AI Hackathon in Heidelberg shows sovanta expertise

In 2023, we successfully launched a new hackathon series as part of the sovanta Academy – after two years of Corona, we wanted to promote innovative collaboration within the sovanta family again. The first event in Heidelberg focused on the theme “SAP Build Apps for Office Culture.” For 2024, the team has chosen a trending topic: AI for our daily work. Our sovanta UX designers Farah Entezari-Hemberger and Christophe Chan Hin organized the hackathon and guide us through the exciting hours in our Innovation Factory in Heidelberg.

Short and intense: that was the sovanta Academy AI Hackathon

Similar to the last Hackathon in 2023, we kept the duration to just one day in contrast to traditional hackathon formats – making it extremely family-friendly. We kicked off at 2pm. Teams were able to connect beforehand through an internal poll, and they also pitched their ideas for topics. This allowed the teams to start their projects with enthusiasm right after a brief introduction.

Three teams, three different AI solutions with GenAI Hub and Co.:

1. SummerAIzer: The team developed an innovative solution that allows users to receive a report on all incoming Outlook emails accumulated during their absence after a vacation.
2. The ZEP Tinder: The goal of this team was to connect our internal time tracking tool, ZEP, with other sources such as the Outlook calendar. Based on information from the linked sources, the user receives suggested time entries in ZEP that can be easily accepted or rejected.
3. Candidate Compass: The third team focused on the automation of HR applications. They aimed to streamline the job application process with SAP Build Process Automation by extracting CV data from emails and automatically inputting it into SAP BPA.

All teams convinced with AI solutions for our daily work

A few days later, the final presentation took place before an expert jury. All three teams engaged in a head-to-head race. The jury had a challenging task, as all three teams delivered a strong presentation, functional prototypes, and, above all, innovative AI solutions for real everyday problems. However, only one team could be the winner. With just one point ahead, “The ZEP Tinder” team celebrated their win in the end.

Our conclusion: this is how an AI Hackathon is done

Since our hackathon brings together software developers, UX designers, data scientists and project managers, the results have a truly high quality. Each of the solutions has potential, and it won’t stop at just prototypes. We are already in the planning stages for the next sovanta Academy Hackathon. The success of this hackathon has confirmed that the combination of interdisciplinary thinking, flexible scheduling and a familiar atmosphere provides a fertile ground for groundbreaking ideas. We are already looking forward to the next round!