JetBrains at the ICPC World Finals 2025 Baku
The ICPC World Finals 2025 in Baku was an unforgettable event, and we were honored to be part of it once again. It’s always a joy to see the brightest students from across the globe. The Finals reminds us why supporting the ICPC is such a vital mission – it’s about community, talent, and the future of technology.
This year, the Finals brought together the brightest students and ICPC teams from around the world, and we were glad to see that participants from the JetBrains-supported program at Neapolis University Pafos (NUP) also qualified to compete among the best. Their team, Sigma++, proudly represented their university in Baku and was awarded an Honors distinction at the World Finals.
In his welcome speech, Andrey Ivanov, Senior VP of People, Research, and Investments at JetBrains, highlighted what makes the ICPC so special for us:
“What I enjoy most about the ICPC and all its events is the feeling of a growing family and community. Every year we meet wonderful people – last year in Astana, this year here in Baku – and I know our paths will cross again and again.”
He also expressed gratitude to everyone who made the event possible:
“I want to thank all the organizers for making this event possible. The spirit of the ICPC is alive thanks to your efforts, and it’s a real joy to see such an incredible setting for the Finals here in Baku.”
His words reflected our long-standing commitment to the ICPC and the values we share with its community.
Highlights from JetBrains at the Finals
The booth and chillzone areas
Throughout the Finals week, we met with participants in two locations. At our booth, they enjoyed tackling the Kotlin Challenge, tested their predictions for the Finals outcomes, sent postcards to family and friends, and posed with Kodee. We also talked about JetBrains tools, including our new AI agent Junie, which we presented for the first time to such a large global ICPC audience.
In the bustling JetBrains chillzone area, participants tried the new Nav&Code Challenge (where one teammate sees the screen and the other types), snapped instant team photos, and took part in a fun quiz about JetBrains and the ICPC. They also tested their skills in our super-fun Junie challenge, where teams prompted Junie to build an app from a mockup, with twist cards adding surprises.
This setup worked especially well because, for the first time in years, all participants were staying in the same hotel – a unique opportunity that made it possible to create a shared space with our photo wall and activities. Right after the quiz and the Junie challenge, a participant came up to us and said:
“I just wanted to thank you for being here. It’s JetBrains that creates this amazing atmosphere.”
Both locations became lively hubs where contestants, coaches, and volunteers connected and shared their excitement for the competition. Another familiar detail was JetBrains notebooks on every team’s desk, a tradition we’ve maintained for years at both the ICPC Finals and regional contests. These special notebooks help participants structure their thoughts on paper during the contest – much like our tools support them in writing great code.
JetBrains Tech Trek and Kotlin Heroes
The highlight of our presence at the Finals was the JetBrains Tech Trek. JetBrains Developer Advocate Sebastian Aigner opened the session by introducing Junie, our smart coding agent. He then talked about JetBrains IDEs that help in competitions and real-world development, providing students and teachers with access to modern development tools and AI in classrooms worldwide. Sebastian also explored how Kotlin – one of the official ICPC languages – is used in education and industry, and can now help with building modern AI libraries using koog.ai, a new Kotlin framework for building AI agents.
This seamlessly led into the live stage contest, where two of the world’s top competitive programmers, Andrew ‘ecnerwala’ He and David ‘SecondThread’ Harmeyer, went head to head in a live coding race on stage. They were solving problems from the Kotlin Heroes: Episode 13 practice round, now open to all. The main contest will take place on September 12, which means you still have time to register and compete for a chance to win a T-shirt.
Looking ahead
In addition to demonstrating the power of algorithms and teamwork, the Finals in Baku reinforced the sense of community that connects ICPC participants worldwide. We were inspired to see students work hard, collaborate, discover solutions under time pressure, and just have fun together.
We were especially proud to see the majority of participants who had joined our Pafos Programming Camp 2025 in August. Eight of the teams made it into the top 50 worldwide:
- University of Novi Sad – 11th place, bronze medal 🥉
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology – 13th place (Highest Honors)
- University of Maryland – 14th place (Highest Honors), with 7 out of 9 elegant solutions written in Kotlin
- Hasso Plattner Institute – 29th place (High Honors)
- Università di Pisa – 39th place (High Honors)
- Delft University of Technology – 40th place (Honors)
- Jagiellonian University in Krakow – 42nd place (Honors)
- University of Wroclaw – 43rd place (Honors)
The full scoreboard can be found here.
It’s fantastic to see how well the teams prepared for the Finals, and we’re glad that Pafos Camp was part of their journey.
We congratulate all the medalists and finalists who made it to Baku. To every participant, coach, and organizer – thank you for your energy, passion, and determination!
Here’s to another year of the ICPC, to many more collaborations, and to the friendships and ideas that will keep growing beyond the Finals. Stay tuned for what’s next – and we’ll see you at future contests, camps, and challenges!
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