The Chatbot Era Is Behind Us, So What Comes Next? Highlights From Our Hackathon

The energy in the room captured exactly why we do this work at Tomoro. As designer Sam Netherwood said: “Diversity of opinion and thought and ideas is central to what we do. Getting people to explore a broad, open topic like ‘beyond the chatbot’ is one of the big unlocks in human–AI interaction.”

This inaugural Agents Beyond Chat hackathon challenged participants to move past the text-in, text-out paradigm and design the next generation of agentic interactions. We explored HUDs, ambient overlays, generative UIs, and real-time agents that blend seamlessly into human workflows.

For us at Tomoro, it’s not about sitting still or theorising but about building, testing, and learning fast. “We’re a build-first company. We like to test and learn rather than overthink. Just try stuff, see what happens, and learn really quickly.” That ethos was everywhere on Saturday.

Hackathon Highlights

We challenged our hackers on three lines of thought:

• Anticipation: Can we create agents that act proactively without explicit prompting, while staying aligned with user intent?
• Interfaces: What new design approaches might emerge as AI moves beyond chat, such as overlays, ambient presence, palettes, or voice-driven flows?
• Mindset shift: How might we evolve from “talking to a chatbot” toward collaborating with a digital partner?

Huge congratulations to Alexander Baxevanis, who took home the £1,000 prize with Future Shape — a smart AI browser extension that helps users avoid price discrimination, offering a natural and friendly interface for constraint-based shopping.

Tomoro engineers demoed a virtual, real-time concierge capable of handling complex tasks such as planning bespoke itineraries, autonomously rebooking disrupted flights, making reservations, guiding through airports, and securing seats while delivering a customer experience aligned with Virgin Atlantic’s signature warmth.

The chatbot era is behind us and this hackathon was a glimpse of what comes next. By fostering talent, encouraging experimentation, and pushing the boundaries of design and engineering, Tomoro is creating not just new technology, but a culture where people can grow both personally and professionally.

If you joined us on Saturday, thank you for your energy and ideas. If not, we’d love to welcome you into the conversation:

• Join our community to find out about future hackathons and meetups.
• Explore careers at Tomoro - we’re always looking for curious, ambitious people to push the frontier of AI.
• Follow us on LinkedIn to find out what life is like working at Tomoro across the globe.

Together, we’re reinventing tomorrow — beyond chat.