My Journey at the AWS GenAI Hackathon 2024: A Lesson in Believing in Your Ideas

Participating in the AWS GenAI Hackathon 2024 was a truly transformative experience for me and my team mate Tayyab Shahzada, one that taught me the power of perseverance and belief in our own ideas. When I arrived at the event that morning, I had little knowledge about this hackathon—in fact, it was my first time participating in such an event. On top of that, I arrived late, thanks to the inevitable challenges of navigating the London Underground to reach the AWS office.

By the time I got there, most teams were already formed, comprised of participants who had experience with hackathons and were more comfortable in such environments. My friend and I found ourselves without a team, so we decided to team up and tackle the challenge on our own.

There were AWS experts on hand to support us, but the ideas had to come from within our team. After brainstorming, we landed on a concept that was personal to us and that we felt passionate about. We both knew that, being a two-person team, there was only so much we could do in terms of ideation, but we were determined to give it our all.

By midday, we were still finalising our use case and hadn’t yet moved forward with the proof of concept (POC) or coding. Despite our slow start, we remained focused on refining our presentation, confident that our idea—while simple—was original and meaningful.

As the other teams began to present, my confidence wavered. The other projects were impressive, both in terms of ideas and execution. I turned to my teammate and said, "We don’t stand a chance of winning." But we reminded ourselves that just participating in the hackathon was an achievement in itself. With nothing to lose, we went on stage and began our presentation, sharing our personal stories, the vision behind our project, the problem we aimed to solve, and finally, our technical demo.

Our idea was straightforward, and because of that, we had plenty of time for a Q&A session. To our surprise, the audience and jury were highly engaged, asking thoughtful questions. We answered every question confidently, fully articulating our vision and why we believed in our approach. This was a reminder that articulating your vision clearly is just as important as the idea itself.

As the jury gave us positive feedback, our hopes started to rise, but we were still prepared for disappointment. When the results were announced, they first named the second and first runners-up, and at that point, I was sure we hadn’t won. But then, to our absolute surprise, we were named the overall winners! I was stunned—it was a moment I never anticipated.

I’m sharing this story because I know that many people, like us, may hold back from pursuing their ideas, thinking others are more experienced or have better ideas. Yes, there will always be someone with more experience or more sophisticated ideas, but what makes your idea unique is your story, your vision, and your passion to bring it to life. That’s what resonates with people and, ultimately, with the judges.

This hackathon experience was incredibly humbling, and I’m grateful for the support and feedback from everyone involved. I hope my story encourages others to take a leap of faith and believe in themselves. The greatest lesson I’ve learned is to never let self-doubt stop you from pursuing your vision.

Let this serve as a reminder that while there may always be someone better, your unique perspective and determination can lead you to unexpected victories.

Thank you very much to Eva Saez, Ashok Rao, Pragnesh S for organising this event. Thank you to all our fellow participants and our juries.