News & Achievements

Vinson & Elkins’ Inaugural GenAI Cup Hackathon Featured in Law360 Pulse

Media Coverage

August 3, 2026 • 1-minute read

Vinson & Elkins was featured in Law360 Pulse following the completion of its first firmwide AI hackathon, the Vinson & Elkins GenAI Cup, held in June. The article highlighted the firm’s 50% month-over-month increase in AI tool usage across every category following the competition, along with a rise in employee participation for tech learning courses. It also spotlighted the winning entry, which used AI to streamline Vinson & Elkins’ Chambers submission process, a showcase of client work that firm leaders identified as highly manual and time-consuming.

Chief Innovation Officer Aubrey Bishai spoke to what made Vinson & Elkins’ approach distinctive, opening the competition to the entire firm and centering it on solving real business problems, and credited the firm’s culture for driving an unexpectedly strong turnout of 194 participants across 43 teams.

“When you think about the innovation competition as a framework by which we can elevate ideas and solve real problems, this seemed like a natural fit,” said Bishai. “We saw across our departments and functions the coming together of ideas and people in a collaborative way that was really powerful.”

Senior Manager of Learning & Development Madeleine Johnson, who developed the judging rubric and helped organize the event, reflected on the quality and intentionality of the ideas pitched, noting that participants across every level focused on solving real-world problems across the firm.

“I think the lasting impact is real change, real excitement, and real innovation,” said Johnson.

Bishai noted the firm is now prioritizing the implementation of as many ideas as possible generated from the hackathon.

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