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VKTR IMPACT Awards

VKTR 2027 IMPACT Awards

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Great work
shouldn't go unrecognized.

The VKTR IMPACT Awards celebrate exceptional work in the field of enterprise artificial intelligence — not budgets, buzzwords or popularity. Technology alone is never the story; winning work pairs strategy and execution with outcomes that last.

Two tracks: Practitioners showcase what they built inside their organization. Vendors showcase what they delivered for a customer.

For Practitioners

Leaders, teams & departments driving AI transformation.

For Vendors

Companies whose platforms and partnerships moved a business forward.

Judged by peers

140+ vetted practitioners & experts who value evidence over buzzwords.

Self-nominate

See multiple categories that fit? Apply to as many that make sense. Or nominate a colleague!

Six years. Hundreds of winners.

The brands and teams recognized by the VKTR IMPACT Awards.

Applying takes three steps

Most applications take 1.5–4 hours. Here’s the path from start to submitted.

1

Choose your category

Pick the categories that best fit your outcomes — practitioner or vendor.


2

Build your submission

Gather input from your stakeholders and craft your story. Judges appreciate details, clear metrics and results.

3

Submit & save

Finalize and pay for your application through our awards portal before the deadline. There’s no limit on entries. Submit more than 1 application for the biggest discount.

2027 Award Categories

Hover or tap any card to see what each award recognizes. Note: Not all categories are offered in all years.

For Practitioners

Leader of the Year: AI Champion for Business

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Recognizes business executives who define the vision for AI transformation, build organizational alignment and drive measurable enterprise value through strategy, investment decisions and change management — regardless of their technical background.
Apply for This

Enterprise AI Technology Leader of the Year

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Recognizes technology leaders who translate business ambition into reality by architecting scalable, secure, governable and production-ready AI systems — and who modernize the technical foundation required to sustain them.
Apply for This
For Vendors

Best AI App Builder for Business Users

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Recognizes platforms whose primary function is to enable business users or semi-technical operators to create functional applications through AI-assisted, low-code or no-code workflows. Pure coding copilots and pure agent orchestration platforms are not eligible.
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Best AI Agent Development & Orchestration Platform

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Recognizes platforms that enable the creation, orchestration, monitoring and lifecycle management of AI agents across enterprise workflows. The primary function is to build, coordinate. and manage agents. Primary outputs of this category are agents, workflows, automations, trying to solve the following core problems: orchestration, memory, integrations / tool use, governance, cost management or ease of use. If your company’s end artifact is an agent or workflow, it belongs in this category.
Apply for This

Best Digital Coworker Platform

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Recognizes platforms that drive productivity through employee assistance via digital cowork (digital coworkers, digital twins, AI assistants, AI agents or similar).
Apply for This

Best AI Data Foundation & Governance Platform

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Recognizes platforms focused on data quality, ontology, semantic layer & knowledge graph management, metadata governance, evaluation and model reliability.
Apply for This

Anatomy of a winning submission

Judges reward evidence over buzzwords. The strongest applications tell one clear, impactful story.

01
Situation

Set the
context

02
Challenge

Define the
problem

03
Strategy

Identify your approach

04
Execution

Describe what you did

05
Results

Before &
after

06
Summary

Summarize your story

Lead with metrics

Revenue, retention, adoption, CSAT/NPS, cost savings. Show the before and the after.

Skip the buzzwords

Generic AI claims and unsupported superlatives lose. Be specific and confident.

One clear story

Avoid a list of disconnected initiatives. Judges reward focus and clear ownership.

Meet the team behind the awards

Real people run this program. Have a question about applying? Start here.

Michelle Hawley

Editorial Director, VKTR

Leads VKTR editorial strategy and daily operations.

Tim Harnett

Tim Harnett

Awards Director, Simpler Media Group

Questions about categories, eligibility or your submission? Tim's your person.

Sarah Kimmel

Sarah Kimmel

VP of Research, Simpler Media Group

Leads the research and standards behind the IMPACT Awards program.

Have a specific question, or want to talk through how to submit?

Hall of impact

Meet the 2027 winners and finalists.

Leader of the Year: AI Champion for Business

|

Winner

Finalists

|

Enterprise AI Technology Leader of the Year

|

Winner

Finalists

|

Best AI App Builder for Business Users

|

Gold

Silver

|

Best AI Agent Development & Orchestration Platform

|

Gold

Silver

|

Best Digital Coworker Platform

|

Gold

Silver

|

Best AI Data Foundation & Governance Platform

|

Gold

Silver

|

Judged by your peers

0 +

vetted practitioners, analysts and experts review every application — drawn from teams like these:

Google
Amazon
Verizon
Accenture
Cloudera
Adp
Judging Panel View the 2026 judges Hide the 2026 judges

Akshay Sura

Composable Architect and Founding Partner, Konabos Inc.

Alan Pelz-Sharpe

Industry Analyst, Deep Analysis

Alejandra Aparicio

Partner – CMO, Melga Advisors

Aleksei Abdulin

Software Engineer & Head of Mobile Development, Kolos Studio

Alex Nejako

CMO, Nejako Solutions

Alison Sainsbury

Managing Director, Aline DX Pty Limited

Amanda Joyner

SVP of Sales, Anteriad

Amber Garrett

Senior Field Marketing Manager, SnapLogic

Amy Leyson-Cadiz

Director, Learning and Development Operations, Corporate Finance Institute (CFI)

Amy Sessions

Division Manager, Utility Customer Service, City of Clearwater

Angela Bandy

Director of Human Resources, Reconciled, Inc.

Ankit Agrawal

Associate Director – Business Strategy, Verizon

Annam Sreenivasan

Business Analyst, Axelerant Technologies Pvt Ltd

Annette Corbett

Business Change and Adoption Manager, NatWest

Anya Nelson

SVP, Public Relations Practice Lead, Scratch Marketing + Media

Artur Balabanskyy

CTO, Tapforce

Ashwin Thapliyal

Vice President Marketing, Exemplifi

Atasun Kasbas

Managing Partner & Consultant, Nord CX

Bayan Thomas

Marketing Specialist, ACRC Global

Beth Martin

Digital Services Expert, Federal Government

Bhavani Moodabagil

Insights Consultant, Independent Consulting

Brittany Barhite

Manager, Culture & Belonging, ITC

Bryant Duhon

Owner, Simply Useful Marketing

Carla Woodard

Executive Assistant to the CEO, Central Florida Community Action Agency, Inc.

Carolyn Duby

Field CTO, Cloudera

Cindy Brummer

CEO / Creative Director, Standard Beagle

Courtney Keating

CMO, Acxiom

Daipayan Das

CEO, Customer Echoes, Inc.

Dan Keldsen

Chief Innovation Officer, Infocap

Dave Seaton

Principal Consultant, Seaton CX

David Canfield

Chief Information Officer, Pacific Battleship Center

David Zimmerman

Director of Customer Experience & Performance Support, QVC Group

Deanna Fortson

HRIS & Benefits Manager, BST Global

Deepu Prakash

Senior Vice President, Technology Innovation, Fingent

Dennis Gershowitz

Principal, DG Associates

Denyse Drummond-Dunn

President, C3Centricity

Donna Roberts

VP, Human Resources, Citco (Canada) Inc.

Edwin Grogan

Founder, GroganStudios LLC

Fawaz Nizamdeen

AVP, Customer Experience & Interaction Channel Management, Dialog Business Services

Frank Esposito

Associate Director, Yale University

Hank Brigman

President, Chief Experience Officer, Customer Experience Strategies Inc.

Hanna Kuznietsova

Content Team Lead, Stripo.email

Heather Shankwiler

Director, Product Marketing, Smart Compliance Solutions, ADP

Heather Valeri

CEO & Founder, Meridian Business Advisors

Isaac Sacolick

CEO, CIO, Author, StarCIO LLC

Jacqueline Burandt

President, Award-winning Results

Jacqueline Burkitt

CX Manager, Cenitex

Jag Seth

VP, Customer Experience, Zip Co

Jamie Martin

Executive Coach, Jamie Martin Coaching

Jeannie Walters

CEO, Author, Speaker, Experience Investigators

Jeff Sheehan

CX Advisor and Customer Service Strategist, CX JS Consulting

Jennifer Gutman

Director of Customer Marketing, Oktopost

Jennifer Jones

Corporate Communications Principal, USAA

Jennifer Pineda

Director of Innovative Learning Systems, Advanced Learning Partnerships

Jiaxi Zhu

Head of Analytics, SMB Division, Google

Jo Anne Dimitriou

Owner/Founder, JMD Leadership LLC

Joe Karasin

Founder, Karasin PPC

Joel Goodman

Vice President, Growth Strategy, Squiz

Jon Knisley

Global Lead Process AI, ABBYY

Judy Bloch

VP, Industry Executive Advisory, Medallia

Karyn Furstman

Founder & CEO, CustomersFurst

Kathy Sobus

CEO, Sobus Consulting

Kautilya Prasad

Digital Experience Platforms Lead, XCentium

Kenneth C. C. Yang

Professor, University of Texas at El Paso

Kiran Varri

Director of Academics, Blue Ocean Corporation

Kristen Hayer

CEO, The Success League

Lanae d’Hulst

Customer Implementation Manager, YouScience

Linda Saindon

CEO, Aureavate

Lori Alcalá

Product Marketing Consultant, Lori Alcalá

Luke Ng, PhD

Former Chief Operating Officer, Microsoft Asia Pacific

Maggie Valo

Global Marketing & ABM Manager, Poppulo

Maria Scarangella

President, Scarangella Consulting, LLC

Mario Chatzidamianos

Director of Compliance, Communications and Business Development, Creators of Cosmos SMPC

Mark Ratekin

VP, CX Consulting, Press Ganey Forsta

Mars Sailors

Marketing and Communications Manager, The Source LGBT+ Center

Martyn Perks

Independent Business Consultant and Property Investment Broker, Exclusive Links / Self-employed

Mary Gotschall

Business Development Consultant, Strategic Results

Mary Long

Chief Ghost, Digital Media Ghost

McKenzie Peterman

Associate Director of Professional Development & Instruction, Georgia Southern University

Melanie Disse

CX Consultant & Tech Advisor, Melanie Disse Consulting

Melody Rawlings

Director, National University

Michelle Wicmandy

Global Marketing Campaigns Manager, KBC (a Yokogawa company)

Mike Goracke

Director, Media, Bain and Company

Milankumar Rana

Principal AI Architect, HeadstormAI

Mitchell Filby

Managing Director, First Rock Consulting

Mohamed Latib

Chief of CX, CX University

Mollie Holland

Corporate Vice President of Customer Experience, DevRev

Muhammad Uzzam Khan

Senior Enterprise Architect Manager, NEOM

Muhammed Sabeeh

Senior Accountant and Admin, Innovative Glass & Aluminium LLC

Mukesh Kumar

Co-founder & Head of CX, SeeResponse

Narendhira Chandraseharan

Product Lead, TikTok eCommerce, TikTok (ByteDance)

Navnish Bhardwaj

Head of Marketing, Manras Technologies

Nikki Gensmer

Senior Content and CX Manager, Titan Health Corp DBA The Learnery + Elemental Perspective

Nixalkumar Patel

Senior Product Manager, LG Electronics

Nyada Nyenke

Director, SEPCO

Nyree Williams

Executive Director, The Attitude 2 Empower

Olivier Bigirimana

Student, African Leadership University

Owen Chamberlain

Senior Education Alliance Manager, Trimble Inc.

Paromita Sarkar

VP, Product Development, PCS Technical Services Inc.

Patty Radford Henderson

Founder & CEO, Annum

Paul Smith

Principal, Quinn Growth Advisors

Piyush Shrivastava

VP, Product Management, Milestone Inc.

Prashant Dhume

Consultant, Freelancer (formerly Senior Managing Director, Accenture)

Praveen Satyanarayana

Senior Director, Tredence

Priya Dharshini Kalyanasundaram

Technical Program Manager, Amazon

Rashmi Bhambhani

Head of Product Marketing, SupportNinja

Richa Malhotra

Team & Executive Coach, The Ideas Team Inc.

Richard Butler

Principal, Technology Business Analysis, AT&T

Rick Miller

Director, Anchor Computer

Robert Jacobi

Founder and Strategist, Warbi, Inc.

Rohinee Mohindroo

Technology Advisor & Mentor, dyjit LLC

Rovena Aga

Professor, York University

Ryan Mayes

VP, Service Delivery and Operations, PDI Technologies

Saffy Johnson

Member Change Experience Strategist, Blue Shield of California

Sakti Mishra

Principal Data and AI Solutions Architect, Amazon Web Services

Sallie Oliver

Marketing Communications Coordinator, Technology Services Industry Association

Samuel Ojode

Teacher, Gagra

Sandra Thomas-Comenole

Fractional CMO, International Consulting Firm

Sara Hanley

SVP of Marketing, ASAPP

Sherin Sunny

Marketing Consultant, Shermain Jeremy Marketing Consulting

Stephan Sigaud

CMO, Phase 5

Steven Howard

Principal Director, Accenture Organizational Analytics

Steven Keller

Managing Partner, Keller C/X Partners

Steven Manifold

CMO & MD, Tayona Digital Ltd

Sue Duris

Principal Consultant, M4 Communications

Susan Flood

Consultant, Self

Suzanne Benjamin

Director, Marketing and Communications, Dwellworks

Suzie Dieth

Senior Director of Customer Experience, NRG Energy, Inc.

Tiffany Glass

Chief Digital & Technology Officer, 1-800-PACK-RAT | Zippy Shell

Tirumala Rao Chimpiri

Senior Programmer Analyst, Stony Brook University

Tom Spano

VP, Customer Experience, MNTN

Tracey Joseph

CEO & Executive HR Consulting, Executive HR Consulting Services

Trina Helm White

Business Information Security Officer, Ascensus LLC

Trish Wethman

Chief Experience Officer, Pontem Tech Partners

Uddhav Phondba

Director, EPAM Systems India Private Limited

Vaishali Dialani

Independent CX Strategist, Independent

Vien-An Friedel

Technical Services & Project Management Senior Manager, See’s Candies

Vigneshwaran Jagadeesan Pugazhenthi

Technology Architect, Cognizant Technology Solutions

Yurii Biriukov

Release Manager, Delivery Manager, Adonis AS

 Open year-round

Become an IMPACT judge

Judging is a volunteer role for AI practitioners and experts. Lend your expertise, see the best work in the field, and join a peer network — applications accepted all year.

Frequently asked questions

The IMPACT Awards is a prestigious recognition program, celebrating exceptional work in the field of enterprise AI. Honors are bestowed on both exceptional individual practitioners and vendors.

  • Nominees for the AI Champion for Business award should be C-suite executives or business unit leaders who championed AI adoption across the organization, secured buy-in and created accountability for outcomes.
  • Nominees for the Enterprise AI Technology Leader of the Year should be CIOs, AI architects, or IT leaders who build the platforms, infrastructure, and governance frameworks that bring AI from concept to deployment at scale.
  • Individuals and vendors may self-nominate for any award.
  • Nominees for the vendor awards should be vendors with AI products or solutions delivering technology or tools that solve key core business problems with artificial intelligence.
  • If you want to showcase your company’s internal practices you should apply for the practitioner awards.
  • Companies whose business model includes AI programs, platforms or solutions may not apply for the practitioner awards.
  • If you want to showcase your product, solution or platform you should apply for the vendor awards.

Please scroll to the top of this page for the full list of awards categories.

You may apply to as many categories as you wish and it is possible to win or rank in multiple categories.

  • There is no cost to apply for the Leader of the Year: AI Champion for Business or Enterprise AI Technology Leader of the Year awards.
  • For all vendor awards, there is a $995 fee per application.
  • A 30% discount will automatically apply as long as you register at the awards portal and create an application during the Early Bird period (August-September). This discount will apply even if you submit your application after September.
  • If you plan to submit multiple applications, finalize and submit them at the same time for a discount. Use the code TWOORMORE at checkout for 40% off your total application fees.
  • All application fees are payable by credit card prior to application submission. Applications are not considered final until fees are paid in full.
  • If you are unable to pay by credit card, contact us.

Applications typically take 1.5-4 hours to complete.

  • All application questions have maximum word counts. These vary and are listed on each question.
  • Charts, photos and other attachments are not allowed.

Judges are volunteer practitioners, specialists, consultants and AI experts, recruited for their field expertise.

  • Judges apply through the awards portal and are vetted by VKTR prior to reviewing applications.
  • Judges receive detailed instructions and a scoring rubric to assist in the review process.
  • Judges agree to keep all material confidential. Certain application fields with proprietary information are not shared with judges.
  • All applications are reviewed by multiple judges to minimize bias. Judges are not assigned applications from participants in their own industry and judges can recuse themselves from any application to avoid direct or indirect conflicts of interest.
  • Questions are weighted according to importance. Judge scores are aggregated to determine the final winners of each category.
  • Judges only score the “category-specific questions” section of each application. Demographics information is not shared with judges and not scored.

Yes; there is no limit on the number of categories an applicant can win in any given year or across multiple years.

  • Winners are notified through email once the judging period is over. The Awards Director will notify the main point of contact for each winner. Please provide alternate contact information if you are an agency or otherwise applying on behalf of an individual or company.
  • Winners are announced in the spring.

Winners are publicly recognized in the following ways:

  • Press release on VKTR, promoted through PR channels.
  • As part of a longer awards article on VKTR.
  • Mention on awards website.
  • For Leaders of the Year, interview opportunity with VKTR managing editor.
  • Gold award winners receive a physical trophy as well as a digital badge for social media promotion.
    • One trophy is included in your win. It is possible to order additional trophies at your cost; contact us for details.
  • Silver award winners receive a digital badge for social media promotion.
    • It is possible to order a trophy or trophies at your cost; contact us for details.
  • All awards participants (winners and nonwinners) receive a PDF scorecard with their score and judge comments.

By signing up for the IMPACT Awards, you agree to receive emails related to the awards program, including (but not limited to) reminder emails, open/close dates and finalist status. All finalists and winners will be contacted through email and may be contacted via phone for additional information. Winners’ contact information may be shared with our Events team for the purpose of coordinating your participation in our events. Winners’ addresses will be shared with our awards vendors for the purposes of awards delivery and digital badge distribution. Finalists’ and winners’ application data may be shared with our Editorial team for background information only.

Questions? Ask away.

Send us a note and the awards team will get back to you — happy to help you pick the right category or talk through your submission.

Prefer email? [email protected] · +1-800-939-1913 x726