On February 15, a 5-hour ideathon was held on the premises of the UNIT.City innovation park within the framework of Challenger AI, the program aimed at the development of startups with AI/ML solutions. Challenger AI | Ideathon 2 partners include the First Ukrainian International Bank (FUIB) and SoftServe IT company.

Andriy Behunov, Director of FUIB's IT Department, “FUIB is transforming, we are actively implementing Agile in the bank and developing creativity and innovativeness. Therefore, we gladly supported the event, the purpose of which is to develop the IT culture of the Ukrainian youth."

During the event, 40 participants from 8 teams were working on the implementation of AI/ML solutions to improve customer service and increase the efficiency of the bank and retail companies, while using real tasks from FUIB and SoftServe.

Participant's solutions were assessed by FUIB experts Serhiy Karaulov, Director of Customer Value Management Department, and Dmytro Brovchuk, Director of Data and Analytics Department. The case from the bank was presented by Vitaliy Shablienko, Head of the Microbusiness Department.

Dmytro Brovchuk is convinced that young people's ideas can be implemented and gain value for business: “FUIB has been actively using AI/ML solutions in various areas of the banking sector for several years, and we see that the future of the banking sector is inextricably linked to ML and attraction of young and talented specialists. Last year, FUIB launched the Analytics Academy, and this year we are cooperating with the Challenger AI accelerator. Provision of support for an event that develops technological skills and entrepreneurial talents of young people in the IT industry is an interesting and useful experience for the bank."

According to the results of the ideathon, "Human in the bank" and "Utrigg" teams received certificates for mentoring classes with FUIB experts, whereas "Utrigg" and "Happy Routing" teams received certificates for mentoring classes from SoftServe. “Utrigg” and “Happy Routing” teams received tickets for the Challenger AI pre-acceleration program..

“The program is focused on startups that already use or plan to use AI/ML technologies. We are grateful to our Unicorn partners – leading Ukrainian companies –  for their contribution to the international Challenger AI program, development of AI/ML technologies and the Ukrainian startup ecosystem,” commented Yuriy-Volodymyr Blavt, Challenger accelerator co-founder.

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Challenger AI is an international acceleration program for startups that use AI/ML solutions. The 10 selected startups will undergo a 3-month hybrid (online/offline) program, will gain access to workshops from international and local coaches, will receive mentoring support from businesses and AI/ML experts, and will meet investors and corporate representatives. Challenger AI was founded by CIVITTA and Radar Tech. The project is implemented with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, at the expense of funds allocated for humanitarian aid and cooperation, as well as under the auspices of MHP, FUIB, SoftServe, Fishka, and the Western NIS Enterprise Fund.