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. One entry, one rubric, three ways to be recognized.
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, and it is exactly the work this community already does.
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 entry, three recognitions
There is a single submission funnel and a single rubric. You enter once, for AI Project of the Year. From the finalist pool, the global jury designates the two special recognitions. You never apply for them, and one entry puts you in the running for all three.
Excellence in Responsible AI
A special recognition, designated by the global jury to the finalist that best demonstrates responsible AI governance, human accountability, and trustworthiness.
Excellence in Agentic AI
A special recognition, designated only where a finalist applies agentic or autonomous AI responsibly. If no entry qualifies, it is simply not awarded in edition one.
Which one do you enter for? You do not choose.
The specials are not separate application tracks, so there is nothing extra to fill in. Here is the whole routing:
- You delivered an AI-enabled project. You enter once, for AI Project of the Year. That single entry is your entry for everything.
- Your project set a high bar for responsible AI. You still enter once. The global jury designates Excellence in Responsible AI from the finalist pool. You do not apply for it.
- Your project used agentic or autonomous AI responsibly. You still enter once. The global jury designates Excellence in Agentic AI only where a finalist qualifies. You do not apply for it.
One entry. One rubric. Three ways to be recognized.
How it will work
The full rules, rubric, and eligibility publish when nominations open in mid-August. 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. There is no cash prize.
- Global from day one. Projects from anywhere in the world, judged online.
- A published rubric. Six weighted criteria, published before the call opens. Durable change and real adoption beat model novelty. See the rubric below.
- Two tiers, regional to global. Entries are judged first within three macro-regions (Americas, EMEA, Asia-Pacific), then re-scored from zero by the global jury. Only entries that clear a published cut-off advance: the cut-off is a floor of quality, not a seat count. About six to nine global finalists reach the ceremony.
- Feedback for every finalist. Each finalist receives a written, criteria-anchored feedback report: strengths and improvement areas, not just a result.
How judging works
Judging runs in two tiers, from regional to global, across three macro-regions: Americas, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), and Asia-Pacific. In Tier 1 (October 2026), each region scores entries against the same published rubric and promotes only entries that clear a published cut-off score. The cut-off is a floor of quality, not a seat count: slots are never filled below it. In Tier 2 (November to December 2026), the global jury re-scores every finalist from zero under the same rubric, so regional scores never carry forward. About six to nine global finalists deliver a short live online pitch (10 to 15 minutes) with questions and answers, and the global jury designates the overall winner and the two special recognitions. The award follows an eight-stage process, from charter and criteria through to the finalist feedback and community lessons.
Road to recognition: 2026 to 2027
- July 2026 Pre-announcement, interest list opens
- Mid-August 2026 Nominations open: rules, rubric, and timeline published
- End of September 2026 Nominations close
- October 2026 Tier 1 regional judging
- November to December 2026 Tier 2 global judging, finalist pitches
- December 2026 Live online ceremony
- December 2026 to January 2027 Feedback reports and Story-of-Success rollout
The rubric: how your project is scored
Six weighted criteria, each scored 1 to 10, with the weights published before the call opens. This is the transparency you can plan your entry around: you can see exactly what carries the most weight.
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Outcomes, benefits and impact | 25% |
| Responsible AI governance and Human-in-Command | 20% |
| Adoption and change management | 15% |
| AI solution fit and innovation | 15% |
| Project management and delivery rigor | 15% |
| Learning and contribution to the community | 10% |
| Total | 100% |
The first three criteria carry 60% of the weight combined. That is deliberate: a technically impressive AI solution cannot win without credible evidence of outcomes, responsible governance, and real adoption. Judges score evidence, not claims.
Can you enter?
Eligibility comes in three blocks. In short: a real, delivered project where AI did meaningful, responsibly governed work, and was genuinely adopted.
Eligible
- AI is a meaningful component of the project, not a decorative add-on.
- The work is beyond proof of concept: completed, delivered, piloted in a real setting, or operationalized, with evidence.
- Global from the first edition: entries from any region are welcome.
- Responsible-AI evidence is included: governance, risk, ethics, transparency, privacy, bias mitigation, and human oversight.
- Adoption evidence, not only deployment evidence: it went live and it was taken up and used.
- Publishable case-study consent is given at entry, with confidentiality safeguards for anything genuinely sensitive.
- Joint vendor-plus-practitioner entries are welcome, with the spotlight on the practitioner or delivery team leading adoption.
Ineligible
- Ideas, concepts, models in isolation, tools, demos, and hackathon prototypes.
- Work that has not moved beyond proof of concept.
- Entries where AI is a decorative add-on rather than a meaningful component.
- Material a nomination relies on (including a video or supporting link) that is not accessible without a login.
- Entries missing the required responsible-AI evidence or adoption evidence.
- Entries where publishable case-study consent is withheld.
Participation and conflict of interest
- Vendor-neutral: no bonus for any particular technology, platform, or supplier.
- Self-nomination, open peer nomination, and joint entries are all permitted.
- A single named Lead Nominator owns each entry and is the point of contact.
- Jurors never judge their own entry, employer, client, or a materially connected project: auto-decline, plus disclose-and-recuse for any residual conflict.
The eligibility window. Your project must fall inside the approved eligibility window, measured at the nomination deadline. The exact window length is being finalized and publishes with the full rules when nominations open in mid-August.
How to enter, in five steps
Everything you need is self-hosted here, no sign-in required. Work through it in order and you will have a complete entry ready when the window opens.
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Read the criteria
The six weighted criteria your project is scored against are on this page. The full rubric, with the 1 to 10 scoring anchors, is in the operating rules (Section 8).
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Read the rules
The complete operating rules: eligibility, the nomination flow, the integrity rules, and the recognition package. Read them before you start assembling.
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Understand the process
How entries are judged: a two-tier, regional-to-global flow across three macro-regions (Americas, EMEA, Asia-Pacific), an eight-stage process from the call to the feedback reports. About six to nine global finalists reach the live online ceremony.
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Assemble the nomination package
A complete entry is the structured nomination form, an evidence pack (your proof of outcomes, responsible-AI practice, adoption, and delivery), and a short video. Start with the form and the evidence-pack guide.
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Resources
The guides that explain how judging works and what a strong entry looks like: the evidence-pack guide and the judge guide, so you can see exactly how your project is assessed.
The operating pack
Every document in one place, self-hosted and free to download. Each file is hosted on this page, with a year-stamped name and a format label; nothing here sits behind a login, and there are no third-party download links. The full pack publishes when nominations open in mid-August.
Questions you might have
Is it really free?
Yes. Free end to end: no entry fee, no judging fee, and no charge for the badge, the certificate, the logo use, or any proof of winning. There is no cash prize either.
Who can enter?
Anyone with an AI-enabled project that was genuinely delivered. You can nominate your own project (self-nomination), nominate a peer's project, or enter jointly (for example a vendor together with the practitioner team, with the spotlight on the practitioner leading adoption). The award is global from the first edition, and every entry must be beyond proof of concept: delivered, piloted, or operationalized, with evidence.
Do I have to choose between the three recognitions?
No. There is one submission funnel and one rubric. You enter once, for AI Project of the Year. From the finalist pool, the global jury designates Excellence in Responsible AI, and Excellence in Agentic AI only where a finalist qualifies. You never apply for the specials, and entering once puts you in the running for all three.
What does "AI applied responsibly inside delivered work" actually mean?
Two things at once. First, AI has to be a meaningful part of the project, not a decorative add-on, and the project has to have been genuinely delivered and adopted, not just launched. Second, the entry has to show responsible-AI practice: governance, risk, ethics, transparency, privacy, bias mitigation, and human oversight. The rubric rewards durable change and real adoption over model novelty.
How is it judged?
Against a published six-criterion rubric (see the rubric), scored 1 to 10 per criterion. Judging runs in two tiers: a regional round across three macro-regions, then a global round in which finalists are re-scored from zero by the global jury. Only entries that clear a published cut-off advance, and the cut-off is a floor of quality, not a seat count. Judges are asked to distinguish claims from evidence, and to score the evidence.
What do winners and finalists get?
The recognition package is a Credly-style digital badge, a digital certificate, logo and mark use, a place at the live online ceremony, and a finalist Story-of-Success publication in the community case-study library. Every finalist also receives a written, criteria-anchored feedback report of strengths and improvement areas. There is no cash prize.
How are the judges chosen? Can I be one?
Judges are drawn from AIPM ambassadors and external experts, selected against published criteria and bound by published conflict-of-interest rules (a juror never judges their own entry, employer, client, or a connected project). Interest in judging is welcome, and the interest list has an option for it. Signing up expresses interest only; seats follow the published criteria and the conflict-of-interest rules, and no seat is promised.
What is the eligibility window?
Your project has to fall inside the approved eligibility window, measured at the nomination deadline. The exact window length is being finalized and publishes with the full rules when nominations open in mid-August. Join the interest list and you will get the full rules first.
When does everything happen?
The interest list is open now (July 2026). Nominations open in mid-August 2026 and close at the end of September. Regional judging runs in October, global judging from November to December, and the live online ceremony is in December. Feedback reports and the Story-of-Success rollout follow from December 2026 into January 2027.
What about things I have heard mentioned, like sponsors or a public vote?
A few design choices are still being finalized, including the exact eligibility window, whether there is any sponsor, whether there is any secondary public recognition, and any person-level award. None of these is settled today. The full and final rules, rubric, and eligibility publish when nominations open in mid-August. Join the interest list and you will get them first.
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, with the full rules and rubric in hand.
The award at a glance
