Introduction
Two weeks, 1,664 participants and 62 projects—each designed to address real-world challenges, from monitoring vegetation growth near power lines to automating vehicle homologation documentation. This captures the essence of supercharged hackathons: they not only fuel employee engagement but also deliver long-term benefits that extend well beyond the event itself.
More than just a learning opportunity, hackathons foster an environment where participants can dive into Gen AI within a fast-paced, startup-like setting, motivated by the spirit of healthy competition. It’s here that talent thrives, solutions emerge, and employees acquire valuable skills that will ripple through their careers and client projects alike.
Our recent collaboration with Capgemini’s AWS Hyperscalers team and Capgemini University exemplifies the transformative power of hackathon-led growth. This partnership enabled nearly 2,000 employees to earn AWS cloud skills training badges, introduced powerful Gen AI tools, and empowered Capgemini employees to expand their knowledge and capabilities, with the goal of scaling cloud-based AI solutions across Capgemini's global client base.
Together, we facilitated achieving the following objectives:
1. Training and upskilling: Almost 2000 new training badges acquired by Capgemini employees.
2. Sales and Innovation: Developed tailored industry use cases and a repository of solutions to showcase to clients.
3. Awareness: Ensured that Capgemini industry leaders are aware of the numerous AWS solutions that are available for client deployment.
An Opportunity to Upskill and Uplift
Hackathons have emerged as a sustainable, high-impact way to upskill thousands of employees in a concentrated timeframe. Impressively, this hackathon accelerated AWS training within Capgemini, enabling participants to earn new learning badges and help spark a substantial increase in overall certifications. Mini-university-style workshops ranging from a technical AWS workshop using Amazon Bedrock, to learning how to pitch like a pro, help ensure employees stay ahead with cutting-edge skills while crafting innovative, client-oriented solutions.
During the AWS Global Gen AI Hackathon, participants took on the challenge of creating solutions for industry-specific use cases, many of which addressed complex issues that would typically require much longer timeframes to tackle and achieve similar results. Through this event, employees gained invaluable skills from training and solution development that not only enhanced their individual roles but also future projects.
Global Collaboration: From Ideas to Impact
Across 16 unique use cases spanning the Energy, Financial Services, Automotive, and Aerospace & Defense industries, participants collaborated to tackle challenges and propose transformative solutions. Industry leaders submitted 4 use cases for each industry, alongside the name of subject matter experts (SMEs) who could help provide more context to the challenges posed. Our project team collected these use cases and refined them to ensure that they were suitable use cases to build for a hackathon.
With 1,664 hackers from over 41 countries, the AWS Global Gen AI Hackathon was truly a global event! Teams were composed of individuals with diverse skill sets — data analysts, business strategists, designers, developers, and marketers — combining their expertise to achieve a unified goal.
Onova hosted four workshops to guide participants from ideation to pitch, equipping them with essential skills and strategies for hackathon success. There were 44 mentors and judges offering their guidance and feedback. They got the chance to witness firsthand the dedication, energy and effort that went into each of the 62 proof of concepts that came out of this hackathon.
Innovative Use Case Solutions from AWS Gen AI Hackers
The AWS Global Gen AI Hackathon was a resounding success, spotlighting groundbreaking solutions across diverse industries. Congratulations to our Overall World and Energy Industry Champion: MACS (Diego Calvo Estaun, Joanna Pizun, Szymon Michalik, Rodrigo Kocurek Cardoso, Miroslaw Mac, Lech Dulian) — who utilized satellite imagery to monitor vegetation near power lines, addressing a critical challenge in the Energy sector.
The Automotive Industry Champions: AI Visionaries (Ganesh Khawale, Shrayanika Saha, Durga Prasad Gandrothu, Govinda Sai Kommuri, Mona, Ramakrishna Uppala), created transformative solutions for vehicle homologation.
The Aerospace & Defense Industry Champions: Tech Automation (Mahesh Chauhan, Rushikesh Anil Mhatre, Rahul Sumbrui, Tharani S) took the lead with a solution to streamline customs processes.
The Financial Services Industry Champions: GenAI Innovators (Vijaya Kumar Pabothu, Aradhana Das, Veeresh Godugu, Somu Shekkar Potnuru, Lovely Sangahi), who leveraged Gen AI to enhance regulatory compliance workflows.
Each of these champions set a new benchmark for what’s possible when you bring together talent, technology, and industry insight. Projects demonstrated practical applications of Gen AI with solutions as a testament to the versatility of hackathons as powerful tools for both training and solution development.
Messages from the Final Round Judges
In the Final Round Judging session, members from our distinguished panel provided some uplifting words and celebrated the hard work of participants.
Emmanuelle Bischoffe-Cluzel shared these thoughts with the Automotive Industry Champions:
I think you have really understood the challenge of the client with all these documentation, regulation that they have to understand, and the documentation they have to fill in… I have seen team spirit in your team, the way you share the work and collaborate.
Bragadesh Damodaran also congratulated the Energy Industry winners:
I would like to congratulate all participants and winners because your ingenuity, perseverance, and relentless pursuit of excellence have set you apart. Being a participant of the hackathon is a testament to your expertise, vision, and ability to turn cutting-edge technology into something meaningful. I see a lot of creativity, passion, and teamwork that is pushing the boundaries of technology.
Conclusion
The AWS Global Gen AI Hackathon showcased that learning doesn’t end at the classroom door or after onboarding. It’s all about creating environments where employees can continually evolve, introducing a learning-centred approach to corporate training. Hackathons are not only a catalyst for building technical skills but for fostering a founders mindset of continuous improvement and innovation.
As one final message to all participants, we leave you with this quote shared by Final Round Judge and Capgemini Organizing Team Member, Genevieve Chamard: “Fall in love with the problem, not the solution.” It’s a reminder that the journey of solving complex challenges often yields the most rewarding growth. Congratulations to all participants of the AWS Global Gen AI Hackathon 2024!
Watch our AWS Global Gen AI Hackathon Recap video below:
