Anthony Onesto (Chief People Officer and VP Platform & Product Marketing at 15Five) argues that the AI adoption gap — leaders expecting AI adoption while employees hesitate — is primarily a people problem rooted in fear and uncertainty. He proposes hackathons as a strategic intervention to bridge that gap by providing hands-on, low-stakes AI experimentation that builds skills, reduces fear, and generates operational prototypes. He cites adoption gains (≈20% increase in developer adoption after tech-sponsored hackathons) and prevalence (over 80% of Fortune 100 companies use hackathons), and emphasizes follow-through: leaders must fund and operationalize winning prototypes to sustain momentum.
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Approximately 20% increase in likelihood of adoption.
Over 80% of Fortune 100 companies.
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Hey everyone, it's Anthony Honesto and this is my latest drop for AI and HR today. Go. That's my newsletter. Go subscribe, don't miss a future article. And of course, wherever you're listening or watching this, please like and comment. So there is a gap between what leaders expect on AI adoption and what employees are actually doing. So how can you, as an HR leader or a leader of a company, bridge that gap? Well, maybe a hackathon. That could be your secret weapon for AI adoption. Hackathons bridge the AI adoption gap. Empowering teams to learn, build and embrace change through hands on experience. Companies understand AI's importance, yet actual adoption lags significantly. In my own capacity as Chief People Officer and now VP Platform and Product Marketing of 15Five, I've seen firsthand varied adoption and usage of AI. In most cases, leadership embraces AI. But employees, they often hesitate and aren't really sure to begin. This creates a substantial gap between recognizing AI's value and truly integrating it into our daily work. But this reluctance, this is not a tech flaw or a tech issue. It's a people problem. Yeah, I know you're surprised that I said that. Rooted in fear and uncertainty about AI's impact on their roles and job security. So what I'm going to do in this drop is I will share my experience running hackathons as a way to drive adoption and impacting the business. Especially when it comes to a ubiquitous technology like artificial intelligence. So what is the power of the hackathon? A hackathon actually can bridge the gap between AI's potential and your workforce's hesitation. This strategic intervention removes fear, supercharges skill development and helps employees envision AI's real world impact on their daily tasks. It flips the script from top down mandates to an empowered hands on approach yielding operationalizable applications. Yes, let's now my favorite part. Let's look at the numbers folks. After attending tech sponsored hackathons, the likelihood of developers adopting that technology rose by approximately 20%. Hackathons provide unparalleled opportunities for rapid knowledge and skill development. Participants experiment with new tools and processes in a low stakes environment, significantly enhancing their practical understanding and problem solving abilities. Over 80% of the Fortune 100 companies utilize hackathons to drive innovation, with many organizing reoccurring events to sustain this creative output and continuously refine their employees problem solving capabilities. The numbers are there folks. Hackathons work. Now. What's the psychology of engagement here? Well, hackathons are a powerful antidote to the fear of new technology. What they do is they provide real world AI laboratory where employees, guided by mentors, build tangible prototypes. Hackathons foster transparency directly combating the fear that arises from uncertainty about AI's use. Participants engage with real business challenges, observe AI models in action and present their creations to leadership. So during a hackathon, employees shift their perception of AI from a job threat to a powerful tool for augmentation. What they'll do is they'll identify tasks that can be automated and thereby liberating themselves for higher value work that requires human creativity and critical thinking, the things we are good at. So once you have a hackathon, it's not a one and done, it's reoccurring. But how do you sustain the momentum? How do you, how do you continue this idea of bringing AI practically into the organization? Well, the post hackathon buzz is really potent, right? But its lasting value depends on clear focus, follow through. Leaders must establish a funding path to move the best ideas from prototype to full production, demonstrating genuine commitment to employee contributions and organizational transformation. Let me say this one again, really important. Leaders must establish a funded path, put money, follow the money to move the best ideas from prototype to full production, demonstrating a genuine commitment to these contributions and this transformation. If you're not putting your money where this effort is, it's all going to be for naught. So we have to embrace hackathons as a strategic cultural catalyst de risking the AI journey and cultivating a skilled, confident workforce ready to leverage AI as a powerful ally. That's my latest quick drop. We'll see you next time.
