Kiro Spark Hackathon — Chrome Extension

For this hackathon, we were tasked with solving an economic problem using Kiro AI, Amazon's coding assistant. My team decided to tackle the cost of onboarding that companies face every year. The average direct cost to onboard a new employee is $4,100, according to benchmark data from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). When indirect hidden expenses such as manager time and lost productivity are included, the total investment often reaches 20% to 30% of the employee's first-year salary. Therefore, it is critical that turnover remain low, which can be accomplished by making the employee feel welcome and supported.

The issue we addressed in our project was a new employee feeling stuck because they had no idea who to talk to for project background or how to find information in the company knowledge base. By giving them an AI assistant that can connect them with people, we enable deeper collaboration and knowledge sharing. It also includes a survey function so managers can check in with each team member to ensure they are doing well.