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At Onova, our interns are more than just temporary team members; they are integral to our culture of innovation, learning, and collaboration. Each intern's journey here is unique, shaped by diverse projects, challenges, and the strong support system we provide. Below, we share the experiences of three interns — Sara Guo, Riya Kumar, and Matthew Liu — who reflect on their time at Onova, offering insights into the opportunities, growth, and memories they gained.

Interning at a Fast-Paced Tech Startup: Real Experiences from Onova’s Innovation Consulting Team and Product Studio

Pioneering Innovation: The First Capgemini Microsoft Hackathon – The Largest Virtual Private Hackathon in the World

Destination Digital is designed to immerse participants in new and exciting experiences. This year, participants were introduced to a variety of challenges, a new event format, and their assigned team members and mentors.

The 4 Stages of Being a BMO DD24 Innovator

Fostering Innovation Culture at BMO Destination Digital 2024

Our primary goal in designing the learning curriculum for Destination Digital 2024 was inclusivity. The T&O group at BMO encompasses many employees of varied roles, many of whom may not have a technical background or familiarity with the technology tools involved in the event. This diversity in technical and business backgrounds, while a strength, also posed a challenge in ensuring that all participants could get the most out of the learning curriculum workshops during Destination Digital 2024.

Building An Effective Learning Curriculum at BMO's Internal Innovation Sprint

We’re big proponents of hackathon-led growth – leveraging these dynamic, rapid innovation events as a key facilitator in capability building, employee engagement, and upskilling at scale. In response to the launch of Google's Gemini, Capgemini seized this opportunity to leverage hackathon-led growth, and commissioned us, Onova, to host a two-week hackathon with two main objectives: (1) Upskilling hundreds of their developers on Gemini capabilities, and (2) developing client-ready enterprise applications on top of Gemini.

Artificial Intelligence

Building the First Enterprise Use-Cases on Google’s Gemini Model

We view the GenAI stack as a four-dimensional offering to large enterprises looking to transform their organization. It’s a seamless combination of intersecting players that all unite to provide high-performing business units with the capabilities they need to succeed and thrive on generative AI.

Artificial Intelligence

The GenAI Stack - How Enterprises Should Take Advantage of the GenAI Revolution

Innovating Across Borders at One of Capgemini’s Largest Global Hackathons — Interview with Rick Pollock

Hackathons, the hub of innovation and creativity, have become integral for companies striving to stay ahead in the dynamic technology landscape. Yet, as we navigate the landscape of sustainable business practices, how can hackathons be more sustainable?

How to Create a Sustainable Hackathon: Nurturing Innovation Responsibly

“We’re going to need to be as innovative as a FinTech. And what that means is that everyone at HSBC needs to become innovators. And that starts with you, our leaders.” — Steve Van Wyk, Global Chief Information Officer (CIO) at HSBC.

Building a Founder’s Mindset Among C-Suite Executives at HSBC

In the landscape of conversational AI, particularly with the advent of Large Language Models (LLMs), a prevalent issue is the occurrence of "hallucinations." These are instances where the AI asserts incorrect information with unwarranted confidence. Hallucinations in this context are not just occasional missteps; they are a recurrent challenge that underscores the limitations of these advanced systems. AI hallucinations can be caused by various factors, including insufficient, outdated, or low-quality training data, overfitting, use of idioms or slang expressions, and adversarial attacks. These errors present a complex problem: they can undermine the trustworthiness of LLMs. Imagine a tool that's incredibly resourceful, yet occasionally presents fiction as fact. This is the current reality with conversational AIs—they are powerful, yet imperfect, particularly in discerning and relaying verifiable truths.

Artificial Intelligence

The State of Hallucinations in Conversational LLMs, and What To Do About It

Corporate hackathons have emerged as a powerful tool for innovation, serving as intensive, time-bound events where cross-functional teams collaborate to solve complex challenges. If you've heard of a hackathon but are unsure about what specific value or application it would bring to your company, then this article is designed for you. We’ll delve into four compelling reasons why organizations should invest in running an internal hackathon (expanding on original insights from our ultimate hackathon playbook).

Unlocking Corporate Innovation Potential: 4 Transformative Reasons to Run a Hackathon

Bradley Hadfield is the founder of BMO Destination Digital and a Lead Technology Officer at BMO Insurance. In this episode, we uncover the origin story of BMO’s internal hackathon. We delve deeper into how Brad was able to help someone within his organization with a problem, and effectively find a way to engage people and create meaningful connections.

Building a Founder Mindset Within a Large Fortune 500 Company: How Bradley Hadfield Discovered Destination Digital at BMO

In a world where entrepreneurship often conjures images of Silicon Valley tech wizards and flashy startup launches, Andrew Wilkinson's story is a refreshing departure from the norm. Wilkinson's journey into the world of business has been anything but conventional, marked by audacious decisions and a keen eye for hidden opportunities. From humble beginnings as a barista to becoming a key player in the business world, Wilkinson's story is a testament to thinking outside the box and daring to lead a different path.

Daring to be Different: A Deep Dive into Andrew Wilkinson and Building Tiny

In today's fast-paced technological landscape, the challenge isn't just keeping up—it's knowing where to focus your efforts. While the concept of an idea sprint is powerful, a GenAI Idea Sprint goes beyond mere ideation. It serves as a specialized workshop that aligns leadership and uncovers strategic opportunities in the realm of Generative AI (GenAI).

Artificial Intelligence

Navigating the GenAI Landscape: A Blueprint for Strategic Opportunity Identification

It’s crucial that human operators retain control and understanding of AI operations, to mitigate risks and align the technology with ethical standards and regulations.That is the limitation of GenAI solutions, and that’s why it’s crucial to implement a human-in-the-loop for the foreseeable future.

Artificial Intelligence

The Limitation of GenAI Solutions | It’s Critical to Implement a Human in the Loop

The financial sector stands on the brink of a transformative era, fueled by Artificial Intelligence (AI). With AI applications promising an estimated $447 billion in cost savings for banks globally, the time to act and learn as much as possible about this emerging technology is now.

Artificial Intelligence

6 Transformative AI Use Cases in the Financial Services Industry

In a world teetering on the brink of ecological crisis, an unexpected hero emerges. Artificial Intelligence (AI) isn't just another player; it's rewriting the script for sustainability.Why should you care? AI in sustainability applications could contribute up to $5.2 trillion USD to the global economy in 2030. And, can reduce worldwide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 4% in 2030. As we dive deeper into the AI-driven sustainability frontier, the possibilities are boundless. It's clear that AI is not just changing the way we approach sustainability; it's leading us toward a future where eco-challenges are met with data-driven precision and innovation, creating a more sustainable and harmonious world for generations to come.

Artificial Intelligence

Sustainability's Silent Ally: AI's Influence Explored Through Existing Companies, Ethical Reflections, and Actionable Next Steps

At Onova, we firmly believe that the most impactful ideas often emerge outside a traditional office environment. That's why cottage sprints have become a cornerstone of our company culture. Now in its third iteration, this unique retreat has evolved into an indispensable part of our strategic planning process and internal innovation initiatives. From the evolution of our very own hackathon management platform Earth to the integration of new AI tools in our marketing strategies, cottage sprints have had a pivotal impact on the productivity and growth of our startup. But what exactly is a Cottage Sprint, and what makes these team retreats so special?

Innovation Meets Connection: Onova's Third and Latest Cottage Sprint

The status quo for traditional hackathons and innovation events is to integrate multiple third-party providers - each of which reside over a specific domain. Whether it’s for virtual events, team communication, or event information - users typically had to navigate to 3+ apps to get all of the information they needed.Over the years, feedback from participants and judges made it clear that navigating the various platforms associated with a hackathon - hosting virtual events, event information, and team communication - is deterringly frustrating and confusing.This needed to be better. Designing the best product UI that leaves users saying "wow, it's so user-friendly" has always been our goal from the very start.We explored dozens of options, yet never found a singular platform that boasted a modern user interface while seamlessly connecting all the elements and components of a hackathon, all while bridging the gap between physical and virtual participants - so we decided to build our own at our internal cottage trip.

Earth: The Ultimate Hackathon Management Platform for Organizers, Judges, and Hackers

AI is dramatically improving the way we execute on ideas and go from ideation to delivery. But with its increasing capabilities, the core human elements are going to be even more important than ever before. Certain things like empathy, clarifying user prompts, and appropriate regulations are essential roles for humans to interface with AI in.
This means that there is a higher emphasis on how users interact, engage, and utilize AI in order to harvest GenAI’s full potential, but to also ensure that it’s done in the right way. So, the question becomes: what’s the best way for users to learn about GenAI? We’re strong advocates for learning through building - and that’s exactly what a hackathon can do for you and your business.

Artificial Intelligence

Hackathons as the Best Medium to Learn about Generative AI