Show Notes
This episode of SEEK Bytes steps away from code to celebrate one of SEEK’s most loved traditions: Hackathon. Will is joined by Kat, Andy and Glenn to lift the lid on how a twice-yearly, three-day event brings together people from every corner of SEEK to dream up bold ideas – many of which end up on real roadmaps and in front of real customers.
In this episode you’ll learn: This episode of SEEK Bytes – a podcast for engineers by engineers – steps away from code to celebrate one of SEEK’s most loved traditions: Hackathon. Will is joined by Kat, Andy and Glenn to lift the lid on how a twice-yearly, three-day event brings together people from every corner of SEEK to dream up bold ideas – many of which end up on real roadmaps and in front of real customers.
This episode's special guests: Glenn Wilson (Snr Business Analyst / former Community Engagement Lead), Kat Vassallo (Tecnology Community Engagement & Innovation Manager), Andy Maxey (EVP & Community Impact Lead)
In this episode you’ll learn: • How SEEK hackathons actually work – three days off BAU, 40+ teams hacking across APAC, big themes (from space operas to dinosaurs), t-shirts as badges of honour and a Shark Tank-style final where the ELT judges every idea. • Why hack is core to SEEK’s culture and EVP – how grassroots volunteers, wild costumes, candy bars and chaos create a safe space for experimentation, help people work with teams they’d never normally meet, and generate ideas that influence products, processes and even board-level conversations. • How any company can start their own hackathon – practical tips on beginning with a half-day or single-department event, proving value before going company-wide, getting leadership buy-in, and using hackathons to build skills, networks and long-term innovation habits.
🔔 Follow the SEEK Bytes podcast so you never miss a new episode
More from SEEK Bytes
This special Season 3 finale of SEEK Bytes – a podcast for engineers by engineers – dives into one of the biggest AI engineering shifts of the moment: spec-driven development with GitHub Spec Kit. If you’ve been wondering how teams are using AI for more than just code completion, this episode unpacks a workflow designed to help engineers plan better, reduce drift and build higher-quality software faster.
What happens when you give 100 high school students four days, real SEEK mentors and a crash course in how tech actually works? In this episode of SEEK Bytes – we're joined by special guests Asha Ioculari and Leon Belobrov and go behind the scenes of Camp SEEK, SEEK’s immersive program designed to open the doors of tech to girls and non-binary students and show them there’s far more to this industry than just writing code. From design thinking and user research to pitching in front of 200+ people and senior SEEK leaders, this is a brilliant look at how SEEK is building confidence, broadening horizons and helping shape a more inclusive future for tech.
Ever shipped a UI that “works” but still feels clunky, janky or confusing to users? In this episode of SEEK Bytes, Elliott and Will chat with lead engineer Eddy Nguyen about Bleeds – a simple but powerful way to design every UI state your users actually experience, not just the happy path.
AI might look simple on the surface — just send a prompt, get a response — but behind the scenes, there’s a whole platform challenge to solve. In this episode of SEEK Bytes – we’re joined by Thet Ko, Senior Staff Engineer in SEEK’s AI Platform Services team, to unpack how SEEK is building an AI Gateway to centralise AI calls, improve governance and make it easier for teams to build with AI without reinventing the foundations every time. From cost visibility and PII protection to guardrails, resilience and shared memory across agents, this episode lifts the lid on the platform work that makes enterprise AI actually usable at scale.
AI is moving fast — but are we building it responsibly? In this episode of SEEK Bytes – we sit down with Sreyna Rath, CEO and co-founder of jaimee.ai, who arrived in Australia as a refugee and is now running her own AI company with the aim to create something truly transformative for women. Elliott sits down with Reyna to unpack her journey and the real-world risks of AI bias, why safety can’t be bolted on at the end, and what developers can do to build tools that are fairer, safer and more human from day one. From biased hiring systems to sexualised image outputs and AI companions designed for vulnerable users, this conversation is a powerful reminder that AI doesn’t just reflect technology — it reflects us.