In the world of evolving tech, hackathons are revered as crucibles of innovation, and the SAS Institute Inc. Hackathon stands out as a shining example of this tradition.

One standout team in this year’s edition was Notilyze B.V., a SAS partner based in the Netherlands. Working with a cheese factory to optimize their production processes and leveraging SAS Viya, Notilyze managed a 6-7% increase in yield.

“We were asked by a cheese factory in the Netherlands to work with them to optimize their production process,” said Colin Nugteren (pictured, right), co-founder of Notilyze. “They actually found us because we did this other hackathon project last year in which we were one of the winners in the manufacturing topic. This year, we started with this new company, and we knew nothing about cheese, but we learned a lot in 30 days.”

Nugteren and Marinela Profi (left), principal product marketing manager for artificial intelligence solutions at SAS, spoke with theCUBE industry analyst Dave Vellante at SAS Explore, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the tangible impact data analytics can have on diverse industries. (* Disclosure below.)

Much more than a competition

This year, the event witnessed a staggering 1,400 applications from 75 countries, showcasing its global reach. But while the SAS Hackathon is undoubtedly a competition, it transcends the traditional notion of winning and losing. Teams retain ownership of their creations, enabling them to continue evolving their projects beyond the competition, according to Profi.

“We love seeing how the teams that participate in the SAS Hackathon continue to evolve after the hackathon — commercializing their solutions, putting them into the marketplace, developing and deploying the model they built during that month,” she explained. “We like to say everybody is a winner, but we’ll have a grand champion. And we are going to be announcing that on Thursday here in Las Vegas at SAS Explore on main stage.”

The hackathon is a celebration of innovation, collaboration and the boundless potential of artificial intelligence and data analytics. It exemplifies how technology can be harnessed to address real-world challenges across industries and continents.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of SAS Explore:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the SAS Explore event. Neither SAS Institute Inc., the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE