable, with millions of cars worldwide currently equipped with AI-based technology crafted by the Engineering Center situated in Cluj-Napoca.

“For us, AI is not new, but we see more and more new models emerging, which help us solve problems that previously were either unsolvable or maybe were solved by rather traditional algorithmic methods. The ecosystem consisting of startups and companies needs to adapt, it needs to professionally convert people in the software area to get familiar with using AI when developing features and as productivity tools. I think we should, as a community, not miss that train.

I also think such hackathons’ social and learning parts are essential. People came here to learn not only about technology but also how to pitch ideas and present what they think. I believe that big things can be done in teams, through collaboration, by sharing know-how and exchanging ideas; this is how the community will grow. Events like Cluj Hackathon are a big boost for the community.”, added Cătălin Golban.

With their sights set on the future, the organizers expressed their aspiration for the Cluj Hackathon to become an enduring tradition, extending its legacy into the upcoming year. Driven by an unwavering commitment to excellence, they seek to elevate the standards of hackathon organization, aiming to amplify the event’s quality and the unparalleled value it delivers to participants. By striving for the maximum return on investment, the organizers are relentlessly creating an even more remarkable and rewarding experience for all involved.

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