AI Hackathons Help HR Teams Move From Individual AI Use to Shared Workflows

Rotterdam, Netherlands, October 2, 2026 — AIHR (Academy to Innovate HR) has launched AI Hackathons, live online training sessions where HR teams build their own AI tool for an everyday HR task. The online learning platform for HR professionals offers the 2.5-hour sessions to HR teams of five to 20 people.

Each AI Hackathon follows three steps. In a 45-minute intake call, the HR manager and AIHR set goals and discuss various challenges for the team to work on within the session. During the hackathon, an AI expert with strong knowledge of HR facilitates the session and helps the team map out ways AI could address that challenge. The team then picks the use cases that deliver the most value for the effort and builds them as a custom AI assistant, such as a GPT, Gem, Skill, or agent.

A 60-minute review with the manager closes the process, covering what the team developed and what comes next. Across all three steps, the manager’s total time commitment is about four hours, while team members only need to attend the session.

The challenges come from areas such as people analytics, talent acquisition, learning and development, and HR business partnering. A team that spends hours reading open-text survey comments, for instance, can build a tool that groups them into themes with representative quotes. Recruiters who draft the same hiring documents for every role can build a workflow that turns intake notes into a job ad, scorecard, and interview plan. Smaller tasks work too, such as preparing interview briefs from a CV and job description or turning meeting notes into agendas and action lists. AIHR estimates that a finished workflow saves an average of two hours per person per week.

Participants need no technical or AI background. The session runs inside the organization’s existing AI tools, and AIHR does not access, process, or store company data. Teams without access to custom assistant features build a reusable prompt template with the tools they already use.

“In many HR teams, individuals already use AI in their own work, but few teams share workflows built around it,” said Wihan de Wet, Lead AI in HR Expert at AIHR. “The AI Hackathon brings the whole team together to build a tool for a task they all handle. Everyone can then work from the same tool, with the same standards for using AI on that task. Teams also leave with a shortlist of the workflows worth building next.”

The AI Hackathon serves as a team’s first practical experience with AI. It is also an entry point to AIHR’s more comprehensive AI training options for HR teams. Teams that want to keep upskilling in AI can continue with the AI Boot Camp, which pairs six hours of live workshops with 14 hours of self-paced learning. For longer-term development, the AI for HR Academy offers more than 45 hours of AI training content for the entire HR function, with new material added regularly.

HR teams at organizations such as OPENLANE already use AIHR’s AI training. “AIHR has been a great partner in helping our team build practical AI skills and confidence,” said Libby Bertsch, Talent Management & Performance Consultant at OPENLANE. “For many team members, this was their first formal introduction to AI, and the learning experience was thoughtfully designed to make the topic approachable while gradually building in complexity.”

More information about the AI Hackathons is available at aihr.com/business/ai-hackathon.

About AIHR

Academy to Innovate HR (AIHR) is the global online learning platform that helps HR professionals and teams build the practical, strategic skills the modern HR function demands. Its 16+ certificate programs and 85+ courses span every HR domain, from AI in HR and people analytics to HR business partnering and organizational development. Members also have access to ready-to-use templates, tools, and hands-on labs to apply what they learn at work, as well as a global HR community.

AIHR is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs). Its programs are also eligible for HRCI, HRPA, CPHR, and ATD credits, and CPD-accredited by CPD UK, allowing CIPD members to record AIHR programs as verified Continuing Professional Development.

Through these programs, AIHR helps HR professionals and organizations worldwide build the skills the modern HR function demands. Learn more at aihr.com.

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