AI Project of the Year
The overall winner. The project that best combines responsible AI, real adoption, measurable outcomes, and delivery rigor.
A new AIPM community initiative
AI Project of the Year
A global recognition for teams applying AI responsibly inside real, delivered project work. Free end-to-end, judged online, built by practitioners for practitioners.
Join the interest list Nominations open mid-August 2026
Why this award exists
Plenty of awards celebrate AI products. Plenty of awards celebrate project delivery. Almost none look at both at once: was the AI responsibly governed, genuinely adopted by the people it serves, and delivered with real project discipline? That intersection is where this award lives.
The AIPM AI Project of the Year Award recognizes AI-enabled projects that demonstrate responsible innovation, strong delivery, measurable value, human-centered adoption, and positive organizational or societal impact. Every finalist case becomes community learning: a published story the whole profession can borrow from.
One award, three recognitions
A single submission covers everything: the jury designates the two special recognitions from the same finalist pool, with no extra entry burden.
Excellence in Responsible AI
The finalist that best demonstrates responsible AI governance, human accountability, and trustworthiness.
Excellence in Agentic AI
Awarded where a finalist applies agentic or autonomous AI responsibly. If no entry qualifies, it is simply not awarded in edition one.
How it will work
The full rules, rubric, and eligibility publish when nominations open. The essentials are already set:
- Free end-to-end. No entry fee, no judging fee, no charge for the badge, certificate, logo use, or proof of winning.
- Global from day one. Projects from anywhere in the world, judged online.
- A published rubric. Six weighted criteria, published before the call opens: outcomes and impact (25%), responsible AI governance (20%), adoption and change management (15%), AI solution fit (15%), delivery rigor (15%), and community learning (10%). Durable change and real adoption beat model novelty.
- Feedback for every finalist. Each finalist receives a written, criteria-anchored feedback report: strengths and improvement areas, not just a result.
Road to recognition: 2026
- July Pre-announcement, interest list opens
- Mid-August Nominations open: rules, rubric, and timeline published
- End of September Nominations close
- October Regional judging
- November to December Global judging, finalist pitches
- December Live online ceremony
Built to stay credible
Four principles are hard constraints on the design, and the integrity rules publish alongside the rubric.
Original
Proven award mechanics, AIPM's own identity, naming, and criteria.
Non-commercial
Free end-to-end. Winning cannot be bought, and proof of winning is never paywalled.
Practice-grounded
Real, delivered, or operationalized project work. Not ideas, demos, models, or tools alone.
Community-first
Finalist feedback and published case studies make the whole community better, win or not.
Judging integrity: a published jury and conflict-of-interest policy, no contact with judges during judging, human-authored submissions, and judges who score evidence, not claims.
Be first in line
Planning to nominate a project? Interested in judging? Want to help spread the word? Join the interest list and you will hear from us the moment nominations open.
The award at a glance
For reviewers: source documents
Working-team documents behind this page. This block is for the validation loop only and is not part of the public launch page.
