AI as a New Teammate
Regions interns in Technology, Operations, Digital and Data (TODD) spent two days developing AI-powered solutions during this year’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) Intern Hackathon – exploring a new approach that integrates AWS’s AI-Driven Development Life Cycle (AI-DLC) into the software development process. The event was designed to introduce participants to the AI-DLC, giving them hands-on experience with skills that are increasingly shaping the future of technology and the workplace.
The goal of the hackathon mirrors a primary goal of the TODD internship experience: learning how to use new technologies to collaborate, solve problems and deliver better outcomes.Leslie Carpenter, TODD Emerging Talent program manager
For Cybersecurity intern Elle Mehltretter, the challenge wasn’t simply building a solution. It was learning how to work alongside a new kind of teammate: artificial intelligence (AI).
Working in cross-functional teams, TODD interns tackled business-relevant challenges while learning how to leverage AI as a partner throughout the development journey. During a preliminary workshop, AWS partners introduced interns to its AI-DLC framework – encouraging teams to use the technology not just for coding, but for brainstorming ideas, solving problems and accelerating execution.
“The goal of the hackathon mirrors a primary goal of the TODD internship experience: learning how to use new technologies to collaborate, solve problems and deliver better outcomes,” said Leslie Carpenter, TODD Emerging Talent program manager.
What Is The AI-Driven Development Life Cycle?
AWS’s AI-DLC is a framework that encourages teams to use artificial intelligence as a partner throughout the development process. The framework is organized around three phases—Inception, Construction and Operation—guiding teams from problem definition to solution delivery and continuous improvement.
A New Approach to Building Solutions
At the center of the event was AI-DLC methodology, which reimagines software development as a collaborative effort between people and AI. The framework helped TODD interns explore emerging practices that are helping shape the future of technology delivery.
Setting the stage for the event, Regions Chief Technology Officer Melissa Dabb emphasized that AI represents more than another technology trend.
“AI isn’t just about changing technology. It’s changing how we do work – how we work together,” Dabb said.
Her message reinforced a central theme of the event: understanding how AI can enhance collaboration while amplifying uniquely human skills.
AI isn’t just about changing technology. It’s changing how we do work – how we work together.Melissa Dabb, Regions Chief Technology Officer
Learning Through Collaboration
While AI was a key component of the event, interns quickly discovered that successful outcomes depended just as much on human teamwork and collaboration.
Teams were intentionally tasked with finding technology solutions for real-world scenarios, asking these TODD interns to perform as business analysts, architects, developers and testers.
“It was great getting to see how effectively communicating our business area backgrounds allowed us to prompt the AI well and navigate problems that arose with our project,” said Mehltretter.
The experience reinforced an important lesson: clear communication and effective collaboration help teams get the most value from AI.
Preparing for an AI-Enabled Future
The hackathon provided a safe environment for TODD interns to experiment, create and test ideas tied to real business scenarios relevant to Regions and the banking industry.
Participants saw firsthand how AI can accelerate analysis, prototyping and problem-solving, while also learning that human skills remain critical to success.
“The qualities that matter most in an AI-driven world are going to be creativity, judgment, communication, empathy and leadership,” Dabb said. “Technology is going to amplify those qualities; it’s not going to replace them.”
Events like the AWS Intern Hackathon reflect Regions’ commitment to developing future-ready talent and providing meaningful exposure to emerging technologies.
By helping interns build AI-enabled skills today, Regions is investing in the innovators who will help shape the future of banking and technology.
The qualities that matter most in an AI-driven world are going to be creativity, judgment, communication, empathy and leadership. Melissa Dabb
A Glimpse of What’s Next
As the hackathon concluded, teams presented their solutions to judges and leadership, showcasing not only what they built, but describing how they built it.
Dabb noted that today’s emerging professionals are entering the workforce at a unique moment in history.
“Your generation is going to learn how to collaborate with intelligence systems,” Dabb said. “I think it’s a fundamentally different skill set.”
The hackathon offered TODD interns an opportunity to begin developing that skill set firsthand.
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