MLH State of the League: 2026 Season

These are the slides from my keynote from MLH Hackcon (August 2025), "The State of the League: 2026 Season".

Some of the biggest names in tech say AI is coming for your job and that there will be no programmers in five years. I believe this is actually the single greatest time in history to be a software creator. The tech industry's future will be written by the hacker community, not investors in Silicon Valley. This is day zero of a new Renaissance for software creators.

In these slides, I share why the only way to keep up with technology that changes by the minute is to learn by doing , and how hackathons are the perfect space to gain the hands-on AI experience that is the most powerful differentiator available right now. Plus, there are a ton of exciting announcements about how MLH is supporting the next generation of technologists in the year ahead.

Image Credit: Line illustrations were generated with Google Gemini ❤️

Transcript

1. The State of the League: 2026 Season By: @theycallmeswift
2. Hey, there! I’m Swift. CEO & Co-Founder of MLH Aspiring lawyer turned hacker Empowering hackers for 15+ years
3. You can’t learn the skills to become a software engineer in a classroom.
5. Today 1 in 3 Computer Science graduates in the USA are already Members of the MLH Community.
6. of hackers say that joining this community changed their lives & they would not be here without it. 48%
7. 1, 200, 000+ Hackers Empowered & Lives Changed!
8. MLH 2026 Hackathon Season Schedule is officially LIVE! With more than 250+ hackathons, we’re on track for one of the biggest MLH Seasons of ALL TIME. Find your next event on the official MLH website: mlh.io/events →
9. Hackcon is the gathering place for hacker community leaders.
10. Let’s address the elephant in the room today: AI has changed the world
11. Maybe getting a Computer Science degree in the age of AI was a big mistake…
12. Source: layoffs.fyi Remember those tech layoffs? They’re still happening.
13. “There will be no programmers in five years.” Emad Mostaque CEO, Stability AI “We’re not adding any more software engineers next year.” Marc Benioff CEO, Salesforce “It is our job to create computing technology such that nobody has to program” Jensen Huang CEO, NVIDIA
14. If the only story you ever hear is that you made a mistake & AI is coming for your job, of course you’re going to believe it!
15. “This is actually the single greatest time in history to become a software creator!”
16. The future of the tech industry will be written by the people in this room, not some investors in Silicon Valley.
17. Today is day zero of the new Renaissance for software creators.
18. This Technology’s Diffusion Pyramid:
19. And, this is what AI has done to it:
20. of MLH alumni go on to introduce a technology they learned from MLH into production at their job. 51% Source: MLH Community Census (2025)
21. We need to throw everything we thought we knew about training software engineers out the window…
22. There are 27 million software engineers employed worldwide. There are 1 billion knowledge workers who could become one now.
23. ✅ Primary Language is Code ✅ Computer Science Degree ✅ Comfortable in IDE & Terminal ✅ Leetcode is Proxy for Skill ✅ Internship Experience
24. ❌ Primary Language is Code ❌ Computer Science Degree ❌ Comfortable in IDE & Terminal ❌ Leetcode is Proxy for Skill ❌ Internship Experience
25. How do you stand out in the crowd when every job listing is overloaded with resumes?
26. When technology literally changes by the minute, the only way to keep up is to learn by doing.
27. Talking about & using AI at school or work is basically taboo right now, so where are we supposed to learn?
28. HACKATHONS
29. of hackers are already learning skills through the MLH community they can’t learn in class. 91%
30. Dylan Vidal University of Central Florida github.com/DVidal1205
35. Hands-on AI experience is the most powerful differentiator available right now.
36. Whatever AI infrastructure your hackers need, we’ve got you covered + more. Plus, we’re giving away $50k in credits for advanced AI models.
37. Interest in Visual Use Cases for AI grew by 75% in just 6 months.
38. We’re Upgrading the MLH Hardware Lab: Check out the new kits here @ Hackcon this weekend!
39. Hackathons Internships Open Source Hackathons aren’t the only tough challenges you have to navigate as a new developer.
40. Doing hard things together makes them way less painful. That’s the power of community.
41. Cecilia La Place Arizona State University github.com/HalcyonAura
43. The world needs to know how powerful this community is. It’s everyone’s job to tell them.
44. Kyle Daigle COO @ GitHub Paige Bailey DevRel Lead @ Google Shauntel Garvey Founding Partner @ Reach Capital That’s why MLH is helping line up keynotes from high visibility tech leaders:
45. Oct 1-31, 2025 | hacktoberfest.com Powered By ❤
46. September 2025 | top.mlh.io
47. Swift’s Playbook for Hackathons: The AI Edition
48. Define your hackathon’s official policy around using AI. ❌ Ban AI ✅ Embrace & Encourage AI [Rule #1]:
49. Isn’t AI the fifth member of every hackathon team? 🤔
50. Challenge preconceptions about AI by literally showing people what’s actually possible. [Rule #2]:
51. Even when staying on top of tech is your full time job, it’s easy to be surprised by what AI can do.
52. We’ve started adapting our workshop content to follow a “Demo Time” format:
55. Austin, Texas | October, 17th
56. Create spaces where your community members can navigate & discuss the struggle together. [Rule #3]:
57. +
58. GET UP TO $350 FROM MLH TO HOST CLUB EVENTS. Choose your adventure for a short event on your campus between hackathons: • Gemini Hack Day • GitHub Finish-up-athon • & more coming soon!
59. 1. Have an “AI Encouraged” Policy 💯 2. Demonstrate What’s Possible 👀 3. Foster Safe Community Spaces 🫶 Let’s Summarize our Playbook:
60. The playbook for how to navigate all this does not exist yet. We have the opportunity to write it together.
61. Siddharth Shivkumar siddharth@mlh.io We’re Here To Help. Chat with your local MLH Hackathon Community Manager for advice, resources, connections, & more! Christine Kim christine.kim@mlh.io Maria Dunning maria@mlh.io
62. Thank you & Happy Hacking. Mike “Swift” Swift CEO & Co-founder @ MLH swift@mlh.io | theycallmeswift.dev Slides Available After Talk: speakerdeck.com/theycallmeswift
63. Byte the 8-Bit Bot ? Crypto the Cryptographic Chameleon Ducky the Debugging Duck Ellie the Electric Elephant Frankie the File System Ferret Gene the Glitchy Giraffe Izzy the Internet Inchworm Hanson the Hardware Hippo
65. Jewel The Jumper Wire Jellyfish Introducing your new season mascot…
66. Thank you & Happy Hacking. Mike “Swift” Swift CEO & Co-founder @ MLH swift@mlh.io | theycallmeswift.dev Slides Available After Talk: speakerdeck.com/theycallmeswift