Hackathons have emerged as a powerful tool to drive innovation, recruitment and engagement in the tech industry. These intense, time-bound events bring together strategists, developers, designers, and other tech enthusiasts to accelerate technologies to create cutting-edge solutions for aching real-world problems.
In this article, explore with us 10 hackathon ideas for company used by global tech giants to advance their technological edge. From Amazon’s community-driven series to IBM’s technology adoption training and Google’s inclusion efforts, each event with its own goal, format and outcome; brings forward a unique flavor to the hackathon culture.
Amazon Alexa Champions: To nurture the developer community
- Organized annually
- Organizer: Amazon Alexa
- Theme: Voice Technology
- Format: Virtual
- Results: Over 4,454 participants and 1,200 projects submitted as of 2024
The Amazon Alexa Champions program recognizes and celebrates exceptional developers who are dedicated to advancing the Alexa ecosystem. These champions are then mentored by Amazon experts and asked to test out new features, as well as continuously contribute their insights and ideas for Alexa. Since the program began in 2016, Amazon has collected 87 Champions, fostering a collaborative environment for developers to learn, grow, and innovate together.
AWS PartyRock Hackathon Ideas for it company: To build AI-powered apps
- Organized annually
- Organizer: AWS
- Theme: AI and Machine Learning
- Format: Virtual
- Results: Over 7,650 participants and 1,200 projects submitted as of 2024
The AWS PartyRock Generative AI Hackathon is a premier annual event that challenges builders to create innovative generative AI-powered applications. This hackathon project ideas provides a hands-on experience using PartyRock, an Amazon Bedrock Playground, which serves as a fast and fun way to learn about Prompt Engineering and Foundational Models (FMs). Participants engage in categories like interactive learning, creative assistants, and experimental entertainment, building functional apps with generative AI.
IBM’s Quantum Challenge: To drive technology adoption
- Organized annually
- Organizer: IBM
- Theme: Quantum Computing
- Format: Virtual
- Results: Education and promotion of quantum computing
The IBM Quantum Challenge, a bi-annual global event held each Spring and Fall, provides participants with the opportunity to learn and apply quantum computing with company experts. Over three weeks, participants will accumulate experience with Qiskit, IBM’s open-source quantum computing framework, to prepare for a final problem-solving task. Notably in 2019, the hackathon was hosted in partnership with AngelHack, a hackathon agency and Keio University, pulling in over 700 participants and over 40 final submissions.
JPMorgan Chase Code for Good: To tackle social problems
- Organized annually
- Organizer: JP Morgan Chase
- Theme: Social Wellbeing
- Format: Hybrid (On-site at multiple cities and virtual)
- Results: Hundreds of participants and dozens of projects, with many leading to internships and further development opportunities.
JPMorgan Chase Code for Good is an annual 48-hour hackathon for talented students and technology enthusiasts, aiming to develop solutions that address real-world challenges faced by non-profit organizations. Each team of 4 to 6 individuals will be paired with a mentor from JPMorgan Chase for technical guidance and industry expertise. Several innovative solutions have emerged through the program such as a mobile app to help food banks optimize their inventory and distribution, a platform to connect homeless individuals with local resources and services, and an application to streamline volunteer management for community organizations. JP Morgan Chase is also able to foster a spirit of social responsibility, and showcase the potential of technology to drive positive change.
Polkadot Global Series: To expand the ecosystem
- Organized annually
- Organizer: Polkadot
- Theme: Blockchain
- Format: Virtual
- Results: From 2021 to 2023, the series was carried out by AngelHack, with each event attracting 1,000+ participants and 60+ qualified projects, with more than $600,000 in total rewards distributed.
The Polkadot Global Series is an annual hackathon that aims to accelerate the adoption of blockchain technology by fostering innovation and collaboration within the Polkadot ecosystem. Participants will work on various challenges spanning different aspects like DeFi, gaming, NFTs and community building to leverage Polkadot’s interoperability and scalability features.
🏆 Want to know how it’s done? Read the full case study of Polkadot hackathon →
Shell AI Hackathon Ideas: For sustainable and affordable energy
- Organized annually
- Organizer: Shell, Microsoft, Udacity
- Theme: Sustainable Energy powered by AI
- Format: Hybrid (On-site at various Shell locations and virtual)
- Results: Hundreds of participants and dozens of projects, with winning teams receiving funding and further development opportunities.
The Shell annual hackathon is focused on creating AI-driven solutions to enhance energy sustainability and affordability. Participants collaborate in teams to develop innovative projects such as predictive maintenance for renewable energy systems, optimizing energy consumption, and smart grid technologies. These solutions aim to reduce environmental impact and support adoption of renewable energy, showcasing Shell’s commitment to global environmental goals.
Want to organize an AI Hackathon? Contact us here →
Google Girl Hackathon: promote diversity & inclusion
- Organized annually
- Organizer: Google
- Format: Virtual
- Theme: Various tracks in computer science
- Results: Promotion of diversity and inclusion in India’s tech scene
Google Girl Hackathon is a program for women students and developers across India, providing a platform to showcase their skills and build creative solutions for real-time technical challenges. Furthermore, it is an empowering initiative for women in tech, contributing to greater diversity and inclusion in the industry. Spanning four whole weeks, the program allows for a comprehensive understanding of the challenge and ample time for product development.
Microsoft Azure’s Virtual Hackathon: To explore AI use cases
- Organized in 2020
- Organizer: Microsoft, AngelHack, Grab, UNDP
- Theme: Cloud Computing
- Format: Virtual
- Results: Highlighting the strength of APAC’s regional collaboration with 1,500+ participants and 70+ projects submitted
The hackathon, hosted by Microsoft in collaboration with Grab and UNDP, aimed to leverage Azure AI to solve real-world challenges across the APAC region. Organized by AngelHack, the event brought together AI/ML enthusiasts, developers, designers, and entrepreneurs to focus on solving sustainable manufacturing and urban mobility challenges. Divided into two phases, solution design plus architecture in Phase 1 and prototype creation in Phase 2, participants were provided resources and expert mentorship, leading to innovative solutions for potential real-world applications.
🏆 Read more about the Azure hackathon →
NFL Big Data Bowl: To analyze sport statistics
- Organized annually
- Organizer: NFL
- Theme: Sports analytics using big data
- Format: Hybrid (Virtual then on-site for finals)
- Results: with thousands of participants and hundreds of submissions each year, the series uncovers new perspectives and promotes data-driven decision-making in football.
The NFL Big Data Bowl is an annual analytics hackathon for data scientists, students, and football enthusiasts to use NFL game data to yield insightful findings and models. The data includes detailed information such as player locations, speeds, and directions, allowing participants to explore various use cases, from predicting play outcomes to analyzing player performance and game strategies. Started in 2019, the hackathon ideas continues to drive innovation and advocate for a data-driven approach within the sport.
Standard Chartered ImpactHack: To solve customer pain points
- Year: 2023
- Organizer: Standard Chartered
- Theme: Digitalization
- Format: Virtual
- Results: Solutions for Malaysian SMEs in the digitalization journey
ImpactHack, hosted in 2023 by Standard Chartered is a 48-hour hybrid hackathon focused on addressing the digitalization pain points that Malaysian SMEs face and revolutionizing the ecosystem. Participants collaborated in teams, received mentorship, and presented their projects to judges on demo day. Leveraging advanced technologies like AI, blockchain, and data analytics, the hackathon presented various solutions for sales, inventory management, human resources, cash flow and more, with top solutions gaining recognition and support for further development.
Final words
And there we have it – ten out of the hundred ideas for hackathon companies can utilize hackathons to drive the organization toward economic growth and sustainable development. If you want the same results for your organization, start by taking an in-depth evaluation of the business goals, the developer relations, and how you want to improve them.
Remember that you are not alone on this road – we would love to offer our assistance! AngelHack, since 2011, has supported over 250+ organizations including Meta, Google, Mastercard, Intel, Nvidia, IBM in developer relations and marketing via hackathons, competitions, accelerator programs, meetups, and more. Just drop us a message to start turning your hackathon idea to life!
