Learn about using public and internal hackathons to solve some of the biggest business challenges.
There’s a reason the expression “two heads are better than one” exists. When it comes to brainstorming new ideas, more people usually means more ideas. That’s part of the reason why hackathons are so beneficial to organizations. You don’t necessarily need to have a team of thousands to dream up new business solutions. Instead, you can focus on giving people the tools to help them think outside the box.
In this post, you’ll learn about five challenges your business can solve with public and internal hackathons. Let’s get hacking!
From crowdsourcing use cases to recruitment, there are a lot of reasons to host a hackathon. One of the main benefits of hosting a hackathon is inspiring innovation. Whether it’s a public hackathon or a private event that’s only open to employees, framing a problem in a new way can lead to all kinds of creative solutions.
Public hackathons allow organizations to work with people from all over the world and with various skill sets to help solve problems. Internal hackathons (sometimes also called business hackathons) help inspire new ideas, too. They’re also an excellent tool for building company culture and encouraging collaboration.
Read on to see the different challenges your business can solve with hackathons and the benefits of each.
Hackathon Type: Public Hackathon
It’s hard to turn innovative thinking on and off. Not to mention that it can be a challenge to fit blue-sky thinking into day-to-day work. But, what if you could leverage a huge community of innovators? That’s one of the reasons why hackathons were created in the first place.
Hosting a public hackathon is a great way to tap into fresh ideas from participants with diverse experiences and skill sets. The competitive setting and timeline help keep things on track, but otherwise, there’s no limit to participants’ creativity. External participants could have an entirely different way of thinking and can offer unique solutions to problems compared to internal teams.
With new technology—like AI—emerging every day, hackathons provide a platform to explore and integrate cutting-edge technologies. You can leverage outside expertise in those areas to help your business stay ahead of the curve, embrace new trends, and drive disruptive change in your industry.
Related reading: See how the Google Cloud x MLB™ Hackathon hit a home run with 7,600+ developers.
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Hackathon Type: Public and Internal Hackathons
One of the most common reasons for hosting a hackathon is to test a new product, app, or tool. The good news is that this can be done with either a public or internal hackathon.
A public hackathon will put your product in the hands of a wide variety of developers and designers. They’ll get to play around with it—likely finding bugs or ways to improve it. This type of feedback is invaluable for companies to refine their product development roadmap. It can also significantly accelerate prototyping depending on what participants are asked to create.
On the other hand, a internal hackathon leverages your team’s deep knowledge of the product, your company goals, your customer base, and other resources. It can be a great starting point for organizations looking to poke holes into a new product before investing substantial resources into its development.
While the hackathon itself is excellent for creating initial prototypes, the real value comes from what happens next. It's essential to establish a process for evaluating these prototypes, identifying the most promising ones, and allocating resources for further development.
Organizations should consider establishing a 'post-hackathon innovation pipeline' to ensure these projects don't get lost. This involves tracking project progress, gathering feedback, and potentially handing off development to dedicated teams within the company.
Janet Carmody, Head of Culture at Motorola Solutions, shared how her organization does this with its internal hackathons:
"For the return on investment in our products, we have ongoing efforts for the rest of the year. We have a 'Hack-on' space in Devpost where teams can continue with their projects, have oversight by some of our senior leadership teams, and get further resources," said Janet Carmody, Motorola Solutions.
Related reading: See how to set up a long-term innovation pipeline and measure the success of internal hackathons.
Hackathon Type: Internal Hackathon
There’s no one better suited to solving company-specific problems and process issues than the people who experience them every day. A internal hackathon is an effective way to ask team members to help improve internal processes. They have a deep understanding of specific pain points and can use their knowledge to develop tailored solutions.
This is especially important when it comes to unlocking AI’s value within organizations. AI distribution within companies requires teams to experiment and get hands-on with AI tools. The challenge is that product and internal innovation teams are usually stretched thin or limited by tight production sprints. Hackathons offer a structured, time-bound environment where teams can explore AI applications, test their ideas, and rapidly build prototypes.
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Hackathon Type: Internal Hackathon
Companies promoting collaborative work environments have been linked to a 50% reduction in turnover rates. Additionally, employees are 17% more satisfied with their jobs when they have a collaborative work environment.
Internal hackathons bring together employees from different teams. This gives them a chance to build relationships with people they otherwise might not have worked with. Employees can showcase their problem-solving skills in a setting outside of their day-to-day work, which helps foster an innovative, collaborative culture within the organization.
Participants value more than just the hackathon experience. They value recognition, prizes, and seeing their ideas come to life. Investing in promising projects reinforces a culture of innovation and shows employees that their contributions matter. This sense of recognition can significantly boost morale and engagement.
Hackathons can also create long-term opportunities within the company. For example, employees with winning ideas might get a chance to lead the project or join a new team focused on implementing it. This helps foster an innovative, collaborative culture within the organization, while also providing clear paths for career development and growth.
Hackathon Type: Public and Internal Hackathons
A big reason for running a hackathon comes down to the participants themselves. They tend to be creative, good at problem-solving, and enjoy taking on new challenges. They also tend to be great team members and assets to their organizations. Essentially, these are people you want to work with!
Hosting a public hackathon will attract people who are interested in your industry. From a recruitment standpoint, hackathon participants are strong potential candidates. You can assess how they tackle problems and you can reasonably assume they’re interested in your organization (or they likely wouldn’t have participated in your hackathon).
While an internal hackathon isn’t useful for recruiting external candidates, it can be a great way to identify internal talent. Employees can flex their skills in new ways and it can help promote employee growth and career development.
Despite their competitive nature, hackathons bring people together with the goal of solving a common problem. Hackathons are highly customizable to fit business needs and the possibilities for innovation are endless. You never know what a spark of creativity could turn into!
Looking for inspiration for your next hackathon? Check out all the open hackathons on Devpost.
