Fifth Annual
Thomas L. Saaty Decision Making
for Leaders Hackathon:
October 31 – November 2, 2025
The team in first place receives $2,000,
second place receives $700
and third place receives $300!
Challenge Yourself and Learn How to Solve Complex Business Problems
This year’s theme is Scale Smart: AI Agents for Strategic Decision Making
Are you a graduate or undergraduate student attending a Pittsburgh area university who wants to see how you can tackle the toughest decisions with confidence? Are you interested in learning how you can change the way we measure things?
Join the T.L. Saaty Decision Making for Leaders Hackathon, sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, to learn how to solve complex practical business problems using both hard data and your personal perspective and experiences. Experience new ways to provide custom solutions that reflect the way a company operates and sees the world.
The Hackathon, honors the legacy of Thomas L. Saaty, who created the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Analytic Network Process (ANP), best known for complex decision-making. This event brings together highly regarded representatives of academia, businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations. You will learn decision-making techniques that will help you stand out by teaching how to avoid cookie-cutter solutions and easily explain your solution processes.
Competition Format
Teams: This competition is for teams of 2-3 students. If you did not sign up as a team, you can still register, and we will help you join a team by the competition day. Students do not need any prior knowledge of the AHP/ANP methods.
First Day: In the morning, students will receive intensive training in AHP and ANP methods. The afternoon will be split between hands-on practice with the decision-making software tools to be used the next day and presentations from speakers with advanced knowledge on the subject. The teams will then discuss the decision problems and decide on their approach.
Second Day: After training in the morning, teams will assemble and work on structuring their ideas. They will define the decision-making problem they will solve, describe the framework, identify the decision factors, and model the problem using the appropriate decision-making methods and software tools. In the afternoon, the teams will finalize their case and prepare their presentation for the final day.
Final Day: All teams will have 15 minutes to present their case analysis and recommendations. Following each presentation, the judges will conduct a question and answer (Q&A) session for a maximum of 10 minutes and may then offer feedback. Final Judging: the top 3-5 teams will compete in the final round that afternoon, with 15 minutes to present, followed by a 10-minute Q&A with the judges. The final presentations are open to public viewing, and non-finalist teams are encouraged to watch and see which three teams receive prizes in the awards ceremony.
Thomas L. Saaty
A Distinguished University Professor at Pitt, the late Dr. Saaty (1926-2017) was the inventor of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) decision-making framework and the Analytic Network Process (ANP), earning him multiple international awards. Both processes are still in use today for large-scale, multi-criteria decision analysis. Dr. Saaty also wrote more than 35 books and 350 papers on mathematics and decision-making and was passionate about conflict resolution and global peace.
Established in 1996 by Thomas L. Saaty and his wife Rozann Whitaker Saaty, the Foundation promotes the cause of rational decision making. Mrs. Saaty now serves as president and is supported by a board that includes two of the Saaty sons along with educators from around the world. The Foundation, among other endeavors, sponsors training workshops and competitions like the Hackathon to increase awareness of how to make decisions using the AHP/ANP family of methods.
Recap of the Fourth Annual Hackathon, April 4 -6, 2025
Congratulations to the students who participated and earned a valuable certification. They learned AHP modeling techniques and used this to tackle AI bias in health. The winning team received a $2,000 award with $700 for second place and $300 for third. The awards went to:
First Place: Revati Wankhede
Second Place: Purva Chaudhari and Naman Gupta
Third Place: Tingting Yu and Abhishek Kulshrestha
Steering Committee:
Rozann Saaty
Elena Rokou
Laura Oknefski
Michael Taljan
Carole Reinert
About the Judging and Panel of Judges
Presentations will be evaluated based on each team’s ability to analyze the information presented by the business partner, to provide a clear definition of the problem to be solved, to effectively use the decision-making methods, and to be creative with their proposed solutions. The creativity shown by the proposed alternatives and the feasibility of the team’s solution will be of significant importance. Paramount, of course, is how effectively the teams communicate the recommended course of action.
The judges will comprise professionals with wide-ranging backgrounds and experiences related to the business partner’s issues or the AHP/ANP decision-making methods. Judges will include members from the international AHP/ANP community of academics, practitioners, and professionals/executives working with the business partner. The panel of judges for the preliminary and final rounds will differ.
Student Testimonials
The Saaty Hackathon has been incredibly rewarding, providing me with practical problem-solving experience, teamwork skills, and decision-making strategies like AHP. These experiences have improved my critical thinking skills, enriched my overall growth both personally and professionally.
There are lots of opportunities inside and outside of the classroom, such as the Saaty Hackathon, case competition, workshops, alumni networking, real-world projects with external client, and more. Also, various resources are available for professional developments such as CMCE, EIR, and student clubs.