What happens when you challenge budding engineers and developers to build something that’s not just cool, but also makes the world a better place?
That was the spirit behind a recent hackathon hosted by Locus, a global supply chain automation company, known for helping businesses perfect omni-channel fulfillment and delivery across all-miles.
Before it became a global leader in logistics and supply chain tech, Locus began its journey with RideSafe, a navigation app dedicated to women’s safety.
This year, the organization went back to its roots. On Women’s Day, Locus launched ‘Code For Her’, a hackathon open to young tech talent across India, inviting them to reimagine women’s safety through the lens of AI, data, and design.
But here’s the twist: the focus wasn’t on just celebrating Women’s Day. It was on sparking purposeful innovation, nudging the next generation of developers, builders and creators to think critically about the world around them, and how their skills can make it better.
“At Locus, we’ve always believed that technology finds its true meaning in the problems it solves,” said Geet Garg, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Locus. “This hackathon wasn’t about building the next viral app, but rather about sparking a mindset. We wanted young developers to see that when engineering is combined with empathy and intention, AI can do more than automate – it can protect, empower, and truly make a difference.”
The Winners
The hackathon received entries from first-year college students to early-career professionals solving for a common brief: designing an intelligent safety system that can help individuals, especially women, travel more confidently.
- 1st Place: Guardian Agents
Ashish Kumaraswamy, along with his team members Mathana Mathav and Arvind Puthocode, all young techies from Tamil Nadu, built something that went beyond navigation. Their AI-powered app introduced intelligent safety companions or ‘Guardian Agents’ that monitor real-time risk, and think efficiently to step in when something feels less than ideal. In addition to route planning, the app also acts like a protective presence on every journey.
“As a team passionate about AI and technology, we saw this as an opportunity to apply Agentic AI frameworks to address a real-world issue. The hackathon offered a platform to combine our technical skills with a socially relevant cause, motivating us to contribute and make a difference” – Ashish and his team shared.
- 2nd Place: NirbhayaPath
Shaik Mohammed Huzaifa, Software Engineer from Andhra Pradesh, built a highly intuitive and adaptive route-planning platform that integrates police data, community reviews, lighting conditions, and crime trends. The robust app features a safe route finder, a co-commuter matching tool ‘Sathi’, a smart SOS and escort mode along with community sourced safety ratings and AI-led risk predictions. - 3rd Place: SafeDen
Srushti Kumar, a 3rd-year Computer Science and Design student at KSIET, Bangalore designed a sleek safety dashboard with verified ‘safe havens’, real-time journey tracking, and tiered emergency support for different situations where help might be needed.
Why This Still Matters
Women’s safety isn’t a one-day conversation to be had on 8th March and forgotten for the rest of the time. According to 2025 NCRB data, over 88% of women in Indian metros report feeling unsafe after dark, with 60% altering their routes to avoid risk. The need for smart, user-first safety technology is urgent and ongoing.
Initiatives like these act as ‘nudges’ towards responsibility, empathy, and a tech culture that values solving problems for the world.
“As an organization that has always stood for building with empathy and innovating purposefully we were genuinely impressed.” said Vittal Sirigiri, Head of Data Science at Locus. “What really stood out was how these young minds thought about risk, behavior, context and not just code. Every entry showed a desire to use AI in ways that could genuinely help people. That’s the kind of thinking we were hoping to spark with CodeForHer. And honestly, that’s the kind of mindset we look for in our teams – curious, socially aware, and driven to solve real-world problems”.
Beyond the competition, this was also a quiet testament to the tech culture we are building at Locus. In an industry often dominated by speed, optimization, and cost-efficiency, this hackathon was a reminder that tech should never lose sight of its human purpose.
About Locus:
Founded in 2015, Locus is a leading global supply chain automation company transforming decision-making through the power of AI and ML. Our proprietary platform empowers enterprises to simplify logistics complexities, and optimize every mile of their supply chain. Operating across India, South East Asia, North America, Middle East and Europe, Locus is trusted by leaders like Unilever and Nestle to name a few and is recognized by Gartner. Keep in touch to see what’s next.
