IBM TechXchange Excellence Awards

This award recognizes teams who have demonstrated exceptional innovation and impact in applying AI agent-based solutions, such as those powered by IBM watsonx Orchestrate, to transform how work gets done. How are you using autonomous AI agents to streamline operations, enhance decision-making, or drive intelligent automation across your business? The recipients of this award will have shown a deep understanding of their business needs, identified high-value opportunities for agent-based automation, and successfully deployed AI agents to deliver measurable outcomes. Tell us how you’re using watsonx to bring intelligent agents to life in your organization.

Winner:
EY.ai for Tax: Detect and correct using business documents built with IBM watsonx

Finalists include:
EY, Banorte Financial Group, and Infosys

By 2028, gen AI is expected to generate 1 billion new cloud-native applications. In this rapidly evolving landscape, leading organizations are harnessing AI-driven insights and automated actions to optimize cost and value, boost operational efficiency, and make smarter, faster decisions. The Excellence in AI-Driven Automation award celebrates organizations that exemplify proactive, predictive management of hybrid IT lifecycles. These organizations innovate more and maintain less, optimize more and firefight less, and lead rather than follow.

Winner:
Revolutionizing operational efficiency through AI-driven automation with Verizon

Finalists include:
Verizon, Octane Software Solutions, and Tractor Supply

Applications and integration are evolving rapidly as our business needs change, bringing the explosion of new applications and endpoints. Managing the complexity of these environments and achieving scale through innovation is no easy feat. The Excellence in Application Modernization Award recognizes organizations that have demonstrated excellence in hybrid integration, delivery of ground-breaking applications or modernization of their application estate. Tell us your unique IBM story today!

Winner:
Modernizing 3,600+ integrations across Kroger with Royal Cyber’s I2AC solution and IBM ACE

Finalists include:
Royal Cyber/Kroger, XDEV Software, and Perfaware

As AI, advanced analytics, and intelligent agents become central to modern IT operations, effective data management is critical to ensuring these technologies deliver accurate insights, drive innovation, and make informed decisions possible. The Excellence in Data Management Award recognizes organizations that demonstrate outstanding innovation and ingenuity in data management, and can showcase how they are using data as their most strategic asset. When data is managed with vision and purpose, it becomes the fuel that powers trustworthy AI, actionable analytics, and intelligent agents—setting the foundation for performance and operational success.

Winner:
Harley-Davidson Project CloudRider: Excellence in Db2 cloud management

Finalists include:
Scrum Information Technology Solutions, Banco do Brasil, and Harley-Davidson

FinOps demands cross-functional collaboration, real-time visibility, and a strategic, evolving approach to stay ahead. This award honors organizations that have demonstrated outstanding leadership, innovation, and impact in cloud financial management. Through strategic insight, cost optimization, and cross-functional collaboration, they have transformed cloud spend into business value-proving that financial accountability in the cloud isn’t just possible, it’s powerful.

Winner:
CXP Brasil redefining FinOps in Latin America

Finalists include:
WPP, CXP Brasil, and Hyland Software

Gen AI is just the latest innovation that places new demands on IT environments. For many, their cloud-first strategy has become a cloud-smart strategy where they design an architecture to connect and manage their applications and data across public clouds, private clouds, and on-prem. This award recognizes organizations that have implemented an intentional hybrid infrastructure that enables them to optimize workloads for performance, efficiency, and data sovereignty. The winners will have built a hybrid cloud solution that gives them the agility, speed, and integration they need to achieve business outcomes today and be ready for the innovations of tomorrow.

Winner:
Banking on cloud resiliency with GlassHouse Systems

Finalists include:
SVA Systemvertrieb Alexander GmbH, GlassHouse Systems, and INCO

This innovation award recognizes organizations that have demonstrated exceptional creativity and forward-thinking in leveraging IBM Z or LinuxONE technologies including, but not limited to, Agentic AI and assistants, quantum-safe crypto, observability, automation, and/or code modernization to drive innovation and growth. The recipient of this award has successfully delivered significant business value to the organization and downstream customers, as well as inspired opportunities for future innovation on the platform.

Winner:
Accenture creates the first systems integrator to set up WCA4Z on-prem on an x86 server

Finalists include:
Svenska Handelsbanken AB, Accenture, and Nordea

Open means choice. Open means more eyes on the code, more minds on the problems, and more hands on the solutions. A great way for an open source based technology to gain velocity and become ubiquitous is by welcoming new contributors, providing open governance, and ensuring it is painless to both consume and contribute to the open source project. This award celebrates all aspects of activities that support and foster a project’s open source ecosystem.

Winner:
University of Colorado paves the way for IBM AI and open-source enablement

Finalists include:
University of Colorado, Cubewise, and Groupama