"Innovation is a numbers game. Out of 10 ideas, 6 might look good on paper, 2 might seem unconventional, and 1 might be impossible. But that remaining 1 idea holds the potential to transform our operations. To find that spark, we must first share all 10."
C&S Think Tank is a collaborative innovation platform built for employees of C&S Wholesale Grocers. It bridges the gap between frontline ingenuity and leadership visibility, allowing every team member to contribute to a common vision.
- Reddit-Style Feed: Upvote and discuss ideas to surface the most impactful solutions.
- Unique Idea Tracking: Every submission generates a unique ID (e.g.,
IDEA-A7F2) for professional tracking and reference. - Threaded Conversations: Engage in deep, nested discussions to troubleshoot and refine process improvements.
- Multimedia Attachments: Support your case by attaching images or documentation directly to ideas and replies.
- AI Conversation Summaries: Using Gemini 2.5 Flash, the system distills long conversation threads into 3-4 sentence takeaways at the click of a button.
- Semantic Natural Language Search: Search for ideas using intent rather than just keywords. Our AI understands the context of your query to find relevant historical or current discussions.
- Leadership Newsletters: A dedicated space for executives to share strategic thoughts and vision with instant employee feedback.
- [cite_start]How Business Works: An interactive section educating employees on C&S history—from the first building on Winter Street in 1918 [cite: 7, 30] [cite_start]to reaching $27 billion in sales in 2018[cite: 99].
- Backend: Python FastAPI (Asynchronous, High-Performance)
- Frontend: React.js with Tailwind CSS
- AI Models:
gemini-2.5-flash(Summarization)text-embedding-004/embedding-001(Semantic Search)
- Storage: Persistent JSON-based storage for rapid local development and demo portability.
- Python 3.10+
- A Gemini API Key from Google AI Studio
# Clone the repository
git clone [https://github.com/mahikshith/cs-think-tank.git](https://github.com/mahikshith/cs-think-tank.git)
cd cs-think-tank
# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt
### 3. Environment Configuration
Create a .env file in the root directory:GEMINI_API_KEY=your_actual_api_key_here
### 4. Start the Application
```bash
uvicorn main:app --reload
Visit http://localhost:8000 to start innovating.