TCS runs 48 AI hackathons for 23,000 students: skills freshers need now

11 Nov 2026 · By Amol Pagar

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) says more than 23,000 students and 912 faculty members took part in its latest round of "Tech Days" at 50 colleges across India. The company shared the numbers on 9 November 2026.

Over 620 TCS leaders and technology specialists ran 92 masterclasses and 48 hackathons. Students, mentored by TCS staff, built AI applications for practical problems in manufacturing, retail, banking, insurance, healthcare and public services. The events were held around International STEM Day, and TCS plans to take the sessions to more colleges by March 2027.

Why this matters

TCS described the programme as a way to close the gap between what colleges teach and what the industry needs. The company did not link the events to hiring or to the TCS NQT, so this is not a recruitment drive. But it shows clearly what India's largest IT employer wants from new joiners: people who can use AI to solve a real business problem, not just pass a coding test.

This comes days after the industry body Nasscom warned that AI is taking over routine entry-level coding and testing work, which makes it harder for freshers to get hired on basic skills alone (our report).

What this means for you

Build one real AI project. Pick a problem from banking, retail or healthcare, and build a small working app that uses an AI model or API. Put the code on GitHub and explain the business problem in the README.
Join hackathons. Company and college hackathons are the closest thing to real project work, and they give you something concrete to talk about in interviews.
Keep the basics strong. AI tools help, but interviewers still test data structures, SQL, one programming language and how you think through a problem.
Apply where freshers are hired. See today's IT jobs for freshers and Python developer jobs, all from official company career pages.

Sources: ANI via Asianet Newsable, 9 Nov 2026