Introduction
Our recent AI-powered hackathon hosted at the end of February in London wasn't just a coding sprint; it was a journey of discovery, collaboration, and real-world impact. AI showed us what’s now possible - in just 2.5 hours, teams built solutions that once took days. Let me share some of the magic.
RiverHacks was hosted in The Graffiti Tunnel, London Waterloo
🧠 What we did
For 2.5 hours, a diverse group of engineers, creatives and consultants tackled one of two real world customer challenges. Our leadership team at Riverflex reached out to our client stakeholders to request real challenges they are facing that could be solved using AI. We spent time with our clients to refine the challenges so that they were specific and we brought into the room at our hackathon.
🚀 The challenges
- Develop an AI application that automates and enhances investment manager workflows, from market analysis to decision support, by leveraging data-driven insights, with potential enhancements through ESG factors and alternative data integration.
- Develop an AI assistant that empowers retail sales associates with real-time, personalised customer insights and recommendations by instantly identifying loyalty members and accessing their data, while adhering to privacy standards.
🛠️ What happened on the day
Our clients were in the room with us on the day to help judge the winning solution. The energy was palpable, with teams diving deep into problem-solving, but it was more than just excitement – it was about driving tangible change.
It was mentioned time and time again, during the hackathon and reflecting post the event, the incredible power and speed at which these AI tools can help us research, offer actionable insights, ideate solutions, build working prototypes, solve challenges, and more. No coding experience required! What used to take 24 to 48 hours in a hackathon, can now be done in 2.5 hours!
I was particularly struck by the quality of the solutions and the pitch decks developed in just 2.5 hours. The teams worked in groups of 3 – none of them had met each other prior and they didn’t know what the challenges were until 30 minutes before the time started ticking. They were provided the challenge brief and evaluation criteria after a short masterclass on how to use some of these AI tools – then the hacking began!
Teams working together to solve their chosen challenge
The masterclass was a new addition to our hackathon format from last year and it received great recognition. We reached out to some of our expert network consultants to share some top tips and tools in a short session before the hackathon. We were taken through a recommended approach to solving these challenges in the short space of time and what tools could be used to accelerate the work by Anton, an experienced technology leader and speaker. Igor, a technical leader and solutions engineer with an MSc in AI, then took us on a journey of discovering how advanced AI-powered engineering and development tools have become. We all learnt a huge amount in the short 30-minute masterclass from these experts.
Igor giving his masterclass
Lakshmi, a seasoned engineer herself, said she learnt so much about all the different tools available during the masterclass:
“The hackathon has been quite brilliant for me today. The reasons why, mainly I learnt so much about the tools out there that can make your life easier and the masterclass that I attended sort of opened my eyes towards broader opportunities that are there with AI as well as the risks and downfalls that it comes with so it’s sort of quite a learning for me.”
“My main takeaway from the masterclass was changing your workflows to accommodate these new tools. Learning a new tool and a new way of working can be time consuming at first but could drastically speed up your productivity and give you time for things that truly matter to you.” – Jessica Straeuli, Consulting Manager
🏗️ What was built
We saw teams push boundaries and create prototypes that addressed the challenges from our clients. We had teams building working facial recognition prototypes, voice assistants and clickable dashboard mock-ups.
Teams working on the retail challenge had mock-ups of customer profiles with purchase history, recommended products and conversation starters, as well as sales analytics dashboards and stock levels.
Teams working on the investment challenge created dashboards to manage investment opportunities, conduct due diligence, review value metrics and change risk/category relevancy weightings.
Teams pitching their ideas and the winning team in the middle
💡 What we learned
“I've always believed, and I believe more now, more than ever, is if you develop an expertise, or domain knowledge around what you want to do, AI is there to augment you, to make you more powerful, and it works so well at doing that.” - Riverflex network consultant, Prem
These AI tools can be used to make our lives easier, help us work faster and smarter, and allow us humans to spend time on the things that really matter.
Beyond the prototypes, we gained valuable insights. I realized that you simply need to start playing around with AI tools. Ask how others are using these tools to get ideas on how it can be beneficial to you and your work. The worst thing we can do right now is be complacent or you’ll risk getting left behind.
These hackathons are a cost effective way for organisations to rapidly generate tangible, AI-powered prototypes for the challenges they’re currently facing, significantly faster than traditional methods. It’s also an opportunity to shift mindsets of your teams to embrace AI but also get practical experience and knowledge of AI tools. Finally, the hackathon is a great team building activity where teams can get creative through a collaborative and engaging experience.
🔮 What’s next
We’re already planning our next AI hackathon. If you're ready to be part of something bold, to explore what’s possible and solve real-world problems with AI, let’s talk. Because at Riverflex,we help courageous leaders drive transformative change- and that’s exactly what this is all about.
