EAT HACK

On Saturday 3 October 2026, I co-hosted my first hackathon with my friend and colleague Gianni Austin. We ran EAT HACK, the world's first AI and eating hackathon, at Really Good Culture. 50 people, selected from over 200 applications, came into our London office to build AI for the human side and the future of retail.

It started with a chat over coffee. Gianni works in growth and wanted to do something bigger than LinkedIn, something in person. I had been to loads of hackathons as a builder. Somewhere in that conversation we landed on hosting our own, and we started planning it straight away.

We pitched it to our co-founders, got the budget approved within a few days, and then had three weeks to make it happen. Neither of us could work on it full time. Gianni was working in a growth role part-time, and I was a full-time AI engineer with my own deliveries and deadlines. Those weeks were intense: cold outreach, branding, design, printing, logistics, timings, more than a few late nights, and even more coffee.

We even had to change the format after we had announced it. The original plan gave builders points for trying products and filming reviews, but after feedback and some reflection we realised it was not worth it, so we pivoted. The day ended up with two tracks: Human Truth, on why people choose what they choose, and Retail Futures, on what retail should do next.

And then there was The Shelf. 18 FMCG brands partnered with us: not the big household names, but innovative, unique challenger brands. Together they brought over 1,000 units of product, so everyone could eat and drink all day.

The best part was the synergy with Gianni. He owned the brand partnerships, the proposals, the budget, and procurement. I owned the challenge and the tracks, the sign-ups on Luma, choosing the 50 builders, and every message before, during, and after the event. We came up with the big ideas together and covered for each other wherever it was needed, and that is what made it work.

None of this was just the two of us. Thank you to Sophie Yau and our co-founders, David and Adam, for backing us and the pivot, and to Adam for an amazing presentation. Thank you to Phil, Joana, Ege, Cristian, Mateo, and Sahil for judging, handing out lunch and stickers, and looking after everyone all day. And a huge thank you to Layla Syed Wilkinson, our photographer and videographer, for the incredible photos and video.