Jam-packed with ideas: inside Reece’s AI Jam

Man facing front of stage - Shirt reads Reece Works for you, with AWS (Amazon Web Services) & Claude logos.

As more of the trade’s work happens digitally, Reece is looking at how technology can solve practical problems and support its vision to be the trade’s most valuable partner.

Earlier this year, employees from across the business came together for a two-day AI Jam, exploring how AI-powered tools could help tackle real challenges.

Team facing a whiteboard as a man writes on a board, nine people in the room, slack on the screen

It was designed as a hands-on way to give people time with the tools and see where they could be useful in day-to-day work. The brief was deliberately practical: start with a real problem, then build something that could help solve it.

The event brought together people with different skills and experience, giving them two days to test ideas, learn Claude Code and build working solutions. Reece’s technology teams also worked closely with tech partners AWS and Databricks, bringing in support from teams building AI every day.

Teams focused on practical challenges where AI could make work simpler and help people find better ways of doing things.

A crowd facing a screen, learning how they will present their solutions at the showcase

Seventeen teams took part, spending two days turning practical ideas into working solutions. At the end of the event, they shared their prototypes in a marketplace-style showcase, giving others a chance to see what had been built and where similar tools could be useful across the business. For many, it was also a chance to build confidence using AI in a practical setting, away from the hype and close to the work.

Several concepts showed strong potential and have been selected to continue through Reece’s technology roadmap. These include ideas to simplify customer onboarding and help employees turn data into insights they can use.

Team holding their trophy for the Peoples Choice

For customers, that could mean smoother first interactions with Reece. For employees, it could mean spending less time looking for information and more time using it to make decisions or support customers.

Reece’s vision is to be the trade’s most valuable partner by being easy to do business with, in every branch, on every screen, every day. AI will keep changing, but the focus for Reece is clear: finding better ways to work and helping customers get what they need, when they need it. The AI Jam was one way to explore what that could look like in practice.