AI & Conversational Hackathon with CZ: from idea to prototype in two days
This week, we at Humanoids partnered with health insurer CZ to organize an AI & Conversational Hackathon. Over the course of two days, around twenty CZ employees – divided into four teams – worked on innovative concepts around artificial intelligence, generative AI, and conversational technology. From Humanoids, UX designers Maarten Hoogvliet, Maria Noordenbos, and Hiske van Dalen joined the challenge. The teams were supported by coaches and evaluated by a jury.
The challenge: AI in healthcare customer service
The central question: How can artificial intelligence, conversational AI solutions, and personal data be combined to make the experience for CZ customers more personal, clear, and accessible – while at the same time reducing the pressure on the healthcare customer service center?
The assignment was clear but ambitious. In just two days, the teams were challenged to build an AI prototype that was not only smart and innovative, but also realistic, usable, and scalable in practice. By applying generative AI and conversational technology, the goal was to show how these tools can create immediate impact for both customers and organizations in the healthcare sector.
The concepts: AI-driven solutions
The four teams came up with strong and diverse ideas, all focused on AI in customer service and improving the healthcare experience:
- CZegt – a conversational AI voicebot that allows customers calling the service center to choose to handle their question immediately with the bot while waiting on the line.
- Jet from CZ – an AI bot that combines personal data with internal sources, providing customers with direct help inside the CZ app at the points where questions arise most frequently.
- Z3 – an AI bot that clearly explains healthcare costs: from the origin of amounts to how they align with the customer’s insurance policy.
- Rekenhulp (Calculator) – an AI tool that precisely calculates what a customer will pay themselves and what CZ reimburses for a specific healthcare question.
The winning idea: CZegt
The jury selected CZegt as the winning concept. Not only because it delivers a clear improvement in customer service, but also because the idea is highly feasible in the short term. This conversational AI voicebot transforms waiting time into immediate service – a tangible innovation that creates direct value for customers.
Learning and accelerating together with AI
What this hackathon demonstrated above all is the power of multidisciplinary collaboration. UX designers, developers, and data scientists transformed ideas into tangible prototypes in just two days. This not only resulted in smart AI solutions, but also in insights and momentum that directly contribute to the further development of CZ’s AI and conversational strategy.
Why an AI hackathon?
At Humanoids, we believe that hackathons are a powerful way to accelerate AI adoption and innovation in organizations. In an intensive, focused setting, ideas emerge that would otherwise take months to develop. For organizations like CZ, it’s an effective way to test and validate new technologies—such as generative AI, conversational AI, and machine learning—and quickly translate them into concrete applications in healthcare customer service.
As facilitators, we at Humanoids guided the process, bringing in our expertise in UX design, user research, and human-centered technology. This ensured that the prototypes weren’t just technically impressive, but also meaningful, usable, and valuable for real people. That human-centered approach is what makes AI innovations stick.
A big thanks!
We look back on two inspiring days full of creativity, collaboration, and experimentation. A big thank you to CZ and all participants for their dedication and energy. Congratulations to the winning team with CZegt – and to all teams for their smart and valuable contributions.
At Humanoids, we are excited to continue exploring how AI hackathons can accelerate innovation and how conversational AI can improve customer service and user experiences in healthcare and beyond.
👉 Want to learn more about how Humanoids uses AI hackathons to spark innovation, or how conversational AI could benefit your organization? Feel free to get in touch with us.
