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On 20th May 2026, Craig Neville, Lorraine Chadwick and Caroline Conlon, lecturers in the School of Education, welcomed a group of student teachers from the PME programme alongside their treoraithe to participate in an innovative Hackathon linked to our #SATLE-funded project, Smart Support? AI-assisted school placement.A Hackathon is an intensive, collaborative, and time-sensitive process that brings together individuals with different forms of expertise to identify challenges and work collectively towards practical and creative solutions. While Hackathons are often associated with technology and industry, their use within teacher education offers exciting possibilities for collaborative professional learning and research-informed innovation.The focus of this Hackathon was to explore how artificial intelligence might support student teachers and treoraithe during the school placement experience. Participants worked together to consider how AI could be used to develop professional competencies linked to planning, reflection, feedback, communication, and professional learning throughout placement. Importantly, discussions also encouraged participants to think critically about the ethical, relational, and pedagogical dimensions of AI use within teacher education contexts.