Internal hackathons are becoming a key innovation tool at Mercado Libre

Mercado Libre's internal hackathons have been gaining ground as one of the company's main mechanisms for testing ideas and developing technological tools. These events bring together professionals from different areas and operate as rapid experimentation cycles, in which teams work to propose solutions applicable to the business's operational and strategic challenges.

Experimentation and Practical Application

During the competitions, participants explore technologies, simulate scenarios, and present prototypes that can be evaluated and, in some cases, turned into pilot projects. Some of these proposals end up being incorporated into internal processes or driving adjustments to existing systems.

In a recent hackathon focused on Artificial Intelligence, one of the winning teams — Pricing Protocol IA: 800 — created an MCP (Model Context Protocol) designed to make it easier for business areas to understand and evolve AI models. The tool works as a kind of visual “debugger,” making it possible to identify model behaviors more clearly and support decisions related to solution development.

Team and Innovation Strategy

It is worth mentioning the team members here: Arnedis Cristian Gobbo, Felipe Andrey Garcia, Lióren Bessone, Maria Belén Neme, Matias de Pascuale, Nagib Sabbag Filho, Octavio Garcia Larrecharte, Zoe Augustina Tira.

The practice of holding hackathons on a recurring basis is part of the company's strategy to expand its ability to respond to complex problems and anticipate technological demands in a sector marked by rapid change and intense competition.