The Fastest Way to Turn GenAI Hype into Real Business Value

You’re under pressure.
Senior execs want flashy generative AI results.
Your team wants to play with the latest tools.
Everyone’s excited, but no one agrees on what’s valuable.

How do you turn that chaos into meaningful impact?

I’ve heard this story from AI leaders again and again, and have lived it myself. Stakeholders above and below you are clamoring for you to deliver something, but most don’t share your understanding of what GenAI is good for, or where it fails. So how do you make sure you don’t get stuck building a series of shiny things that fail to deliver any results?

You need a structured way to harness enthusiasm, identify valuable use cases, and align the company around what matters.

An internal hackathons is the perfect tool for the job.

The Most Effective Way I’ve Found to Channel GenAI Energy

At my previous company, my team and I ran more than 30 premier hackathons around the world with large corporate partners. These events generated hundreds of companies and tech products that are still making a significant impact on the efficiency and sustainability of industry

Later, at Humyn.ai, we adapted this model to for our internal team. We used a lightweight version of the same playbook to run a focused GenAI hackathon. Within a week, we implemented the top idea. The feature added significant value for customers and showcased our ability to adopt new technology quickly. That feature wouldn’t exist without the hackathon.

Just as important, it energized the team.

Our engineers were already curious about GenAI. If we hadn’t provided a structured way to explore it together, they would’ve pursued it on their own—or potentially left for companies that seemed more open to innovation. The hackathon gave them an outlet and produced tangible business value. Big win.

How One Company Mobilized 250 People With a Single Hackathon

A VP of AI at a large reputation risk management company shared their approach with me. Every year, they run an internal hackathon across the entire company—all 250 employees.

Everyone looks forward to it. Why? Because it’s not a side project. It’s the main event.

Key to their success:

• Leadership is all-in. No business-as-usual work happens during the two-day hackathon.
• Ideas compete for talent. People pitch their projects and recruit teammates.
• Teams form across silos. Collaboration across regular reporting lines and functional units promotes diversity of ideas and approaches.
• Results are visible. Every team presents to the exec team at the end.
• Winning ideas get funded. Top projects are resourced and added to the near-term roadmap.

My colleague who works there, and has worked at other large tech companies, says it’s far more effective than the traditional “20% time” model.

4 Principles of a High-Impact Internal Hackathon

If you want to get the most from your own internal GenAI hackathon, bake these principles into your approach:

• Time-bound. Creativity thrives under constraint. Pick a focused window (1–2 days) and hold the deadline firm.
• Aligned. Participation isn’t optional. Leaders should plan ahead so everyone can contribute without splitting focus.
• Incentivized. Reward real business value, not just clever ideas. Winning projects should be eligible for real resources, not just applause.
• Promoted. Communicate early and often. Build anticipation, and afterward, showcase the results. The best hackathons become part of company lore.

You don’t need to resist GenAI enthusiasm from your stakeholders or suppress the curiosity in your team. You just need the right method to focus it.

A well-run internal hackathon can turn scattered excitement into real business impact.

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