Teams from the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (FAST-NUCES) won the Grand Champion title and several track awards at the national final of Alibaba Cloud AI Hackathon Pakistan 2026, according to the university’s post on LinkedIn. The Grand Champion title went to team Salix from the FAST-NUCES Islamabad campus. The university congratulated its students, mentors, and faculty, and said the results reflect the innovation, creativity, and teamwork that define the institution. The post only lists FAST-NUCES teams, so the other winners and any prizes were not part of the announcement.
Several other FAST-NUCES teams placed in the national final. Kisaan Rahbar from the Islamabad campus won the Smart Agriculture track, while AI in Governance from the Multan campus finished as runner-up in the Open Innovation track. Teams from the Karachi campus also placed, with MediNova AI as runner-up in the Healthcare track, PakAssist as runner-up in the Urdu and Regional Language Tech track, and Muhafiz AI as 2nd runner-up overall. The track names show the range of problems the teams worked on, which covered farming, public administration, health care, and tools for Pakistan’s languages. The post does not describe what any of the projects do or how the judges scored them.
The hackathon was launched by Bano Qabil, the education and skills programme of Alkhidmat Foundation Pakistan, together with Alibaba Cloud, at a ceremony at Alkhidmat’s headquarters in Lahore, according to The News. Bano Qabil Pakistan Chairman Naveed Ali Baig said at the launch that the event reflects a commitment to developing the country’s next generation of technology leaders. Participants from across Pakistan could take part regardless of their educational or professional background, and Cognix Solutions joined the effort as Alibaba Cloud’s authorised partner in Pakistan. Alkhidmat’s event page said teams would register, build their solutions with expert support, present to regional judges, and then compete nationally, with top teams receiving awards, cloud resources, and incubation support.
Regional rounds were held before the final, including one for the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, and a participant’s post on LinkedIn gave 24 October 2026 as the date of the national grand finale. The theme was AI for Pakistan’s Future, and the competition drew thousands of projects from across the country, according to participants. For FAST-NUCES, the result is notable because its teams from Islamabad, Karachi, and Multan all placed, which shows participation across three campuses and not just one. The university’s post does not say how many teams competed in the final, who sat on the jury, or what the Grand Champion prize includes, so those details would need to come from the organisers.
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