AI adoption is defined as the transition from AI potential to proficiency.

Our mission is to Inspire Developers to Build. In today's market, that means inspiring them to build with AI. Whether it’s a public user exploring a new API or an enterprise employee upskilling, the way we measure that inspiration is the same: Submissions.

If a user registers but doesn't submit, we haven't inspired them to build.

The challenge we face is friction.

At every stage of the journey—from deciding to join, to finding an idea, to building, to hitting 'submit'—users face barriers. Our goal for this session is to identify those barriers and remove them.

The Objective: Solving the AI Adoption Problem

We will break into two tracks to identify where friction happens and propose "Big Swings" to fix it.

Note: A "Big Swing" refers to the impact, not necessarily the effort. It can be a big investment or a quick win. It can be a software feature, but it can just as easily be a new role (hiring), a new process, or a policy change that drastically improves results.

Requirements

The Two Tracks

Track A: Public Hackathons

  • The Developer: They have longer submission periods but competing priorities and need support.
  • The Goal: Our submission rate is between 5% and 15%. How do we increase it to 30%-50%?

Track B: Enterprise & Private Hackathons

  • The Employee: They have limited time and competing work priorities. Permission/encouragement to participate often depends on proving practical results quickly.
  • The Goal: Moving to "Guaranteed AI Adoption Outcomes." We can secure stronger buy-in from AI Transformation leaders by proving we can drive specific AI tool adoption. How do we modernize our approach, beyond the all-hands hackathon, to ensure employees learn these tools efficiently and produce valid results?
The Activity: 4 Stages of the Journey

Each track will examine the user journey across these four stages. Your goal is to propose at least one high-impact solution for each stage.

1. ATTRACTION (Reach, Messaging & Decision)

  • The Barrier: "I didn't hear about it" or "Is this worth my time?"
  • The Prompt: How do we improve our targeting (Community/Email/Discord, or other channels) so the right devs see the offer? How can we provide the right messaging, at the right time, in the right place, to the right audience? How can we highlight the prizes, learning, career growth so they sign up?

2. START (Setup / Access)

  • The Barrier: "I don't know what to build" or "I can't get started."
  • The Prompt: Sometimes the "Blank Page" is the biggest killer. Sometimes the friction is technical (integrating the API, setting up an environment), and sometimes it's creative (coming up with an idea). How do we solve both so they can start building immediately?

3. MIDDLE (Build)

  • The Barrier: "I’m stuck," "I forgot," or "I got busy."
  • The Prompt: How do we unblock users faster? How do we keep them motivated and on track with better scheduling or reminders? Is it AI-driven support? Is it structured checkpoints? Is it a human concierge service?

4. FINISH (Submission)

  • The Barrier: "It's too hard to demo or explain what I built, or I ran out of time, or I don’t want to demo."
  • The Prompt: We lose significant value in the last mile. How do we make submitting as easy as possible? How do we prove the value/ROI to the buyer (or the boss) so they do it again?

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$0 in cash
Swag
$0 in cash
3 winners

Swag prize

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Robin

Robin
Devpost

Victor

Victor
Devpost

Judging Criteria

  • Scope
    Did you define what you were building and what was explicitly out of scope?
  • Requirements
    Did you write user stories and acceptance criteria before you built?
  • Technical Spec
    Did you make architecture decisions upfront — or just wing it?
  • Working App
    Did you ship something real, not just a half-finished prototype?

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

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