How Responsible AI Can Unlock Learning, Creativity, and Better Teamwork

At the latest Santex Hackathon, 35 teams leveraged AI to develop creative solutions to human problems. More than a competition, it’s a space where technology meets humanity to spark real, meaningful innovation. 

New technology — especially when it’s as transformative as AI — is always intimidating. 

How should we use it? What can it even do? How will it fit into our lives, work, and long-term goals? Faced with these questions, many of us freeze. We don’t know how to get started and, as a result, never discover what we could have achieved with this technology. 

Yet sometimes all we need is the right motivation. 

Enter the Santex Hackathon

During this daylong event, participants came together to ideate, design, and prototype innovative solutions powered by AI. 

Although structured as a friendly competition, our Hackathons are really meant to inspire collaboration, experimentation, and learning. We wanted to give participants a safe space to test AI — and walk away less intimidated and more excited by the possibilities of this technology. 

Our collaborators definitely caught on to the idea: 

• 35 teams, 12 mentors, and 15 judges participated.

• 75% of Santex joined the event.

• In addition, several external client teams got involved.

In a sense, the Hackathon represents everything Santex stands for. 

We believe that, while AI and other technologies may stimulate innovation, it’s really the people who make the difference — and who ultimately turn ideas into action. 

Real Innovation Means Real-World Impact

Our software solutions are more than just code. They integrate technology with human talent in order to address real, human needs. 

In short, they’re solutions made by humans, for humans: with empathy, creativity, and social responsibility at the core. 

Take, for example, our first prize winner at the Hackathon: a platform intended to help farmers estimate soybean yields. 

The team looked at a real, concrete challenge in the agricultural sector. Currently, yield estimates are done manually and are based on human observation. Managers visit the fields, take samples, and extrapolate the results. The process is both time-intensive and not as accurate as it could be.

So the team asked: What can we do to help? 

The result was a proof-of-concept that combined satellite imagery, weather records, and machine learning to predict and even visualize yields with far more accuracy — and in far less time. 

For the agricultural sector, the potential value of this platform is enormous. It’s the kind of innovation we strive for at Santex: humans leveraging technology to help other humans. 

Our solutions tackle the actual problems our clients are facing, allowing them to grow and fulfill their business potential. 

But this innovation doesn’t just take talent and creativity. It also requires a mindset shift. 

How to Think AI-First

To really take advantage of what AI can bring to the table, it must be part of the conversation from the beginning. This was one of the main lessons of the Hackathon. 

As Juan Gracia, Senior Java Developer and one of our participating mentors, said during the event: “If you’re about to do something, whatever that is, start by asking yourself if AI can help you achieve it. Considering how much AI has evolved, it’s quite likely you’ll find it useful.” 

This requires a new mindset, what he calls the AI First Model. “It’s about getting used to thinking about things this way.” 

In other words, AI cannot be the icing on the cake. It can’t be sprinkled on old solutions. Instead, it needs to be one of the main ingredients of every idea moving forward.

A Playground to Grow In

Shifting your mindset is not easy. It requires bravery and imagination. You need to step over the void of the unknown — and trust that you won’t fall. 

That’s why the Hackathon is important to us. We view it as a playground, where our collaborators can try out ideas and concepts without being afraid of failure. 

Franco Verzino, our Chief Delivery Officer, explained it like this: “We want to help participants get over the fear and uncertainty that always surrounds new technologies. So they can then say, ‘Well, turns out, that wasn’t so complicated after all.’”  

The legacy of the Hackathon is, ultimately, one of community. 

We are all in this together: our collaborators and our clients, all testing the boundaries of what we can achieve with AI. “If participants take anything away from the Hackathon, I hope it’s this: confidence,” said Verzino.

“That is, the confidence that they can achieve their goals. Which can be tricky on a day-to-day basis. Many of us have families and it can be difficult to sit down and learn something new. That’s why we wanted to open up this space.” 

But the ideas and solutions presented at the Hackathon were more than just practice. 

They will be accelerated in the weeks and months ahead at our very own Santex Lab. This is our dedicated AI offering for clients, where we build custom AI solutions based on their maturity level and operational structure. 

So the Hackathon is already putting learning into action. 

And for us, this upskilling experience is truly an investment. “Our conviction is that the greatest value we can give our collaborators is to develop them professionally,” concludes Verzino. 

Because lifelong learning is part of our DNA. We want every collaborator to grab the reins of their growth journey. 

Only this way will they have the confidence, vision, and bravery to discover the new solutions that will decide the future of our company — and, why not, even the world around us. 

Is your company interested in discovering everything you can achieve with AI? 
Santex can help you in your own learning and growth journey.
Contact us to get started.