Jaipur, (Rajasthan) [India], September 23, 2026: CIMET, an Australia-based technology company known for powering next-generation comparison experiences, hosted its first AI Hiring Hackathon in Jaipur this month, marking the first time a hiring hackathon of this scale has come to the city. The event was organized in partnership with HackCulture, the Bengaluru-based innovation management platform that designs and runs hiring hackathons for companies looking to identify and recruit engineering talent through real-world problem solving rather than resumes and interview rounds.
The hackathon drew more than 1,000 applicants, all with a minimum of three years of professional experience, competing for a spot at CIMET's Jaipur office. From that pool, the top one percent were shortlisted and invited on-site, a group that included engineers with over a decade of experience choosing to compete alongside early and mid-career talent for a shot at joining CIMET. Participants traveled from Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, and several other cities to be part of the day, underlining how much pull a hiring format built around building and shipping, rather than just interviewing, now has among experienced engineers.
Once on-site, participants had eight hours to work through problem statements set by CIMET, most centered on automating manual, repetitive workflows within the company's comparison technology platform. Teams and individuals built and iterated through the day before showcasing their solutions directly to CIMET's engineering leadership, with the strongest builds translating into real hiring conversations and a prize pool worth ₹1.75 lakh.
CIMET's decision to bring the hackathon to Jaipur reflects a broader shift in how the company is building its India engineering base. Headquartered in Australia with an existing office in Gurugram, CIMET is now looking beyond the usual hiring hubs to find engineers who can build under pressure and think in systems, not just answer interview questions well.
Mallarswami, Head of Engineering at CIMET, framed the initiative as part of a larger mission:
"CIMET, an Australia-based technology company powering next-generation comparison experiences, is bringing a new approach to technology hiring with its AI Hiring Hackathon in Jaipur, the first of its kind in the city. The initiative reflects CIMET's mission to transform how consumers and businesses make informed decisions through intelligent, scalable comparison technology. With an AI-native platform strategy, CIMET is accelerating innovation across Australia's comparison ecosystem while expanding its engineering capabilities in India. The hackathon puts skills, problem-solving and real-world AI engineering at the centre of hiring, creating a platform for Jaipur's technology talent to build, innovate and join CIMET's global growth journey."
For HackCulture, the Jaipur hackathon is another example of what the company has been building toward since its founding: a way for companies to hire experienced engineers based on how they actually work, not how they interview. By designing the problem statements, managing outreach and shortlisting, and running the full day-of experience, HackCulture handles the operational weight that normally keeps companies from running hiring hackathons at this scale, letting CIMET focus on evaluating builders instead of managing logistics. The Jaipur turnout, close to a thousand applicants and engineers willing to fly in from across the country for a single day, is a signal of how much appetite there is for this kind of hiring, even in cities that haven't traditionally hosted events like this.
With its first Jaipur hackathon complete, CIMET's expansion into the city adds to a growing list of engineering hubs the company is tapping into across India, as it continues scaling its AI-native comparison platform for markets in Australia and beyond.
