The brief
Reposition HackerRank for AI-era technical hiring and restart growth.
HackerRank already had broad awareness with developers and enterprise hiring teams. The problem was that many buyers still associated it primarily with coding tests and screening. I helped update the positioning, then applied it across website pages, product releases, editorial, ABM, paid campaigns, lifecycle email, self-serve, and Sales.
Positioning / market memory
Reposition HackerRank around AI-era technical hiring.
Developed new messaging around next-generation hiring and responsible AI, then worked with Design to publish two pages for Marketing and Sales.
Next-Gen Hiring
AI Principles
Editorial planning in Notion
Centralized content briefs, owners, due dates, status, and reuse in one Notion workspace.
Thought leadership / pillar editorial / AEO
Write magazine-style pillar articles on core AI hiring themes.
Researched and wrote long-form articles on AI productivity, AI researcher demand, and the rise of AI engineers. Distributed them through organic search, Sales, outbound, and AEO.
ABM / demand generation
Apply the new positioning to ABM and paid campaigns.
Used account research, personalized email, product demos, and paid ads to reach specific buyers and move interested prospects to Sales.
Product marketing / launches / lifecycle
Support product releases and improve self-serve lifecycle emails.
Wrote product-release materials, built an interactive self-serve walkthrough, and audited lifecycle emails from trial through upgrade and reactivation.
Self-serve lifecycle and paywall audit
Reviewed trial nurture, Interview expansion, upgrade, and reactivation emails from end to end. Rewrote priority emails and documented paywall opportunities.
0.5% → 2.4% conversion
Developer marketing / branded media
Launch newsletters, videos, and campaigns for HackerRank’s developers.
Launched Last Week in AI, helped develop Hackonomics, and promoted Model Kombat through X, Product Hunt, a video, and media outreach.
Model Kombat launch
Developed the launch plan, X thread, Product Hunt promotion, video, and tiered media pitch lists for HackerRank’s developer competition.
#12
Product Hunt on launch day
31.1K
Views on the X launch thread
Tier 1–3
Media pitch lists developed
Five practical lessons
What I learned from the six-month engagement.
Five direct takeaways from the work.
In my own words
The experience, in my own words.
I explain the six-month mandate, what I changed, what shipped, where the results came from, and what I learned.