How to get executive buy-in for your internal hackathons (With templates)
Hackathon planning
How to get executive buy-in for your internal hackathons (With templates)
Learn how to secure leadership approval for your internal hackathon—and get access to a business case template you can use to build your pitch.
By
Stephanie Rochon
Content Marketing Manager at Devpost
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Running an internal hackathon is one of the most effective ways to accelerate innovation, boost employee engagement, and drive business results. But without leadership support, even the best hackathon ideas can stall before they start.
In this post, you'll learn how to build a compelling business case for your internal hackathon, win executive buy-in, and lay the groundwork for a successful innovation event for employees.
Before diving into the "how," let's address the "why." To secure executive support, you need to clearly articulate the strategic value of internal hackathons.
Internal hackathons drive tangible business outcomes:
Innovation pipeline: Hackathons can generate ideas that make it into production. Toyota, for example, has used internal hackathons to develop features that have been implemented in vehicles.
AI transformation: Hackathons offer a structured, time-bound environment where teams can explore AI applications, test their ideas, and build prototypes.
Employee engagement: Hackathons break down cross-department barriers and improve collaboration, fostering a more connected workforce. Employee engagement increases productivity by 18% and boosts profitability by 23%.
Internal skill-building: Organizations report that up to 90% of participants say they learn something during hackathons and that they plan to use it in their work.
Cost efficiency: Hackathons are a cost-effective way to experiment with emerging technologies—like generative AI tools—before purchasing enterprise licenses. As Neta Retter, Director of Innovation at Okta, explains:
“We were able to have very low costs because you only need temporary access in a hackathon…This is an easy place to experiment by giving short access in a sandbox environment, and then we can decide which tools we want to buy into later,” said Neta Retter, Okta.
Find your internal champions
There is probably someone in your organization who has experience with hackathons and knows their value. Before you make your executive pitch, find your internal champions who get it.
Who to look for:
Innovation team members: They understand the value of experimentation
Engineering leaders: Often have experience with hackathons from previous roles
AI/ML teams: Interested in hands-on opportunities to test emerging AI technologies
People & Culture teams: Recognize the engagement, culture, and learning benefits
Product managers: Value the rapid prototyping potential
Once you’ve found your champions, get an understanding of what each team hopes to gain from internal hackathons. This will help you put together your executive pitch and with hackathon planning down the road.
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Build your executive pitch
Getting executive support starts with a clear, well-developed concept and addressing what leadership cares about most—outcomes.
Your pitch should outline exactly what will happen during the hackathon, how leadership will be involved, and what time commitment will be needed. Janet Carmody, Head of Culture at Motorola Solutions, emphasizes: “It’s about approaching leadership with a fully-formed idea...Take it past the initial concept."
Once you have your champions and concept in place, here's how to structure your case for executive support:
#1 Clearly define the hackathon’s value proposition
Frame the hackathon in terms of outcomes leadership cares about:
Innovation: Show how hackathons can surface new ideas and solutions that might not be possible through traditional brainstorming or project work.
Collaboration: Highlight how the event will foster cross-functional teamwork and knowledge-sharing.
Employee engagement: Explain how offering employees a space to be creative and solve problems can boost morale, reduce attrition, and increase profitability. A recent Gallup report found that employee engagement increases productivity by 18% and boosts profitability by 23%.
Problem-solving: Tie the hackathon directly to key business challenges or opportunities the company is facing.
Demonstrate that you’ve thought through the logistics and the strategic fit:
Clear objectives: Define the goals of the hackathon and how it aligns with the company's overall strategy. Where possible, highlight how different departments' priorities are reflected.
Format: Determine whether you intend to run the hackathon in-person, virtually, or as a hybrid of the two. (Need help deciding? Our AI hackathon guide can help you determine which is best for you.)
Timeline: Outline the key dates and milestones of the hackathon, including event duration and how much time will be required from executives.
Budget: Provide a realistic budget, including costs for technical resources and tools, travel (if in-person), and the time it will take organizers to manage.
Key stakeholders: Identify the individuals and teams critical to the hackathon’s success and offer flexible ways for executives to participate. Senior leaders can act as judges, mentors, or event champions depending on their availability. Offering multiple levels of involvement makes it easier for more executives to say yes without requiring large time commitments.
#3 Tailor the presentation to executive concerns
Make it easy for leadership to say yes by connecting your hackathon plan to measurable business outcomes:
Highlight measurable outcomes: Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) that can be used to measure the success of the hackathon, like the number of new ideas generated, employee participation rate, number of ideas moved to pilot, etc.
Address concerns: Acknowledge potential risks, like under-participation, and share mitigation plans such as scheduled communications, pre-event training, and executive visibility strategies.
Pro tip: Make it easy for people to participate by simplifying the registration process, providing tools and support, and communicating important information. Learn more about how to boost hackathon sign-ups.
Download template-ready metrics you can use
Ready to build your case? We’ve created a free business case for internal hackathon software with the framework and data you need to demonstrate the ROI and value of a dedicated hackathon platform.
You’ll get:
A clear outline of the benefits and strategic advantages of Devpost for Teams
A step-by-step guide to calculate potential time and cost savings
Key talking points to convince stakeholders
A ready-to-use document to help you prove the value of hackathons to your organization
Set yourself up for success—download your free business case and make your pitch impossible to ignore.
Why your platform matters (And how Devpost for Teams can help)
Executive support depends on the hackathon concept and your ability to execute it smoothly. A professional, seamless event builds leadership trust—and that’s where the right internal hackathon platform makes all the difference.
Devpost for Teams empowers you to:
Run your entire hackathon in one place: Manage deadlines, projects, judging, communications, and reporting in a single, easy-to-use platform.
Boost participation and engagement: Team-building tools and streamlined participant management keep the experience smooth for everyone.
Simplify judging:Built-in judging features and participant voting make evaluating projects intuitive and flexible, ensuring a smooth experience for executive judges and other voters.
Capture and share outcomes: A permanent project gallery showcases submissions after the hackathon so they’re easily accessible for future reference, building upon, or implementation.
Without a dedicated platform, hidden costs add up:
Manual coordination eats into organizers’ time
Poor participant experience often leads to low engagement
Valuable ideas get lost without a clear way to track or follow up
Next steps: Your action plan
Internal hackathons can spark real innovation, build stronger teams, and drive lasting business impact—but it all starts with getting leadership on board. By crafting a clear business case, engaging the right stakeholders, and showing executives exactly what's in it for them, you’ll be ready to turn your vision into action.
