Hackfest 2024: Here’s what happened

On 10th June, many talented Atom people from across the bank assembled to kick off our first ever Hackfest. It was the inaugural edition of our new hackathon event series, so obviously we were very excited to get things rolling.

In our previous blog post, we discussed what Hackfest is, how it started and the benefits it will bring to our people and the wider business. Be sure to check out that piece if you want to discover more about the event in general.

So, let’s take a deeper dive into what happened at Atom’s Hackfest 2024!

What was Hackfest 2024?

Hackfest 2024 was a two-day hackathon that brought together people from across Atom bank with the aim of finding viable solutions to real world problems the business faces. Participants were provided with access to emerging tech to help them design and build their solutions. The goal was to celebrate and encourage innovation by getting talented people from all over the business collaborating together in a space where creative ideas could flourish and bonds could be strengthened.

How did the event unfold?

The participants were divided into two teams, who competed to build the best solution to a complex problem statement. Over the course of the event, teams had an introduction and then access to cutting edge AI technology to help them achieve their desired goal.

In between all of the hacking, sessions were broken up by inspiring talks from a series of speakers who delivered topical talks on AI’s impact on businesses and customers.

At the end of two days of hacking, teams presented their solutions to a judging panel made up of Atom’s leadership team and some of our partners. The deliberations to determine the winning team were animated, as both teams presented top notch solutions.

Who took part in the event?

Hackfest 2024 brought in colleagues from all over the organisation. Participants included:

• Customer Support team members
• Process Improvement Analysts
• People Business Partners
• Change Delivery team members
• Software Engineers
• Business Analysts
• Solution Architects

This diverse mix of talent underscored our ongoing commitment to fostering a collaborative culture that values different perspectives.

All of our participants were assigned to one of two teams, who competed together throughout the event.

Who were the speakers?

The event kicked off with an inspiring keynote address from Atom’s CEO, Mark Mullen, who emphasised the importance of innovation and agility in the ever-evolving banking sector, and encouraged participants to push the boundaries of what’s possible with AI and machine learning. He touched on key points including how teams should test and experiment ruthlessly, and then fail and learn quickly for success.

Throughout the event, two other keynote speakers provided insights from various perspectives on the role of AI in transforming business operations and enhancing customer experiences. These talks highlighted how developing AI credentials and cultivating a culture of innovation are fundamental to achieving our ambitious goals.

What was the challenge?

Our teams were challenged to analyse our bank’s information needs, then explore and identify a knowledge gathering solution using cutting edge tools like AI.

What was the outcome of Hackfest 2024?

Our teams worked tirelessly to come up with an effective solution that was able to solve the challenge and meet the problem statement. Thankfully, there were plenty of eureka moments and only a few ‘back to the drawing board’ misfires, and the standard of hacking was incredibly high from the beginning.

However, as the second day of the event drew to a close, one team came up with an innovative information solution that blew the judges away, making them worthy winners of our very first Hackfest.

Alex Langley took part in Hackfest and praised the opportunity to collaborate: “It was fantastic for Operations to collaborate with Technology in the same room, gaining insights into each other’s ways of working. Additionally, getting hands-on experience with AI was exceptional and felt invaluable.”

Russell Collingham is Atom’s Senior Enterprise Architect and was a judge at Hackfest, he said: “Both teams tackled different challenging but real problems around information access within Atom. The winning team curated a complex prompt to deliver an answer from multiple embedded knowledge documents. The event was a great success in terms of raising awareness and an understanding of the capabilities of generative AI.”

It’s extremely safe to say that we can’t wait for Hackfest 2025!

Sound like an event you’d love to be a part of? Come work with us! Check out the latest roles available on our careers page today.