From Hackathon to Board Room: How FOIL Talent built Owlie in just 2 days, exposing the opportunities to Internet Matters
Internet Matters, the UK's leading online safety charity, has been protecting children in the digital world since 2014. But with the explosion of AI leading to a shift in how consumers absorb knowledge, they face a challenge: how to maintain relevance and authority when AI threatens to transform how your expertise is accessed and consumed?
Like many charities operating with small teams and limited technical resources, Internet Matters found itself at a crossroads. AI systems could potentially scrape their expert content without attribution, reduce website traffic, and provide instant advice that bypasses their platform entirely.
Rachel Huggins, Co-CEO of Internet Matters, and Ghislaine Bombusa, Head of Content, reached out to FOIL with a clear brief: help us understand how AI can work for us, not against us. FOIL designed a unique two-day hackathon for our FOIL Talent team - individuals who've restarted their careers in technology through our retrainer programme.
Two days, three phases, one breakthrough solution
FOIL Talent, a team of individuals within FOIL Data & AI, have come from different careers to retrain in technology to support and then grow with our clients long term. Their two year placement with includes a focused and specific development programme, including hackathons - the test to put their learning and skills to practice.
For this hackathon, our FOIL Talent team needed to engage with the client from first introduction through to final presentation, experiencing the full consulting lifecycle under pressure.
Once introduced successfully to the client and the brief, the team approached the hackathon systematically across three key phases. First, they gathered the data - creating a script that accessed every Internet Matters article, extracted clean content, and saved everything as structured text files. Next, they built the agent - modifying a LLM to connect specifically to Internet Matters' content and program it on Internet Matters’ tone of voice, way of engaging, and to ask follow-up questions for tailored responses. Finally, they built the interface - designing both parent-facing and internal developer versions using Internet Matters' brand colours.
The technical architecture leveraged Azure AI Search and Azure OpenAI, creating a system that could understand parent queries and surface the most relevant guidance instantaneously.
Meet Owlie: Your personal AI guide to digital parenting
Owlie is Internet Matters' groundbreaking AI assistant designed to empower parents with instant, expert guidance on keeping children safe online. This intelligent companion transforms how families navigate digital parenting by putting Internet Matters' comprehensive resources at their fingertips through simple, conversational interactions.
Owlie delivers five key capabilities: Instant Expert Answers from Internet Matters' extensive knowledge base, Personalised Guidance based on child's age and digital habits, Direct Resource Links to specific articles and tools, Smart Follow-Up Questions for comprehensive support, and Ready-to-Use Examples addressing common concerns.
But Owlie's vision extends far beyond a standalone tool. The team designed it with embedded support in mind - parents could access expert guidance directly on platforms like Roblox or YouTube through Owlie's friendly icon, getting contextual safety advice exactly when they need it.
When learning meets real impact
The hackathon culminated in a presentation that delivered one of those rare client moments that makes everything worthwhile. Rachel, Co-CEO of Internet Matters, was so impressed with Owlie that she immediately wanted to present it to the charity's board.
The hackathon demonstrated that with proper support and real challenges, career changers can deliver professional-grade solutions that impress seasoned executives. As one participant reflected: "Building Owlie taught me more about client delivery in two days than months of theoretical training could."
Building the foundations for digital safety's future
The hackathon success has positioned Internet Matters to move from defensive to strategic in their AI approach. Rather than viewing AI as a threat, they now see Owlie as a way to amplify their expertise and reach families who might never have found their guidance through traditional website navigation.
The solution addresses multiple business challenges simultaneously: maintaining Internet Matters' authoritative position, providing insights into parent concerns, reducing barriers to accessing guidance, and creating opportunities for deeper family engagement across the digital landscape.
As we move forward with bringing Owlie into production, we're establishing the infrastructure and guidance for Internet Matters to own their digital evolution independently.
Conclusion
Our partnership with Internet Matters demonstrates what happens when you combine emerging talent with real client challenges. The FOIL Talent team built an impressive tool that transforms how one of the UK's most important charities serves families in need.
Rachel's immediate desire to present Owlie to the board speaks to something we see consistently: the technology serving human needs is where the most impact sits. The progression from hackathon to production engagement proves that with the right approach, even two-day projects can create lasting value.
We hope to see Owlie helping Internet Matters for years to come, while our FOIL Talent participants have gained the real-world experience that sets them up for successful technology careers.
Find out more about our unique FOIL Talent Programme here.