Pilot team daily givers: 33% → 89%

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.

Leaders went first

The pilot launched with the Web2 engineering team. What happened in the first few days set the tone for everything that followed.

When 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.

No approval flows, no performance cycles — just a quick taco when something deserves one. On the pilot team, the share of people giving recognition daily rose from 33% to nearly 89%, and the share receiving it daily went from 0% to 50%.

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.

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.

As of 2025, Immunefi team members were sending tacos on weekends. Not because it's required — but because the habit has built a more cohesive team and genuinely stuck.