The cash prizes go to three finale teams; the reward that changes careers goes to hundreds of people who never reach the finale. Read the second table more carefully than the first.
Cash prizes by edition
| Position | 2026 (announced Jan 2026) | 2025 (awarded Aug 2025) |
|---|---|---|
| Winning team | USD 3,300 | ₹3,00,000 |
| First runner-up | USD 1,650 | ₹1,50,000 |
| Second runner-up | USD 1,100 | ₹1,00,000 |
| Champion of Champions | Individual award for the best coder across the finale (both editions) | |
Prizes are per team and split among members. The 2026 figures are quoted in US dollars because the same programme runs in Australia/New Zealand and Mexico; in rupees they are roughly comparable to the 2025 amounts.
Rewards below the podium
| Group | Reward |
|---|---|
| All 100 finalists | Paid travel, stay and meals at the Infosys campus; four days of mentoring from Infosys's Strategic Technology Group; internship opportunities at Infosys campuses; access to AI/ML/VR/AR project work |
| Round 2 strong performers | Pre-placement interviews for Specialist Programmer (SP L1 and above) — often held on the Round 2 day itself |
| Round 1 strong performers | PPI shortlists for SP or Digital Specialist Engineer, typically two to eight weeks after the test |
| Everyone who qualifies Round 1 | A résumé line that other recruiters recognise, and a head start on the SP/DSE off-campus assessment |
2025 finale in numbers
100 finalists in 20 teams built solutions to the "SPACE" theme over a 40-hour hackathon at the Pune Development Centre in August 2025; one four-member team took the ₹3 lakh prize, and one individual was named Champion of Champions. Infosys counts 11 lakh+ students from 3,500+ institutes engaged since the programme began.
A PPI is an interview, not an offer — see the hiring process for how it converts, and salary for what each role pays.