At Immunefi, the world's leading security platform for the onchain economy, the engineering team runs entirely remote. Steven Boutcher, QA Automation Engineer, and Klavdija Janc, Technical Project Manager, had both experienced HeyTaco's impact at previous companies. When they proposed a pilot at Immunefi, they knew what it could do — they just had to show everyone else.
Leadership adoption drove engagement
The pilot launched with the Web2 engineering team. What happened in the first few days set the tone for everything that followed.
"Within the first few days, I saw my manager and his manager both excessively using tacos."
Steven Boutcher, QA Automation Engineer at ImmunefiWhen leadership models the behavior, the rest follows. This visible support normalized peer recognition across the team — and recognition stopped being something employees waited for from above.
Recognition that fits daily work
Before HeyTaco, Immunefi had used Lattice for recognition. It was too formal for everyday appreciation — weighty, infrequent, and easy to skip. HeyTaco's lighthearted nature removed those barriers entirely.
"With HeyTaco, there are so many small things to be grateful for every day — and tacos make it easy to recognize them."
Steven Boutcher, QA Automation Engineer at ImmunefiNo approval flows, no performance cycles — just a quick taco when something deserves one. The results were hard to ignore: daily recognition recipients jumped from 0% to 50%, and daily givers rose from 33% to nearly 89%.
The #random-tacos effect
As usage grew in engineering, the team created a dedicated #random-tacos Slack channel. It accelerated engagement through games and emoji contests, transforming tacos into currency for both appreciation and fun — a digital water cooler for a team that couldn't share a physical one. Usage went through the roof.
Recognition without rewards
Immunefi made a deliberate choice: no rewards marketplace. They relied instead on intrinsic motivation and authentic gratitude. Top givers and receivers get called out on the leaderboard and during team ceremonies — and that visibility turned out to be reward enough.
A taco takeover
Eventually, the pilot stopped being a pilot. HeyTaco spread across the entire company without a formal rollout. Nobody mandated it. Tacos just made it cool to show appreciation — and people wanted in.
"We all want to be cool. And tacos made it cool to show appreciation."
Klavdija Janc, Technical Project Manager at ImmunefiToday, Immunefi team members send tacos on weekends. Not because it's required — but because the habit has built a more cohesive team and genuinely stuck.