First Google Hackathon in Colombo with PickMe

May, 2, 2024

Google and Searce partnered with PickMe to host Sri Lanka's first ever Generative AI Hackathon in the transport technology space. The company-wide Hackathon was held over 2 days and extended beyond PickMe’s engineering team to include staffers from different disciplines.

Hackathon, is a combination of the words ‘hacker,’ a name given to a smart programmer, and ‘marathon,’ an event known for endurance. Another name for a hackathon is ‘codefest,’ a social coding event that brings computer programmers and other interested parties together to either improve on or build an entirely new software program. The PickMe teams had a little more than a day to come up with their given task and worked tirelessly to develop innovative technology solutions for the PickMe platform, using Generative AI.

The competing staffers were divided into 6 member teams in the high speed marathon which took place at Waters Edge, on the 26th and 27th of April. Regional representatives from both Google and Searce were present as Gen AI resource personnel to assist the coding teams to ideate and build their applications. Google provided Gen AI infrastructure and services free of charge for the Hackathon. Teams ‘AI Artisans” and “Oracles” became first and second runners up respectively, whilst team “Prompt Engine” emerged the winner for their solution related to driving better discoverability and experiences in the food marketplace. The panel of judges comprising Ankit Sinha, VP of Searce, PickMe CEO Jiffry Zulfer, COO Isira Perera, CTO Gayath Ratnayake, Head of Product Jeremy Carvalho were unanimous in their view that the teams performed exceptionally well and selecting winners was a tough task.

Jiffry Zulfer, CEO of PickMe, said engagements of this nature were important not only from the perspective of an individual company. “It shows that Sri Lanka is open to working with global digital giants. Our engagement with Google put Sri Lanka on the international map, something we chose to do with national pride. From a company perspective PickMe is committed to elevating our service proposition through our ability to develop cutting edge tools with the latest technologies and the hackathon being validated by tech giant Google is an affirmation of that. We intend for these solutions to directly benefit our customers and boost their productivity and performance through our services. It is important to look at the practicalities and applicabilities of the digital stratosphere when we engage with the economy and find value for every citizen of our nation in the shared economy the PickMe platform provides. Engagements of this nature are necessary on our roadmap to national wealth creation.”

Ankit Sinha, VP of Searce, a premier Google cloud partner said from collaborating with organisations worldwide they have found that hackathons offer teams numerous benefits. "Beyond the competition, hackathons of this nature provide the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues from different teams, encouraging the exchange of ideas and knowledge. Searce in partnership with Google Cloud has worked within the Sri Lankan digital space for over 7 years now. While Google is a household name, it is important to know that we together forge B to B partnerships giving our clients the opportunity to build user friendly applications that are attuned to local needs, backed by global cutting edge technology.”

Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Highways, Engineer Ranjith Rubasinghe, commended PickMe for the initiative, highlighting the importance of public-private partnerships in driving technological advancements in the transportation sector. “We cannot look at transport anymore from a traditional way. Today, shortly after the launch of the National Digital Economy Strategy 2030, by the president, we see this as a proactive step in realising these goals. Digitalisation is taking on a powerful meaning to the way we move passengers and goods across urban and rural terrains. We clearly know that digitalisation brings efficiency and this is something Sri Lanka needs to understand and engage in if we are to get the best out of every rupee we spend. I am happy to participate in this trailblazing event and hope that PickMe will be a frontrunner in exposing young people to understand the opportunities in following the path of digitalisation which is the future for our country.”

Gayath Ratnayaka, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of PickMe said the Gen-AI Hackathon is proof of the company's adaptability and speed to market. "Innovation is in PickMe’s DNA and we proved it at the Hackathon. There was a lot of energy amongst the participating teams and they each came up with a workable innovative solution. Our collaboration with industry giants like Google is an added advantage which we look forward to very much. Their support is helping us to leverage unique technologies and datasets to create groundbreaking solutions. Being in the forefront of technological advancements such as Gen AI will further accelerate our speed to market while enhancing user experiences.”

PickMe, which has evolved from a startup to a platform operating at extraordinary scale, plans to unlock new levels of creativity, with Google’s Generative AI capabilities which is finding roles across industries globally.