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The hackathon takes inspiration from the rise of OPC globally, where entrepreneurs use AI agents to start and run businesses.
OCBC held what is said to be an industry-first One-Person Company (OPC) Hackathon on 22 October 2026 at the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), as the bank looks to build employees’ capabilities in artificial intelligence, digital and data (ADD).
The hackathon takes inspiration from the rise of OPC globally, where entrepreneurs use AI agents to start and run businesses. Employees could participate individually or in teams of up to three, with the initiative designed to help them overcome the fear of using AI agents.
Within weeks, OCBC said it received thousands of submissions, with close to three-quarters coming from employees outside technology functions.
AI agents screen thousands of submissions
OCBC used internally built AI agents to screen the submissions and identify promising ideas. Its AI Champions then assessed more than 400 prototypes, selecting 10 finalists to showcase at SIT’s Ho Bee Auditorium on 22 October.
A panel of six judges selected the winning prototypes based on innovation, business impact and alignment with OCBC’s strategic priorities. The panel comprised:
- Tan Teck Long, Group CEO, OCBC
- Indriyati Atmosukarto, Associate Professor, SIT’s Infocomm Technology Cluster and
- Deputy Director, SIT Teaching & Learning Academy
- Carina Lee, Group Chief Risk Officer, OCBC
- Sunny Quek, Head of Global Consumer Financial Services, OCBC
- Praveen Raina, Head of Group Operations and Technology, OCBC
- Tan Chor Sen, CEO, OCBC Malaysia
The hackathon is part of OCBC’s Next Frontier strategy, which places AI, digital and data at the centre of the bank’s plans. It aims to encourage employees to experiment with the technology, learn from their attempts and identify opportunities to improve how work is done.
OCBC and SIT to develop promising prototypes
The initiative will continue beyond the competition through OCBC’s partnership with SIT. The two organisations are collaborating in Punggol Digital District, where their proximity provides opportunities to work together on business challenges.
SIT will select promising prototypes for further development at the SIT x NVIDIA AI Technology Centre. Researchers, faculty members and students will work on refining the concepts and exploring how they could be applied to the bank’s operations.
The collaboration will also give students opportunities to apply classroom learning to industry challenges and contribute to solutions addressing practical business needs.
Four winners named at the Grand Final
Four winners were named at the Grand Final, comprising the top three teams and the winner of the individual category. The solutions were assessed on innovation, business impact and alignment with OCBC’s strategic priorities.
Tan Teck Long, Group CEO, OCBC, said: “Technology is moving rapidly. Organisations must build a strong test-and-learn culture that empowers employees to experiment boldly, push boundaries, learn quickly and fail fast.”
Professor Susanna Leong, Deputy President (Academic) and Provost, SIT, added that the collaboration would allow selected prototypes to be refined beyond the competition.
“SIT will further develop and refine selected prototypes, giving our students the opportunity to apply their learning to real-world business challenges while helping move promising ideas closer to implementation,” she shared.
ALSO READ: OCBC’s Seet Teng Low on the five capitals of lifelong learning in the AI age
Lead image / OCBC
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