Turning Ideas Into Impact at Cox’s AI Hackathon

What happens when you give employees the tools, time and freedom to innovate? At Cox, the answer is clear: a culture built on learning and growth — and bold ideas that turn into real-world solutions. 

In most circles, hackathons bring to mind scrappy teams pulling all-nighters, chasing big ideas with small budgets. But breakthrough thinking doesn’t just happen in the startup world. Inside a large enterprise like Cox, that same spirit of innovation can be even more powerful — especially when hundreds of technologists from across the country rally around a shared challenge.

Cox Automotive’s annual hackathon gives employees across the company’s product and technology group a dedicated space to innovate, build relationships and deliver solutions that drive real business impact.

“Even as a large enterprise, we make it a priority to stay on the cutting edge of technology, and that’s one of the things I love most about my work,” said Johnny Chu, director of software engineering at Manheim (part of the Cox family of businesses) and a member of the 2025 hackathon planning committee. 

This year, hundreds of employees across multiple locations formed teams to explore one big question: How can AI-assisted development raise the bar for our customers and businesses? 

What they created and learned in the process reflects how powerful hands-on innovation can be.

“AI has become part of our day-to-day jobs, but when we first started planning the hackathon, AI was kind of a novelty to everybody,” he said. “For anyone who had hesitations or curiosity about using AI tools, the hackathon was a great opportunity to jump in and spend three days learning what AI can really do.”

To make that possible, the planning team partnered with leadership to give participants access to a wide range of tools for AI-assisted development.

”Our leadership consistently encourages us to explore and adopt emerging innovations,” Johnny added. ”AI is the latest example, but before that, we led a major cloud migration, moving all our applications to AWS. That’s what’s so appealing about our company: our leadership will always encourage us to stay on that cutting-edge technology.” 

Fast-tracking development and implementation 

During a typical hackathon, teams spend three days building and refining their projects. Because development takes up the bulk of that time, video submissions often become a last-minute scramble. 

But this year, AI changed the pace. 

“What we observed this year is that, thanks to AI, most teams were able to implement projects on the first day, which gave them more time to craft and produce high-quality video submissions,” Johnny said. “It’s a clear indication of how AI tools are accelerating development and enhancing creativity.”

A winning project that’s elevating the customer experience 

This year’s challenge invited teams to use AI to reimagine the customer journey and create experiences that feel more personal and intuitive. The winning project embraced that mission wholeheartedly. 

Initially nicknamed AutoCupid, the solution acts as a generative AI–powered matchmaker, pairing car buyers with their ideal vehicle based on lifestyle, needs and preferences — not just specs or price. Now launched into production at Kelley Blue Book as Car Match, the platform is already helping customers discover vehicles that fit their lives more holistically. 

“We’re fortunate to work in an organization where leadership truly supports hackathon projects and encourages creativity throughout the year,” Johnny said. “Not all ideas have to come from the top down. Our teams regularly explore new concepts that deliver customer value and business impact.”

The annual hackathon is just one example of how we empower our teams to innovate, learn and grow. If you’re excited by the idea of working with AI, collaborating with talented peers and making a meaningful difference through technology, Cox is the place to be.

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