How one Hackathon sparked a whole new product at Transifex: Maya Toutountzi (Head of Product) — Product Unplugged
In this episode of Product Unplugged, Mike Belsito sits down with Maya Toutountzi, Head of Product Management at Transifex, to explore the surprising journey from early AI hackathon scepticism to launching a fully AI-powered product. Maya walks us through the bumps, breakthroughs, and big lessons learned—offering practical insights for any product team looking to innovate with AI.
Key Takeaways
Start small, learn fast
Transifex’s AI journey began with a hackathon, but the initial excitement faded when teams lacked confidence in the output. By focusing on a minimal, testable version, they found their way forward.
Scepticism can be useful
Early doubt from engineers became a strength—it pushed the team to build AI features with transparency and control in mind, mirroring customer concerns.
Prove, then persuade
Instead of trying to rally the whole company up front, Maya found success by starting with a small, motivated group to build a proof of concept that won wider buy-in.
Build trust into your product
A key innovation was combining AI-generated translations with a confidence score, giving users control and reassurance—critical in high-stakes enterprise environments.
AI adoption is a journey, not a leap
What began as a hackathon test balloon turned into a full-fledged product offering, thanks to a deliberate, feedback-driven approach.
Key Chapters
0:00 Intro & welcome
1:00 The story behind the AI hackathon
2:30 What went wrong after the hackathon
4:30 The difference with this experiment
6:00 Four AI projects—mixed results
9:00 Pushing through hesitation
10:30 Shipping the first AI feature
12:30 Unexpected uptake from translators
14:30 When scepticism started to fade
16:00 Advice for launching ideas through hackathons
18:00 Reflecting on lessons learned
20:00 Innovation as a journey
21:00 One big takeaway: find a partner and start small
Featured Links
Transifex
Pendo (sponsor)
Maya Toutountzi on LinkedIn
Product Unplugged
About the author
Louron Pratt
Louron serves as the Editor at Mind the Product, bringing nearly a decade of experience in editorial positions across business and technology publications. For any editorial inquiries, you can connect with him on LinkedIn or Twitter.
