On the engineering team at AdCellerant, good ideas come from everywhere.
In fact, the adtech company cites the phrase as one of its core tenants and on the engineering team, this value is brought to life.
“Hackathons and innovation days give engineers the chance to experiment with new ideas and technologies outside of their regular project work, which keeps curiosity alive and encourages innovation,” EVP of Engineering Jonathan Hemnes said.
Hemnes spoke with Built In about how AdCellerant’s engineering culture is built on the idea of psychological safety: Engineers can ask questions and experiment without fear of failure.
AdCellerant provides businesses access to high-quality digital marketing technology and solutions through partnerships with media companies and agencies.
How does your team cultivate a culture of learning, whether that’s through hackathons, lunch-and-learns, access to online courses or other resources?
Our engineering team cultivates a culture of learning by intentionally weaving it into the way we work every day. Hackathons and innovation days give engineers the chance to experiment with new ideas and technologies outside of their regular project work, which keeps curiosity alive and encourages innovation.
We host regular lunch-and-learn sessions where team members share insights from recent projects, introduce new tools or discuss industry trends. Professional development is also a priority — we provide access to online courses, conferences and certifications so that our engineers can continue to grow in areas they’re passionate about.
At the same time, our core value “a good idea can come from anywhere” empowers our engineers to grow in their knowledge and develop novel solutions to problems, bringing those solutions into production.
How does this culture positively impact the work your team produces?
The impact of this learning culture is felt directly in the quality and pace of our work. Because we prioritize continuous improvement, our code is more reliable, our systems are more resilient and our delivery cycles are faster. For instance, our move toward automated end-to-end testing grew out of a knowledge-sharing session. What started as a single engineer’s presentation evolved into a team-wide initiative that allowed us to adopt continuous delivery practices with confidence. As a result, we reduced release cycles from weeks to days, accelerating our ability to respond to customer needs.
“What started as a single engineer’s presentation evolved into a team-wide initiative that allowed us to adopt continuous delivery practices with confidence.”
Beyond process improvements, the culture also drives innovation. Hackathon projects have evolved into valuable internal tools, saving time across the organization. And because engineers feel supported in their growth, they are more engaged, more collaborative across functions and more likely to stay and contribute for the long term.
What advice would you give to other engineers or engineering leaders interested in creating a culture of learning on their own team?
For leaders who want to build a similar culture, the most important thing is to lead by example. Show that you value learning by participating yourself — whether that means attending a lunch-and-learn, taking part in a hackathon or sharing something new you’ve been exploring. Learning also needs to be visible and celebrated. When an engineer introduces an idea that improves a process, highlight that success so the rest of the team sees the impact. Strike a balance between structured opportunities — such as stipends for courses or conference attendance — and unstructured time for exploration.
Most importantly, create psychological safety. A culture of learning thrives when engineers feel safe admitting what they don’t know, asking questions and experimenting without fear of failure.
Finally, connect learning to impact. When people see that their growth not only helps them personally but also improves the team’s ability to deliver quality work, they are more motivated to keep learning and contributing.
