These are the winning apps from AI Builder Day
What happens when you give product managers a challenge, an AI app builder, and a weekend to build? Aha! and Pragmatic Institute teamed up for AI Builder Day to find out. We gave everyone free access to Aha! Builder, guidance along the way, and an open brief: Identify a problem and create an application for the people facing it.
The result was a wonderfully wide mix of applications. Thank you to everyone who took part — picking just three was not easy.
Congratulations to our winners: an environmental alert tool, a small-farm management app, and an EV charging assistant.
Product experts from Aha! and Pragmatic Institute reviewed the submissions. We looked first at who each application was for and how well it served those people. We also considered the experience, execution, originality, and clarity of purpose.
The winning applications are very different from one another. But they share a few things:
They identified specific users and problems.
They decided what to address — and what to leave out.
They designed around the moments when users needed information or help.
They built applications that people could test and improve.
Here is a closer look at all three:
Best Business Application: SPPUD
Casey McCullar won Best Business Application for SPPUD, the Satellite-Powered Pollution Urgency Detector. It surfaces external satellite data to give corporate communications and environmental risk leaders early visibility into potential environmental issues near industrial sites. Leaders can review potential issues across sites as well as investigation findings, assigned owners, and actions underway.
We liked how disciplined Casey was about scope. Operations teams already have site-specific systems, so he left those features out. SPPUD stays focused on what leaders need when an external signal calls for an investigation or response.
Best Consumer Application: Pasturely
Paul Rice, Angela Bloomer, and Oren Pajela won Best Consumer Application for Pasturely, a small-farm management app. The team drew on Paul's experience: His farm needed something better than paper notes and disconnected tools to track chores, animal health, inventory, and receipts. Pasturely connects field helpers and farm operators so chores and urgent animal issues do not get lost between the field and office.
We appreciated the team's attention to how a small farm operates. Field helpers and farm operators need different information. And when an animal is sick, the right person needs to know quickly. Pasturely brings those daily exchanges into one place without the complexity of an enterprise farm system.
Most Innovative User Experience: EV Chargepoint Insights
Joe Leigh won Most Innovative User Experience for EV Chargepoint Insights, an application that helps electric vehicle drivers find charging stations with current and predicted availability. Joe knew that a station on the map is not much help if every charger is taken when you arrive. His application combines availability information with a map and AI-assisted search to help drivers compare their options.
We were impressed by Joe's research and the care he put into the experience. Drivers can check the map, search for a charger, and see what is likely to be open before they head out.
A weekend was enough time to take an idea all the way to an application people could use.
Many participants were surprised by how much they built over the weekend. It did not take long to have a complete application up and running, with real data behind it and a way for others to try it out.
Congratulations to Casey, Paul, Angela, Oren, and Joe — and to everyone who took on the challenge. Each participant received an AI Builder Day badge and certificate to recognize their accomplishment.
Curious to do AI app-building yourself? Build a prototype, proof of concept, or business application — try Aha! Builder for free.
