Host Your Own AI Hackathon
Step by Step Guide on Hosting your own AI Hackathon at work
With AI's rapid advancement and companies like Nvidia reaching historic market caps, it's natural to wonder how AI impacts you as a product manager and your company as a whole.
The great news is that experimenting with AI is accessible to anyone with a phone or laptop and an internet connection. Here’s how you can get started and eventually host your own AI hackathon at work.
Getting Started with AI
Interacting with AI is simpler than you might think. Start by familiarizing yourself with prompting techniques (known as prompt engineering) and build your own GPTs using tools like ChatGPT-4o.
Save your prompts and approaches in a note-taking app like Evernote to build a library of effective prompts. This hands-on experience will reveal the quirks and features of AI models, helping you structure prompts to get high-quality responses.
Tip! Once you feel you’ve got a good prompt with an output you think is high quality do the following 2 things
Ask the AI model to score your prompt from 1 to 10 while ensuring it acts as the best prompt engineer in the world. Once it scores it (say it scores it a 7.5); then ask it how to make the prompt at 10 out of 10. Notice the changes it makes to the prompt.
Once you have a solid output and a high quality prompt; send the output to another model (example: Output from Chat-GPT into Claude 3.5) and ask the 2nd model to score the quality of the output on grammar, or logic, or content.
Try building a simple GPT on any topic of interest. For example, my first GPT was filled with free PDFs about golden retrievers to consult when I had questions about my dog, Louie.
Once I have a good familiarity with how to navigate around chatting with AI Models, it was extremely clear to me how useful this technology can be in a work environment.
Is AI being used at your organization today? Are you talking about it at work with colleagues and leaders?
Why Host an AI Hackathon?
Once you’re comfortable with the basics, it might be time to take your AI journey a step further by hosting an AI hackathon at your company. This can be a game-changer, fostering innovation, improving processes, and preparing your organization for a future where AI plays a central role.
The companies that are experimenting and learning AI now are going to have a fighting chance when when competitors (that are built from scratch with AI at its core) enter the market. It's only a matter of time!
How to Host an AI Hackathon at Work
1. Check with Security and Privacy Teams
Ensure compliance with your company’s data privacy policies. Avoid using personal customer information or proprietary company data.
Confirm that you can use AI tools like ChatGPT-4 and Claude 3.5 on work devices.
2. Define the Purpose and Goals
Clearly articulate the hackathon's purpose, such as:
Fostering innovation for internal processes
Building consumer value on external platforms
Solving specific business problems
Enhancing team collaboration across departments
3. Secure Buy-In and Sponsorship
Get leaders interested in AI to support your initiative.
Secure a budget for prizes, food, venue, and other resources.
4. Select a Date, Venue, and Timing
Choose a date that doesn’t clash with major company events or holidays.
Consider using the office as the venue to save money and be mindful of commuting to other locations. Offer a remote options as well.
If possible, schedule part of the hackathon during work hours to encourage participation.
5. Form an Organizing Team
Assign roles such as event coordinator, technical mentor, and marketing lead.
Ensure the technical mentor provides teams with clean, non-production data.
6. Develop the Theme and Rules of Engagement
Choose central themes like “Improving Customer Experience with AI” or “Internal Process Improvement with AI.”
Require teams to submit a pitch deck with a clear problem statement and target KPIs.
Set rules for team composition and deliverables, such as high-fidelity mockups or prototypes.
7. Plan the Agenda
Announce the hackathon and request team submissions.
Why You Should Participate in Our AI Hackathon
Exciting and Engaging: This isn’t just another workday. Our AI hackathon promises to be an exhilarating experience that will have you more motivated than ever.
Build New Relationships: Forge new connections across departments. This event is designed to bring together individuals who haven’t had the chance to collaborate before, fostering cross-functional teamwork.
Inclusive for Non-Engineers: Unlike typical hackathons, this event welcomes participants from all areas—design, product, marketing, and customer support! Everyone has a role to play.
Create Learning Opportunities: Over the course of the hackathon, you’ll have the chance to experiment with and learn about new technologies and approaches, enhancing your skill set in a hands-on environment.
Provide a hacking timeframe and offer workshop hours with AI experts. This AI Expert may be someone at your organization or you depending on how much time folks at your organization have spent with AI. Highly suggest talking with your development team to see if someone has AI experience and if they can help.
Schedule final presentations, ensuring both in-person and virtual participation options.
8. Promote the Event
Use internal channels like Teams, Slack, and email to promote the hackathon.
Provide registration links and set a deadline for team submissions.
9. Arrange Logistics
Ensure access to approved AI models.
Plan for food and beverages if there is an in person aspect.
Prepare AI experts for open office hours during the hacking phase.
Schedule judges and block their calendars in advance.
10. Execute the Event
Kick off the hackathon with an inspiring speech.
Support teams in getting started and keep the energy high with regular announcements.
Serve as the MC to manage the event flow and communications.
11. Evaluate and Award
Judges should evaluate projects based on innovation, feasibility, and impact:
1. Innovation (1-10)
Definition: Measures the creativity and originality of the idea.
1-2: The project is not original and shows no new thinking. It is a simple reproduction of existing solutions.
3-4: The project shows minor elements of originality but largely replicates existing ideas with slight modifications.
5-6: The project introduces some innovative elements but is somewhat similar to existing solutions.
7-8: The project is highly original, with significant innovative features that distinguish it from existing solutions.
9-10: The project is groundbreaking, presenting a completely new idea or approach that has not been seen before.
Feasibility (1-10)
Definition: Measures the practicality and viability of the project’s implementation.
1-2: The project is highly impractical and faces major technical or logistical challenges that render it almost impossible to implement.
3-4: The project has some serious feasibility issues and would require significant changes or resources to be viable.
5-6: The project is somewhat feasible but would need considerable effort, resources, and time to implement effectively.
7-8: The project is largely feasible with minor challenges that can be addressed with moderate effort.
9-10: The project is highly feasible, with a clear and realistic plan for implementation that is practical and achievable within existing constraints.
Impact (1-10)
Definition: Measures the potential positive effect or benefit of the project on its intended audience or field.
1-2: The project has minimal to no potential impact, affecting very few people or having a negligible effect.
3-4: The project has limited impact, benefiting a small group of people or addressing a minor issue.
5-6: The project has moderate impact, with the potential to benefit a notable number of people or solve a somewhat significant problem.
7-8: The project has substantial impact, positively affecting a large group of people or addressing a significant issue effectively.
9-10: The project has a transformative impact, with the potential to benefit a very large number of people or revolutionize a major field or issue.
Each project can be scored individually for each criterion and then a total score can be calculated to determine the overall ranking:
Total Score = Innovation Score + Feasibility Score + Impact Score
In the case of a tie; the judges will be required to submit a final judgement on who ultimately wins
A first place, second place, and third place winner will be awarded with corresponding prizes.
12. Share the Results
Highlight the hackathon process and outcomes in an internal newsletter.
Showcase all participating teams and their projects.
Feature the winning team and their innovative solution.
Discuss follow-up actions and future hackathons.
The Benefits
Hosting an AI hackathon will not only position you as a forward-thinking leader but also significantly expand your professional network. It provides a platform for showcasing innovative ideas and learning from your peers. While organizing a hackathon requires effort, the rewards in terms of recognition and personal growth are substantial.
The only con to the above is that you have to put in the work - but as you know, great things in life come as a result of hard work. Embrace the challenge and help lead your organization into the future of AI.
Research about Hackathon’s benefits
Some papers highlight the significant importance and benefits of hosting hackathons within companies.
Until next week!
Jason
