How Our Teams Deliver Award-Winning Innovation & Technical Excellence
Celebrating Success, Teamwork And The Power Of Innovation
Our teams have once again demonstrated their creativity, expertise and collaborative strength at Liberty Mutual’s global Ignite Hackathon — bringing home three awards and showcasing why innovation is such a core part of who we are.
Ignite, now in its eleventh year, brings together hundreds of engineers, designers, data scientists and product specialists for three days of rapid prototyping, experimentation and problem-solving. With participants joining from Boston, Belfast and across the world, the hackathon is a space where great ideas meet great execution.
This year, our teams stood out once again, securing second place overall, winning the Tech Excellence Award and taking home the highly coveted People’s Choice Award.
A Celebration Of Creativity, Curiosity And Deep Technical Skill
Throughout the event, teams across Liberty IT developed imaginative, data-driven prototypes that explored how AI, automation and emerging technologies can solve real business challenges.
Team ‘Ask Me Anything’ earned the Tech Excellence Award and second place overall, impressing judges with their technical craft and their application of cutting-edge approaches to solving real problems.
Team ‘Stylometrics Squad’ soared to win the People’s Choice Award, voted for by Ignite attendees - a powerful recognition of creativity, usability and impact.
Reflecting on the company’s success, Brian Craig, Senior Director of Architecture, shared:
“Ignite is one of the highlights of our year as it’s a true celebration of creativity, innovation and teamwork across Liberty Mutual Insurance. It allows our people to demonstrate their incredible talent and limitless potential. Hackathons encourage us to continually push the boundaries of innovation and technology, challenging ourselves to think bigger and bolder and bring cutting-edge ideas to life in new and exciting ways. I’m incredibly proud of the exceptional talent shown by our Liberty IT teams. Their passion for collaboration is what drives us to keep innovating and making a difference. Congratulations to all the well-deserving winners!”
Bringing Ideas To Life In Just Three Days
Ignite is designed to push boundaries, challenging teams to think boldly, act quickly and collaborate across regions and disciplines. This year, engineers, designers and product thinkers worked together on AI and machine learning concepts, automation and efficiency tools, data extraction and optimisation prototypes and user-centred solutions designed to scale across the business.
What begins as a spark of an idea on day one becomes a working prototype by the final pitch, reflecting the incredible talent and agility of Liberty IT teams. As Amy Clarke, Senior Software Engineer and member of team ‘Ask Me Anything’, said:
“We are delighted to have won the Tech Excellence Award as well as second place overall. It was a tough competition with a high calibre of ideas, each one with the potential to make a big impact across Liberty Mutual.”
A Hackathon Culture That Builds Careers
Hackathons challenge people to step outside their comfort zone, work differently, and build something new in a short space of time. Ignite isn’t just about prototypes; it’s about growth, learning, and connection, and for early-career engineers and designers, events like this accelerate real-world experience.
Across all three awards, one theme stood out strongly: our people. Their technical excellence brought ideas to life, their teamwork connected diverse strengths, and their passion drove bold, practical innovation.
Events like Ignite highlight not only individual skill, but also Liberty IT’s unique culture, one where experimentation is encouraged, collaboration is second nature, and people are given the space to bring ambitious ideas forward.
Looking Ahead - More Innovation, More Impact
With emerging technologies evolving at speed, the creativity shown at Ignite 2025 reflects how ready our teams are to shape the future. The hackathon closes out a year of growth and learning across Galway, Dublin and Belfast.
To all our participants, winners and supporters - congratulations! Your curiosity, collaboration and technical excellence continue to inspire and push us forward.
If you’re excited by an engineering culture that prizes creativity, teamwork and real-world impact, explore our careers at Liberty IT — and help shape what comes next.
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