The Digital Energy AI hackathon : turning project challenges into concrete AI solutions

As part of the Digital Energy programme, 2026 was dedicated to artificial intelligence, with the ambition of supporting actors in the African energy sector in exploring and adopting these technologies.

In this context, the Digital Energy programme organized the Digital Energy AI hackathon, an event dedicated to Digital Energy Challenge laureates and I&P Digital Energy laureates, with the objective of exploring how artificial intelligence can help address concrete challenges encountered in their projects.

The event took place on July 7th and 8th, 2026 in Paris and brought together several teams of laureates around a shared objective: identifying how generative AI and agentic approaches can become operational levers for projects working on energy access.

What is the Digital Energy AI hackathon?

The Digital Energy AI hackathon is an immersive support format designed to move from an identified challenge to the exploration of a concrete solution.

Four teams of laureates were selected to participate in one and a half days of intensive work, supported by developers and experts in generative AI and agentic solutions.

During the event, teams were able to:

• clarify the challenge encountered within their project,
• explore how generative and agentic AI could address it in a pragmatic way,
• test and prototype potential solution pathways,
• prepare a pitch demonstrating the feasibility and value of the proposed approach.

The AI hackathon concluded with a pitch session in front of a jury and an audience of key actors from the energy and innovation ecosystem, followed by the announcement of the winning team.

Technical support to further develop the solution

Following the AI hackathon, the winning team benefits from dedicated technical support to further develop and implement the solution explored during the event.

This support aims in particular to:

• consolidate the proposed solution,
• deepen the technical aspects related to generative AI and agentic approaches,
• define the next development and experimentation steps.

An event supporting innovation for energy access

By bringing together Digital Energy Challenge laureates, artificial intelligence experts and key actors from the energy and innovation ecosystem, the Digital Energy AI hackathon helped stimulate collaborative innovation and explore concrete solutions to strengthen the impact of projects working on energy access across Africa.