Business Meets Tech: The Best of Both Worlds

How can technology and business administration be used to develop a new and promising corporate strategy? And in just one day? This was the challenge facing the 60 participants in a hackathon organized by the student initiative Business Meets Tech at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management. The participants were confronted with a real-life case from StrategyFrame.AI, one of the initiative's partners, alongside OpenAI,CAPCO, and Knowunity. 

At the end of the 20-hour hackathon, ten innovative solutions were proposed by the various teams – but only one could claim victory: Team Slipstream impressed the jury – consisting of Christian Underwood (PTMBA 2012, co-founder of StrategyFrame.AI), Prof. Dr. Jürgen Weigand (WHU professor and co-founder of StrategyFrame), Daniel Theobald (CFO of StrategyFrame), Aleksander Dukanovic (CTO of StrategyFrame), and Jan Stüve (partner at CAPCO) – with a design that was so well developed technically that it could almost be put into practice immediately.

“My highlight was seeing what Business Meets Tech made possible this year and how well our concept was received. Our event was even one of the first German student initiatives to attract the attention of OpenAI, confirming once again how important cooperation between business and technology is,” said Rebecca Lucas (BSc 2027), responsible for sponsors and partners at Business Meets Tech. 

As the name of the initiative suggests, it brings together business students from WHU with students from technical degree programs at universities across Europe. While some are skilled in developing business models and marketing them, others contribute their knowledge of computer science, information technology, or AI. What makes this initiative special is that the teams only come together immediately before the start of the hackathon, explore their respective strengths, and then dive into the challenge. “It was really nice for me to see how strangers became teams in such a short time. These teams ultimately came up with solutions that show what is possible when business and tech work together,” said Riccarda Pütz (BSc 2027), General Manager of Business Meets Tech. 

The hackathon on September 25 and 26, 2025, kicked off with an opening speech by Christian Underwood. This was followed by a tech & business workshop organized by OpenAI, among others. Armed with lots of useful information, ten teams got together at lunch and were presented with their challenge – which they then attempted to tackle in the 20-hour hackathon – accompanied by lively discussions, energy drinks, and short sleep breaks in designated areas in the IP-C building at WHU. At brunch on Friday morning, the decision had to be made whether to enjoy a leisurely breakfast or use the time until the last minute to work, because each team had to submit its final pitch at 12:30 p.m. sharp. In the afternoon, the pitches were presented to the jury, and in the evening, the winning team – Slipstream – was honored in the Vallendar Town Hall. They received the grand prize of €2,000 donated by Knowunity. At the afterparty, all participants from the various universities had the opportunity to network and celebrate their new friendships.