“I brought hackathon experience with me from my first job at a tech startup—and have always found this format incredibly valuable for developing unconventional ideas in a short amount of time,” explains Céline Quervel, CEO of CLASSEN. Together with her team, she has now launched what is likely the flooring industry’s first hackathon.

The goal was to develop a working prototype in 48 hours—based on a real-world challenge from CLASSEN day-to-day operations: advancing digital printing technology through the use of artificial intelligence. This ambitious goal was made possible thanks to close collaboration with an experienced AI expert who advised them: “Let AI work for you.” As a result, functional prototypes were created in a very short time—something that would normally take weeks or even months.

The participants: a mix of representatives from product management, the design center, marketing, prepress, production, and digital printing, joined by external AI experts and UX/UI specialists. People who rarely cross paths in their day-to-day work were now working hand in hand.

Divided into three mixed-gender teams, they developed ideas, designed user interfaces, wrote code, and tested new tools—all with the goal of CLASSEN shaping the future of digital printing at CLASSEN .

Contrary to expectations, the teams did not focus on the limitless design possibilities that digital printing offers customers. Instead, it became clear during the pitches that the participants primarily wanted to simplify internal processes and make them more efficient—using AI-powered assistants, dashboards, or automation. This surprising result underscores the critical importance of intelligent process support.

“In our day-to-day work in digital printing, we often think in terms of production processes. But these two days were all about seeing the big picture. The exchange with other departments opened up entirely new perspectives for us—both technically and conceptually. I never would have thought that something so concrete and well-thought-out could emerge in just two days.
–Timo Linnenbrügger, Head of Digital Printing and Laminating 

On the second day, the teams presented their results in a final pitch to a jury consisting of key strategic clients, members of the owner family, and the CLASSEN’s top management.

Although there was an official winner in the end, the audience vote was extremely close. All three concepts received a similar number of votes. Even during the event, there was a consensus across all teams:this was just the beginning.

“All teams have decided to further develop their ideas. We are now specifically pooling the expertise from these interdisciplinary groups to jointly bring the prototypes to market readiness. This will result in a new innovation project—with real solutions for real challenges,” concludes Céline Quervel.

The hackathon wasn’t just a format—it was a cultural statement. It demonstrated that innovation in industry can emerge even outside of traditional development cycles: through openness, by breaking down silos—and through the courage to simply give new ideas a try.