MIRO x KIRO HACKATHON SERIES: BUILDING A REPEATABLE PARTNER-LED FORMAT
Miro was repositioning from whiteboarding tool to developer-oriented AI innovation workspace. The goal was to reach engineers & product owners authentically, demonstrate real product capability hands-on, and do it at scale across multiple geographies. The community team had established event best practices, but there was no framework for bringing external technology partners into the format in a way that created mutual value and enabled geographic replication without central team dependency.
Cross-functional stakeholder management · Partner program design · Event production · Framework and playbook development · Format scalability · External partner briefing · Day-of execution ownership
My Role: Orchestrating Across Stakeholder Groups
I identified the hackathon format as the right vehicle and took ownership of bridging the gap between what the community team knew how to do and what a partner-led, scalable model required. This meant managing distinct stakeholder groups simultaneously:
> Internal community team: I worked with existing best practices as the foundation, then defined what needed to change to make the format partner-compatible and replicable. I collaborated with the internal content team to design a modular event structure that any regional team could execute independently, with clear plug-and-play components covering pre-event promotion, day-of program, participant journey and post-event follow-up.
> Internal product team: I briefed and orchestrated the team to create a library covering the event format, internal/external communication frameworks, participant onboarding materials and a reusable Miro blueprint that served as the single source of truth for all participants on the day.
> Kiro (AWS) as external technology partner: I defined the partner communication framework, specifying how to brief external partners on their role, what commitments were required for co-promotion and participation, and how to align on shared success metrics. I secured AWS MDF investment and their active participation as co-hosts, establishing the model for how future partner collaborations would be structured.
> External participants: I defined the full day-of execution program, including run of show, team formation structure, pitch format, timeboxing and facilitation flow, ensuring the event delivered on its promise of taking participants from idea to working prototype in a single day.
The Pilot: Paris
The Paris hackathon was designed as a proof of concept for the repeatable format. The goal was to validate the model before scaling across EMEA, APAC and AMER.
12 teams formed on the day, and all delivered a working pitch deck in Miro. 4 teams deployed a working prototype to AWS. Enterprise participation included Sanofi, Forvis Mazars, Ledger, Stanley Robotics and ESBanque, alongside academic institutions including INSEAD and Sorbonne.
What the Model Unlocked
The Paris pilot validated the core hypothesis and produced a documented playbook covering format design, partner briefing framework, content templates, day-of run of show and post-event follow-up. The model was built for handoff: any regional team, with any qualifying partner, could execute the next activation without requiring central coordination from scratch.
“Great folks, great company and a well-organised event. Definitely had fun learning Kiro for the first time, and the MCP bit and advanced capabilities of Miro were quite enjoyable.“
– Student at INSEAD, rated 5/5
Laura Farbo 