Inside Talkdesk Hackathon: 10 years of innovation

At Talkdesk, we’ve always been rooted in innovation—it’s in our DNA. The company was born out of a hackathon, and we’ve built on that legacy ever since. From the very beginning, we’ve believed that creativity and collaboration are key to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in customer experience. And to keep the innovative and collaborative spirit alive, we’ve hosted an internal Talkdesk Hackathon annually for the last 10 years. A decade of hackthons has taught us the value of freedom to explore new ideas, step outside our day-to-day roles, collaborate across departments, and develop fresh and unique perspectives and approaches.

This year’s Talkdesk Hackathon had an AI theme. Talkdesk is already on the cutting edge—we even launched agentic AI on our platform on the exact same day as our Hackathon. The technology is exciting and it has endless opportunities. Over two days, 162 Talkdeskers, from across 4 countries, and 6 departments, came together to explore AI-powered concepts that have the potential to shape the future of customer experience. Thirty projects competed for the top spot in multiple categories: Best of Show, Most Innovative, Customer’s Choice, and People’s Choice. DE&I is one of our core values at Talkdesk, and it showed. Seeing people from various backgrounds and skills sharing unique experiences was simply incredible. The pool of talent, diversity of ideas, and cross-team collaboration genuinely fuel creativity and drive the creation of something special that can truly impact the CX industry!

Talkdesk Hackathon isn’t just an internal event—it’s a catalyst for innovation and a reflection of our role as leaders in AI-powered CX. What’s exciting is that the ideas that emerged from this event aren’t just hypothetical—they’re laying the groundwork for the next generation of products that will transform the future of CX. For example, Talkdesk Workspace™ and more recently Talkdesk AI Translator emerged from the innovative ideas sparked by previous hackathons.

In addition to being a creative outlet for the teams, it’s an experimenting ground, particularly in agentic AI, a key focus at Talkdesk. A common theme across nearly all submissions was the clear recognition by our teams of the immense potential of agentic AI to act independently and adapt to real-time data and customer needs. From tools that automate repetitive tasks to AI-driven systems designed to make more informed, autonomous decisions, many projects reflected the belief that the future of CX lies in empowering agents and customers through smarter, autonomous technology.

While focusing on building tools to help our customers deliver better service to their own customers was a key goal, the Talkdesk Hackathon also took an introspective approach—designing solutions that innovate on our own customer care teams’ operations. One notable project was dedicated to developing tools and refining workflows that will help our Talkdesk team provide an even better experience to our customers. Just as we’re committed to giving our customers the very best tools to improve the customer experience they provide, we’re equally committed to delivering an exceptional experience to them.

We were so happy to have two of our customers serve as judges in this year’s Hackathon. Their insight and experience are incredibly valuable.  They were responsible for selecting a project for the “Customer’s Choice” award. They told us that it was a tough job since every project addressed real-world challenges. But ultimately, they selected a winner that stood out for its focus on supervisors—a role they felt is sometimes overlooked in AI initiatives. Our customer judges were so impressed that they wanted us to turn every Hackathon idea into a product, seeing the real value each one could bring to their teams.

I’m so inspired and energized by the creativity that emerged. Hackathons remind me of how much we can accomplish together and the potential that lies ahead. I can’t wait to see how we’ll continue to challenge the industry, lead the way in innovation, and make a lasting impact.