"To step towards being an organization that can stand for 100 years, our people must be ready to adapt, learn continuously, take real action, and move with change, because the outside world never stops changing"
Piyasak Ukritnukun, Managing Director of Ngern Tid Lor Public Company Limited
At a time when many companies are still questioning the role of AI, Ngern Tid Lor PLC chose to transform people × AI into a powerful engine for long-term innovation and growth via TIDLOR AI HACKATHON, the platform that begins with real problems, develops proven proof-of-concept models, and expands them into real operations. Driven by a culture of continuous learning, bold experimentation, and a growth mindset, the company empowers employees to lead change and move the organization toward a concrete 100-year vision.
What is TIDLOR AI HACKATHON - From competition stage to real innovation
Ngern Tid Lor Public Company Limited is one of the first organizations in Thailand to consistently host Hackathon events. This platform invites employees from every department and function to form teams, create ideas, and test new innovations. It reflects the company’s strong teamwork culture, the core value of “Experiment to Lead Changes,” and the “License to Fail” mindset—turning mistakes into lessons that drive improvement and future progress.
This activity of the Company therefore answers organizational questions in many dimensions
Creates innovations that truly answer the organization because every team's ideas all start from problems of both customers and various departments in the organization
Helps cultivate teamwork and creativity as employees from different departments collaborate, exchange ideas, and work together. It also allows participants to learn directly from executives who serve as mentors and sponsors—just like investors guiding a startup team.
Strengthens a culture of curiosity and bold experimentation , giving employees the opportunity to think, test, and build real solutions hands-on.
Behind success — Preparing "People × Knowledge × Tools" systematically
TIDLOR AI HACKATHON was designed to unlock organizational people's potential. Before starting activities, the team arranged workshops and training to provide AI knowledge to employees at all levels and continuously developed AI courses, believing that AI is an important accelerator that helps empower people and business to grow further than before, which received continuous interest in every activity.
Resulting in organizing this activity, the outstanding and different point is over 80% of applicants are Non-IT line employees but work for real, many teams passed to the final 15 teams (Final Pitch), and one team that won runner-up even though all members are Non-IT. This proves the results of values of being hungry to learn and daring to think and try, and confirms that anyone can use AI to work if they truly understand their own business/process.
A reflection from Theewin Jidsathaporn, Senior Vice President, Analytics and Development Department, captured this perfectly:
“ICEBERG was the team I sponsored. When I saw the list of members, I was concerned because not a single person came from IT. I wondered whether we could talk about tools like n8n or discuss AI models effectively. But it was never a problem. Everyone came with pure passion. They developed ideas by discussing with ChatGPT, built out the workflow completely, and turned concepts into a working solution. This proves that being great with AI isn’t about technical expertise—it’s about deeply understanding your work. With AI as a tool, their capabilities expanded and accelerated.
Mentor/Sponsor & A&D Team — Coaching Teams Toward Real Outcomes
Another valuable insight came from Rathiya Issarachaikul, Chief Operating Officer of RISE and one of the judges: "From having opportunities to see HACKATHON organized in many organizations, must say here doing AI gets really real, focuses on usable examples emphasizing tangible results, because complete components—employees really want to solve problems, organizers arranged time periods and participants' experiences well, and have Mentor/Sponsor who are executives pushing, plus internal teams helping support and checking correctness, ready to set competition frameworks clearly. What's amazing is every team uses n8n, projects the whole flow for judges to see completely from upstream to downstream. Organizations using n8n to this level in Thailand are not more than 5, and Ngern Tid Lor PLC is one of them that made real results happen."
From Pain Point to POC - Pilot - Production - Really measurable path
The success of the TIDLOR AI HACKATHON is rooted in a structured learning and development process designed to turn ideas into real, usable solutions. The journey begins with identifying true problems and progresses through stages that ensure the final solutions are practical, scalable, and valuable to the organization.
1. Valuing ideas coming from real Pain Points Being an organization valuing customer problems and employees in the organization, including attention of partners that the organization has cultivated employees all along, is one of the keys opening the door to success of organizing Hackathon that will lead to creating real innovations or lead to creating tools used to solve real problems for customers or various departments in the organization. Making every idea in this TIDLOR AI HACKATHON interesting, whether using AI to help detect fraud, using AI to help reduce document checking time, or even using AI to help upskill sales employees to close sales faster, etc.
2. Setting strict judging criteria To ensure ideas selected can continue and really solve existing problems or really help create growth for the organization and be worthwhile, every team and every project entering the Final Pitch round must pass evaluation in all 5 aspects:
Desirability – Do customers or users really need it
Viability – Value for business use
Feasibility – Can the technology realistically be implemented
Proof of Concept (POC) – Initial testing or proof to ensure various ideas or solutions thought up can really be used
Pitching – Clear idea communication, where each team must present projects comprehensively in dimensions of
Pain point or problem wanting to use AI to help solve or develop, along with providing information about AI each team chose to use, how it will help solve existing problems
Benefit or Business Impact on the organization, such as helping the organization have increased income or helping increase work efficiency in various parts of the organization somehow, or how it will help reduce damage that may occur to the organization
ROI (Return on Investment) which is measuring returns the business receives from investment, to see whether money the organization will use to invest in each project is worthwhile or not
Implementation Timeline showing how project development timeline is set, to be able to lead to real use within 3 years according to the given question
Through this structured process—combined with the strong culture and values—the TIDLOR AI HACKATHON delivers not only improved business efficiency but also stronger relationships among employees. Most importantly, the event reshapes employees' perception of AI: from being seen as a competitor to becoming a catalyst that accelerates innovation and unlocks new opportunities for people and the business.
Innovation Highlights from Participating Teams
Team Sentinel One:
Developed a tool that applies the most suitable OCR technology for each document type, significantly improving accuracy and operational efficiency.
Team ICEBERG:
Created a solution that detects keywords in sales conversations to increase conversion accuracy. Their tool also helps improve call scripts for telesales teams.
Team YOLO IS Not YOYO:
Built an intelligent assistant that answers customer questions and supports sales teams in closing deals more effectively.
AHA Moments — Voices from Leadership and Participants
“Our goal is clear—we want to build a 100-year organization. The way to get there is to embrace change and balance front-office performance with strong back-office operations. Innovation is what differentiates leaders from followers, and the Hackathon is one of the tools that push us forward. Even though, we expect the business benefits from projects but what’s more important is strengthening relationship between us. Thank you to all Sponsors and Mentors for stepping out of your comfort zones to guide the teams. Today proves that we can do it. Dare to try, accept mistakes, learn fast, and go far. That’s the path to becoming a 100-year organization.”
Piyasak Ukritnukun, Managing Director
“As Sponsors, we learned together with the participants. We gained deeper insights into AI—its strengths and limitations. Every team impressed us and showed how much talent we truly have within the organization. Today, success isn’t measured by experience but by turning good ideas into real outcomes.”
Pakamon Tulyapizitchai, SVP, Digital Transformation
“We’ve always said our company allows employees dare to think and dare to try, and this Hackathon proves it clearly. Without this culture, this event wouldn’t exist. I also saw strong teamwork—everyone took one step back when needed so the work could move forward. Whether a team wins or not, you should be proud. Just joining means you’ve already won. And please keep going—many of the projects have great potential.”
Theewin Jidsathaporn, SVP, Analytics & Development
“I was impressed by the teamwork and willingness to help one another. It reminded me of the early days when our organization was much smaller—we would walk to other departments and ask for help, and everyone supported each other without hesitation. That spirit helped us grow into what it is today.”
Supachoke Akkarakulyos, Senior Director, Branch Sales Development & Management
“This Hackathon went beyond the previous one. Everyone talked about POC, cost and benefit, and considered every angle. Thanks to the Tidlor Academy team for improving the program from the last event and delivering even better results this time.”
Athitaya Phoonwathu, Chief Insurance Officer
“Two years ago in our first Hackathon, we introduced the idea of a ‘License to Fail’—a safe space to try, experiment, and learn from mistakes. This time, we saw that the meaning of License to Fail doesn’t come from leadership. It already lives within all of us—our willingness to try new things, accept mistakes, and learn with intention.”
Kanjanat Chalermjulamanee, SVP, Tidlor Academy
“Our Hackathon is truly tough. Participants must learn many technologies, tackle challenging requirements, and answer questions from Mentors, Sponsors, and judges. A Hackathon with a big budget wouldn’t be a Hackathon. But today, we saw teams achieving excellent results with minimal cost. External judges also confirmed that our competition standards match those outside. The pressure was real, but that is exactly where the value of learning comes from.”
Bernard Tso, Head of Marketing, Business Development & IT
“Thank you for creating a platform that allows us to showcase our capabilities and turn knowledge into real solutions for the organization. The most challenging part was managing time during the POC phase and expanding our understanding of the bigger business picture. AI will never replace NTLers who always ‘Dare to Think, Dare to Try.’ AI simply helps us work smarter.”
Team Sentinel One, First Prize Winner
“Starting without an IT background was actually an advantage. It proved that with a clear understanding of business processes and what we want to achieve, AI can bring that vision to life. Don’t be afraid of the technical side. If you know your goal, what value you want to create, and for whom—you only need to take one step forward and choose the right AI tools. AI will do the rest to help you succeed.”
Team ICEBERG, Second Prize Winner
I encourage everyone to join a Hackathon at least once in your life—especially if you’re seeking new challenges. You’ll discover that there is always room to grow and go further.”
Team YOLO IS Not YOYO, Third Prize Winner
Conclusion
The TIDLOR AI HACKATHON demonstrates that People × AI is the engine that drives innovation and long-term growth toward a 100-year organization. It’s not only about applying technology to more tasks—it's about cultivating a mindset that supports innovation and real execution.
Through a culture of Thirst for Wisdom and Self Development, Experiment to Lead Changes, and Candid Teamwork, the Company empowers employees across every function—IT and Non-IT—to work alongside AI as an innovation accelerator. The results are tangible, measurable, and aligned with strong governance and transparency.
This is how Ngern Tid Lor PLC builds sustainable growth and moves forward with confidence toward its vision of becoming a 100-year organization.