Xperi’s eighth annual Hackathon, held October 9-10, brought together 315 participants across 72 teams and 10 locations for a 24-hour sprint of creativity, collaboration, and technical ingenuity. This year, the event reached new heights — not only in scale, but in inclusivity and impact — thanks to the debut of the Ideathon, a non-coding track designed to welcome even more voices and ideas into the innovation pipeline.
A tradition of creativity, now even broader
The Hackathon has always been a social coding competition, challenging teams to build software solutions for business and technology priorities in just 24 hours. In 2025, the event continued its tradition of high energy and engagement, with over 100 responses to event contests, 130+ viewers tuning in to the live-streamed final round, and 69 judges from across the organization evaluating projects through three rigorous rounds.
“The team appreciated the change in pace — the fact that they could mix up responsibilities, from creating mocks and user stories for the main flows to coding the solution using the latest technologies, and leveraging AI tools along the way,” said Anca Bintu, senior manager of software QA. “And most importantly, the most rewarding aspect was seeing their colleagues across the company relate to the problem presented and be interested in their idea of how to solve it.”
But the biggest evolution this year was the introduction of the Ideathon. Responding to feedback that non-coders wanted to contribute, the Ideathon opened the doors to colleagues from business, marketing, content, strategy, operations, design and research. Teams could pitch bold ideas, propose impactful solutions, and explore new opportunities aligned with Xperi’s goals — no coding required. The Ideathon drew 130 participants across 60 teams from 8 locations, with 21 judges reviewing 60 idea submissions through multiple rounds.
“I’d like to extend a big thanks to the organizers, sponsors, and advocates for putting together such a wonderful and energizing event. Everything was exceptionally well run — no small feat with so many moving parts and two events happening simultaneously,” said Benjamin Harden, senior director of development engineering, a member of the winning Ideathon team and a judge for the Hackathon. “Experiences like this show how ideas spark more ideas — not always as variations, but as entirely new directions. What an incredible way to fuel innovation through so many creative minds working together.”
Themes, awards and impact
The Hackathon themes for 2025 reflected Xperi’s focus on driving smarter workflows, ensuring data quality and reliability, deepening user engagement, creating unified and actionable data insights, and accelerating the evolution of innovative product features. Three employee resource groups sponsored special awards, and the events were mapped to business units to ensure relevance and real-world impact. Judges from all business units contributed their expertise, making the evaluation process both rigorous and inclusive.
“Not only did I make new friends, but I also had the opportunity to interact with some of the most talented individuals in the company,” said Varun Kyatsandra, principal software development engineer. “I was genuinely amazed by the number of teams that participated and the sheer volume of innovative ideas that came to life within just a few hours. As someone new to the organization, witnessing such a vibrant and collaborative community tackling the challenges of tomorrow was truly inspiring.”
Looking ahead
As the Hackathon and Ideathon continue to grow, so does Xperi’s culture of innovation. These events proved that when everyone is invited to the table — regardless of technical background — the possibilities for creativity and progress are truly endless.
A huge thank you to all participants, judges, organizers, and supporters for making Hackathon and Ideathon 2025 the most inclusive and inspiring yet. We can’t wait to see what you’ll build and imagine next year!
