user avatar
Ian Shaw

CEO @ ScalingSmiths | Forging Digital Kingdoms for Modern Businesses on LinkedIn & X

linkedin logo
HackTheHub® the skills/experience I learned from your event have been massive for me. Would highly recommend anyone in the UK to get to Belfast... whether tech wiz or just interested in AI.
user avatar
Ian Shaw

CEO @ ScalingSmiths | Forging Digital Kingdoms for Modern Businesses on LinkedIn & X

linkedin logo
HackTheHub® the skills/experience I learned from your event have been massive for me. Would highly recommend anyone in the UK to get to Belfast... whether tech wiz or just interested in AI.

Apr 3, 2025

Apr 3, 2025

user avatar
Ian Shaw

CEO @ ScalingSmiths | Forging Digital Kingdoms for Modern Businesses on LinkedIn & X

linkedin logo
🚀 Reflecting on an Incredible Hackathon Experience at #HackTheHub, Belfast! 🏆 Last weekend I flew into Belfast to take part in the #HackTheHub generative AI hackathon. It was an absolute blast and our team placed 2nd.🥈 🔍 Diving into Our Project: Streamlining Auto Insurance Claims Post-Crash We developed an app prototype designed to revolutionize the car crash insurance claim process, making it seamless and efficient. Here's how: 1️⃣ Narration Capture: The crash participant recounts their version of events via a voice call, instantly converted into a transcript. 2️⃣ Intelligent Summarisation: An AI agent digests the information, creating a comprehensive summary complemented by a visual diagram. 3️⃣ Quality Assurance: A QA loop is initiated, refining the summary until the caller confirms its accuracy. 4️⃣ Relevant Regulations Retrieval: The event summary triggers a query into a vector database of the highway code, pinpointing applicable sections. 5️⃣ Fault Assessment: Both the summary and relevant highway code excerpts are analysed by another AI, which then recommends who is to blame (if anyone). 6️⃣ Legal Prep Document: A detailed report is generated to inform the solicitor's subsequent decision-making process. 🌟 Team Dynamics: Cohesion and Individual Brilliance Kara McIlroy built our Django web app, that the functions interfacing with AI plugged into and crafted the bulk of the presentation slide deck. Michael Jennings excelled in the ideation phase and oversaw the critical tasks within Steps 2 and 3. As for me, I delved into the intricacies of Steps 4 and 5. In order to upskill for the hackathon, I previously created a chatbot by leveraging YouTube transcripts, a vector database and calls to chatgpt (special thanks mentioned below). Despite the pressure, we delivered to an audience packed with participants, sponsors, and a panel of judges. Kara adapted on the fly, trimming her segment to ensure time for a comprehensive app demo. MJ was a star, highlighting our solution's market relevance and tactically handling the intense Q&A session. Personally, watching myself confidently navigate the app walkthrough, despite the butterflies, was a rewarding moment. I am eagerly awaiting the event's footage to relive and learn from our presentation ‘game-tape’! Shoutout to Martin Hunt from Kind.dev who lent his expertise on a call that laid the foundation for the chatbot project and also shoutout to the YouTube tutorials of Greg Kamradt. Also, a shoutout to Connor and the other organisers and sponsors of the event.
user avatar
Ian Shaw

CEO @ ScalingSmiths | Forging Digital Kingdoms for Modern Businesses on LinkedIn & X

linkedin logo
🚀 Reflecting on an Incredible Hackathon Experience at #HackTheHub, Belfast! 🏆 Last weekend I flew into Belfast to take part in the #HackTheHub generative AI hackathon. It was an absolute blast and our team placed 2nd.🥈 🔍 Diving into Our Project: Streamlining Auto Insurance Claims Post-Crash We developed an app prototype designed to revolutionize the car crash insurance claim process, making it seamless and efficient. Here's how: 1️⃣ Narration Capture: The crash participant recounts their version of events via a voice call, instantly converted into a transcript. 2️⃣ Intelligent Summarisation: An AI agent digests the information, creating a comprehensive summary complemented by a visual diagram. 3️⃣ Quality Assurance: A QA loop is initiated, refining the summary until the caller confirms its accuracy. 4️⃣ Relevant Regulations Retrieval: The event summary triggers a query into a vector database of the highway code, pinpointing applicable sections. 5️⃣ Fault Assessment: Both the summary and relevant highway code excerpts are analysed by another AI, which then recommends who is to blame (if anyone). 6️⃣ Legal Prep Document: A detailed report is generated to inform the solicitor's subsequent decision-making process. 🌟 Team Dynamics: Cohesion and Individual Brilliance Kara McIlroy built our Django web app, that the functions interfacing with AI plugged into and crafted the bulk of the presentation slide deck. Michael Jennings excelled in the ideation phase and oversaw the critical tasks within Steps 2 and 3. As for me, I delved into the intricacies of Steps 4 and 5. In order to upskill for the hackathon, I previously created a chatbot by leveraging YouTube transcripts, a vector database and calls to chatgpt (special thanks mentioned below). Despite the pressure, we delivered to an audience packed with participants, sponsors, and a panel of judges. Kara adapted on the fly, trimming her segment to ensure time for a comprehensive app demo. MJ was a star, highlighting our solution's market relevance and tactically handling the intense Q&A session. Personally, watching myself confidently navigate the app walkthrough, despite the butterflies, was a rewarding moment. I am eagerly awaiting the event's footage to relive and learn from our presentation ‘game-tape’! Shoutout to Martin Hunt from Kind.dev who lent his expertise on a call that laid the foundation for the chatbot project and also shoutout to the YouTube tutorials of Greg Kamradt. Also, a shoutout to Connor and the other organisers and sponsors of the event.
attached image

Oct 18, 2023

attached image

Oct 18, 2023

user avatar
Ian Shaw

CEO @ ScalingSmiths | Forging Digital Kingdoms for Modern Businesses on LinkedIn & X

linkedin logo
I placed second in an AI hackathon without formal AI training. Too many people overcomplicate AI skill development: • "You need a computer science degree" • "You must understand AI model training" • "Learn the theory before applying anything" Truth is they only need: • A clear problem to solve • Just-in-time learning (not just-in-case) • Persistence through failure I recently had someone in my DMs challenge me: "How can you be using AI if you don't know what backpropagation is?" (later found out that was a way to train AI models) He assumed technical knowledge trumps practical application. When I mentioned placing second in an AI hackathon and my software development background, his tone completely changed. Your audience doesn't care about your technical credentials, they care about the results you deliver. Don't let your overcomplication turn into procrastination. The best way to learn AI isn't studying for months before building—it's building something useful while learning what you need along the way. Invest in yourself. Upskill just in time for something, rather than study for years only to realize it's not for you. How have you upskilled in AI? Tell me in the comments.
user avatar
Ian Shaw

CEO @ ScalingSmiths | Forging Digital Kingdoms for Modern Businesses on LinkedIn & X

linkedin logo
I placed second in an AI hackathon without formal AI training. Too many people overcomplicate AI skill development: • "You need a computer science degree" • "You must understand AI model training" • "Learn the theory before applying anything" Truth is they only need: • A clear problem to solve • Just-in-time learning (not just-in-case) • Persistence through failure I recently had someone in my DMs challenge me: "How can you be using AI if you don't know what backpropagation is?" (later found out that was a way to train AI models) He assumed technical knowledge trumps practical application. When I mentioned placing second in an AI hackathon and my software development background, his tone completely changed. Your audience doesn't care about your technical credentials, they care about the results you deliver. Don't let your overcomplication turn into procrastination. The best way to learn AI isn't studying for months before building—it's building something useful while learning what you need along the way. Invest in yourself. Upskill just in time for something, rather than study for years only to realize it's not for you. How have you upskilled in AI? Tell me in the comments.
attached image

Mar 25, 2025

attached image

Mar 25, 2025

Video Poster

Ivan

Head of OpenData Belfast & CTO @ Frontline Insurance

Video Poster

Laura McClean

Director | Head of NI @ Synechron

Video Poster
Resham Patel

President @ Select Networx

Video Poster
Jude McVitty

Social Value Manager

Conor McCormick

Conor McCormick

Associate Specialist Data Scientist at Synechron

I recently led my organisation's entry for HackTheHub in April 2024. As part of this I was able to hone my leadership skills and enjoy innovation in a fun and interactive way - which was a major factor in getting promoted.
Conor McCormick

Conor McCormick

Associate Specialist Data Scientist at Synechron

I recently led my organisation's entry for HackTheHub in April 2024. As part of this I was able to hone my leadership skills and enjoy innovation in a fun and interactive way - which was a major factor in getting promoted.

Apr 29, 2024

Apr 29, 2024

Video Poster

Ronan O'Dulaing

VP Engineering @ Cloudsmith

JM
Jude McVitty
Social Value Manager @ Version1
“Representing Version1 at HackTheHub was a great experience, I got to meet people from different sites and departments in the organisation and it was fun to get a chance to play with generative AI again. I’d love to compete again, there’s so much to learn!”
JM
Jude McVitty
Social Value Manager @ Version1
“Representing Version1 at HackTheHub was a great experience, I got to meet people from different sites and departments in the organisation and it was fun to get a chance to play with generative AI again. I’d love to compete again, there’s so much to learn!”

Read more

Oct 31, 2023

Read more

Oct 31, 2023

Ryan Murray
Ryan Murray

Software Engineering Student

Hello, my name is Ryan and I am currently a Software Engineering student. I wanted to partake in hackthehub, to not only collaborate with new people, but to learn new generative AI skills.
I got an amazing understanding of how AI can help people in their day to day life as well as how it can be implemented in software to help improve projects/solutions. The main experience I got from attending hackthehub would be teamwork and collaboration skills. Spending several hours with new people on an intense but extremely enjoyable project, definitely helped improve this skill and is one of many reasons as to why I would love to attend another event!

Ryan Murray
Ryan Murray

Software Engineering Student

Hello, my name is Ryan and I am currently a Software Engineering student. I wanted to partake in hackthehub, to not only collaborate with new people, but to learn new generative AI skills.
I got an amazing understanding of how AI can help people in their day to day life as well as how it can be implemented in software to help improve projects/solutions. The main experience I got from attending hackthehub would be teamwork and collaboration skills. Spending several hours with new people on an intense but extremely enjoyable project, definitely helped improve this skill and is one of many reasons as to why I would love to attend another event!

Oct 23, 2023

Oct 23, 2023

MJ
Michael Jennings
Senior Algorithm Engineer at B-Secur & PHD Graduate

Hackthehub has boosted both my technical ability and my confidence. I had never used Python before attending a hackathon; now I am a data scientist using it every day. I have been a regular attendee since 2018, and continue to attend, meeting new people and learning new skills with each visit. A hackathon can give you the time to learn that thing that you have been putting off learning for months, and it can give you a portfolio to demonstrate practical skills when it comes to approaching companies for that job you have always wanted. Now you don't just have evidence, but you also have an air fryer too!

MJ
Michael Jennings
Senior Algorithm Engineer at B-Secur & PHD Graduate

Hackthehub has boosted both my technical ability and my confidence. I had never used Python before attending a hackathon; now I am a data scientist using it every day. I have been a regular attendee since 2018, and continue to attend, meeting new people and learning new skills with each visit. A hackathon can give you the time to learn that thing that you have been putting off learning for months, and it can give you a portfolio to demonstrate practical skills when it comes to approaching companies for that job you have always wanted. Now you don't just have evidence, but you also have an air fryer too!

Oct 23, 2023

Oct 23, 2023

M

Michelle

Product Design Intern @ Synechron

My name is Michelle, and I'm currently a Product Design intern at Synechron. HackTheHub was the first hackathon I participated in where I could do what I really love, which is UI & UX design! During the day, I had the opportunity to work with wonderful teammates and I learnt so much in the process. One being close team-work with backend and frontend developers. Which I had never done before! The hackathon itself was a wonderful, friendly and safe space, especially for someone as new into this profession as I am.

M

Michelle

Product Design Intern @ Synechron

My name is Michelle, and I'm currently a Product Design intern at Synechron. HackTheHub was the first hackathon I participated in where I could do what I really love, which is UI & UX design! During the day, I had the opportunity to work with wonderful teammates and I learnt so much in the process. One being close team-work with backend and frontend developers. Which I had never done before! The hackathon itself was a wonderful, friendly and safe space, especially for someone as new into this profession as I am.

Oct 22, 2023

Oct 22, 2023

Video Poster
Darren Rowland

Mechanical Engineer

C
Chizube

Senior Data Scientist @ EY

I attended HackTheHub with the intention of immersing myself in the local tech community and expanding my network after my recent move to Belfast. It provided an excellent platform for me to not only connect with tech experts but also to assess my own strengths and weaknesses. Through observing and learning from my peers, I was able to acquire new skills, which significantly enhanced my qualifications. This experience played a pivotal role in my successful job search, ultimately leading to my employment as an associate data analyst. What truly stood out for me was the event's organization, run by developers and trainers who remained attuned to the constantly evolving demands of our modern world. I eagerly look forward to the next edition of this event.
C
Chizube

Senior Data Scientist @ EY

I attended HackTheHub with the intention of immersing myself in the local tech community and expanding my network after my recent move to Belfast. It provided an excellent platform for me to not only connect with tech experts but also to assess my own strengths and weaknesses. Through observing and learning from my peers, I was able to acquire new skills, which significantly enhanced my qualifications. This experience played a pivotal role in my successful job search, ultimately leading to my employment as an associate data analyst. What truly stood out for me was the event's organization, run by developers and trainers who remained attuned to the constantly evolving demands of our modern world. I eagerly look forward to the next edition of this event.

Oct 18, 2023

Oct 18, 2023

DM
David McGuckin

Founder at Fintech Startup

As a founder, HackTheHub proved to be an invaluable experience, offering a fantastic opportunity to delve into the intricacies of ideation and rapid idea validation. Participating in a hackathon compels you to make the most of your time and leverage your team's expertise judiciously. The insights gained from this event have direct applications in the business world, significantly contributing to the refinement of my product roadmap, which is invaluable for my business.
DM
David McGuckin

Founder at Fintech Startup

As a founder, HackTheHub proved to be an invaluable experience, offering a fantastic opportunity to delve into the intricacies of ideation and rapid idea validation. Participating in a hackathon compels you to make the most of your time and leverage your team's expertise judiciously. The insights gained from this event have direct applications in the business world, significantly contributing to the refinement of my product roadmap, which is invaluable for my business.

Oct 18, 2023

Oct 18, 2023

Video Poster

HackTheHub22 Attendees

Civil Engineers, Placement Software Engineers

Jack O'Shea
Jack O'Shea

Final Year Student @ TU Dublin School of Computer Science

I’m a student in my final year of college. I learned a lot after attending Hack the Hub about how to design and create projects, how to present your ideas to people and how to work as part of a team to get a project finished on time. It was a really amazing experience and I met a lot of cool people. I’d encourage everyone to give it a try even if you’re just starting out coding !
Jack O'Shea
Jack O'Shea

Final Year Student @ TU Dublin School of Computer Science

I’m a student in my final year of college. I learned a lot after attending Hack the Hub about how to design and create projects, how to present your ideas to people and how to work as part of a team to get a project finished on time. It was a really amazing experience and I met a lot of cool people. I’d encourage everyone to give it a try even if you’re just starting out coding !

Oct 18, 2023

Oct 18, 2023

Video Poster

John Murphy

Software Engineering Student @ Queens University

RF
Ridge Falcao

MEng Aeronautical Engineering @ Imperial College London

I’m an aeronautical engineering student and HacktheHub was my first hackathon experience. The organisers took incredible care of all the participants and the environment was perfect for ideation. Several lessons regarding effective task management and teamwork were learnt over the course of the day.
RF
Ridge Falcao

MEng Aeronautical Engineering @ Imperial College London

I’m an aeronautical engineering student and HacktheHub was my first hackathon experience. The organisers took incredible care of all the participants and the environment was perfect for ideation. Several lessons regarding effective task management and teamwork were learnt over the course of the day.

Oct 18, 2023

Oct 18, 2023

MS

Mona Sweeney

UX Designer at Foods Connected

In the midst of transitioning from Textiles & Fashion to UX, I stumbled upon Belfast's HackTheHub, the city's largest hackathon event, and secured a spot despite the early bird tickets being sold out. Initially intimidated, I was pleasantly surprised by the approachability of fellow attendees, who came from diverse backgrounds and skill levels.
 For me, participating in HackTheHub was transformative. It provided insights into collaborating with developers, encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone, and not only that but I secured 2 interviews from this day alone!  I believe my experience at HackTheHub will be pivotal in shaping my future career as a designer.

MS

Mona Sweeney

UX Designer at Foods Connected

In the midst of transitioning from Textiles & Fashion to UX, I stumbled upon Belfast's HackTheHub, the city's largest hackathon event, and secured a spot despite the early bird tickets being sold out. Initially intimidated, I was pleasantly surprised by the approachability of fellow attendees, who came from diverse backgrounds and skill levels.
 For me, participating in HackTheHub was transformative. It provided insights into collaborating with developers, encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone, and not only that but I secured 2 interviews from this day alone!  I believe my experience at HackTheHub will be pivotal in shaping my future career as a designer.

Jul 5, 2023

Jul 5, 2023

A

Amy

Software Engineer @ DailyPay

This marked my second participation in the HackTheHub event, and it was a fantastic learning experience. I was amazed at how rapidly ideas could materialize into working prototypes. Additionally, collaborating with new team members allowed me to explore and adopt emerging technologies, all while honing my presentation skills. What I cherished most about the day was the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals. From fellow participants to mentors, meeting people who share similar passions and interests was truly the highlight of the event.
A

Amy

Software Engineer @ DailyPay

This marked my second participation in the HackTheHub event, and it was a fantastic learning experience. I was amazed at how rapidly ideas could materialize into working prototypes. Additionally, collaborating with new team members allowed me to explore and adopt emerging technologies, all while honing my presentation skills. What I cherished most about the day was the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals. From fellow participants to mentors, meeting people who share similar passions and interests was truly the highlight of the event.

May 11, 2023

May 11, 2023