At Zepto, we’ve always believed that innovation isn’t a department—it’s a pulse.
Our annual innovation festival, Zeptopalooza, was born from a simple desire: to harness the collective smarts of our people, and see what happens when we clear the decks for 48 hours. In 2024, we proved we could do it remotely. In 2025, we proved we could scale it.
But for our third annual Zeptopalooza in 2026, our engineers took charge and changed the lens. They didn’t ask for 'moonshots' or six-month roadmaps. Instead, they zoomed in on The Ripple.
The Theme: Small Wins, Big Impact
This year’s mission was simple yet challenging:
Find a friction point.
Ideate. Build a solution.
Watch the impact spread.
The "Ripple" theme centered on the idea that we don’t always need a grand, sweeping vision to change the game for our merchant customers or our teammates. Sometimes, the most profound transformation comes from solving the right problem, right now.
Ben Gittins, Senior Application Security Engineer, noted that the constraints themselves were the catalyst for brilliance explaining that, "Small ideas with big impact was a winning combination."
"Constrained resources and requirements are really key for engineering success. Pressure and few ingredients make diamonds."
Ben Gittins
Senior Application Security Engineer
Engineering at the Heart
While the projects were diverse, the focus was on creating something impactful, implementable, and immediate. For Jackson Calverley, People & Culture Lead, Zeptopalooza served as a powerful reminder of the culture and talent at Zepto.
"While our engineers usually work their magic behind the scenes, Zeptopalooza puts their incredible skills front and centre. Seeing the depth of talent on display reinforces what we’ve always known—our engineers are the heartbeat of Zepto," Jackson said.
The unique cultural insight was echoed by Gittins.
"It was really impressive to see Engineering wanting to reach out across the divide that usually separates them from other business functions. This is a culture you don’t see in a lot of companies."
Ben Gittins
Bridging the Divide
One of the most significant ripples felt this year wasn't just in the code, but in the collaboration. Karl Baillie, Engineering Manager, noted that Zeptopalooza continues to reset expectations for what cross-functional teams can achieve in a sprint-style environment.
"Providing teams a goal of building something usable either internally or by our customers in 48 hours forced them to reduce scope and think creatively," Karl explained.
"It was amazing to see how each team so quickly iterated towards an idea which was functional — the business has already started using many of the outputs."
Karl Baillie
The AI Wave
As expected in 2026, many teams leaned into AI, but with a practical, Zepto-style twist. Rather than chasing hype, teams applied AI to solve real-world friction.
“Implementation was definitely skewed towards AI-driven approaches but also covered creative thinking around brand positioning and extending existing products,” said Kath Fleischer, Senior Software Engineer.
Ben Gittins believes these 48 hours will have a long-tail effect on how the entire company views technology.
"It was great to see the application of AI in ways that suit the technology. This will start the conversation about AI within other business functions in a way that might not have existed previously," he noted.
The ROI of Culture
While the technical outputs were staggering, the true heart of Zeptopalooza remains the people. Rich Miller, Zepto’s CTO and executive sponsor, emphasised that the value of the 48 hours extends far beyond the GitHub repository.
"In my experience, the real ROI of a hackathon is cultural and is significantly valuable to a company's long-term health more so than any specific deliverable. We had incredible engagement and cross-team collaboration across the organisation and managed to showcase a number of solutions that will add significant value immediately."
Rich Miller
Making Waves
As we wrap up our third Zeptopalooza, Zepto is buzzing.
“Engagement from across the company was next-level,” noted Kath Fleischer.
We set out to create ripples, but we ended up with a swell of momentum that will carry us through the rest of the year.
By focusing on the "small wins," we’ve reminded ourselves that at Zepto, we don’t just build infrastructure; we build solutions that make life easier for our merchants and each other—one ripple at a time.
Our third annual Zeptopalooza was a huge success. Now, it’s time to watch those ripples grow into waves.