Judging AI in healthcare at Leeds AI Week
On Sunday 25 October 2026 I was honoured to be one of four judges at the AI in Healthcare Hackathon, run by the Leeds Artificial Intelligence Society at the University of Leeds as part of the second annual Leeds AI Week.
Getting there was an adventure in itself. It was easily one of the windiest days I can remember in Leeds, to the point where I was choosing which trees to walk under in case one came down on top of me. You can probably tell from the photos what it did to my hair, or what little of it I have left, which spent the day pointing in every direction. None of it slowed down the great minds at work in the room.
I judged alongside Professor Owen Johnson (opens in a new tab), Shilpi Sinha (opens in a new tab) and Rob, a student who has won nine hackathons himself, so the panel knew what it is like on both sides of the table.
The Leeds Artificial Intelligence Society did a fantastic job of organising the day, and huge credit goes to its president, Mohammad Tasfiq Jawaad, who led the whole of Leeds AI Week. Thank you to Kirsten (opens in a new tab) for inviting me to judge.
How the judging worked
17 teams presented to us, each with a short pitch followed by questions from the judges. Every judge scored every team on four criteria:
- Creativity and innovation
- Technical sophistication
- Impact
- Design and user experience
There was also a separate score for responsible use of data, which decided a special recognition award sponsored by LIDA.
Once the last team had presented, the judges met to tally the scores and decide the winners. It was a really tough competition, with so many great ideas and so many great minds in the room.
Every team had clearly put real thought into how their idea would serve the health community: how it would help patients, how their app would help doctors, how their tool could cut waiting times or improve medication tracking.
One team had even built a prototype of a wearable band, a bit like a Garmin, for people to wear in A&E waiting rooms to help re-evaluate queue times.
The ideas were endless, and every one of them was impressive. Every team should be really proud of what they came up with, and it was a delight to watch so many great minds working on real problems.
These students are the next generation heading into the workforce, and it is great to know that people like them will go on to make major decisions in the UK health tech industry.
The winners
- First place: SpyMotion, winning £300, sponsored by the School of Computer Science
- Second place: Nova, winning £200, sponsored by CDT
- Most Responsible Use of Data: Her Health, winning £300, sponsored by LIDA
Congratulations to the winners and to everyone who took part.
For more from the day, follow the Leeds AI Society on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab).