Thinkers360

Personal Excellence

Award Nominee

Name: Maribel Lopez
Organization/Company: Lopez Research
Job Title/Position: Technology Industry Analyst
Country: United States
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
Technology Industry Analyst | Enterprise AI: Infrastructure, Agentic Systems, Governance & CX | Host, AI with Maribel Lopez

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Personal Excellence
Sub-Category: Analyst of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Leading the Enterprise Pivot: From AI Experimentation to Agentic Production
Project/Contribution Description:
In 2025 and 2026, Maribel Lopez served as a critical bridge for enterprises navigating the "POC Purgatory." As the founder of Lopez Research, Maribel’s primary contribution was the development of a strategic framework for Agentic AI Governance and Observability. While the industry focused on the novelty of LLMs, Maribel pivoted her research to address the systemic failures in enterprise deployment, specifically why 95% of AI projects were failing to reach production.

Her work involved:

Independent Research & Analysis: Conducting deep-dive assessments into AI infrastructure, agentic systems, and the "semantic layer," helping CXOs understand the technical dependencies of autonomous agents.

Multichannel Market Education: Synthesizing complex technical shifts into actionable insights through the AI with Maribel Lopez podcast, Forbes columns, and high-impact industry reports (e.g., "Why 2026 is the Year Enterprise AI Gets Real").

Strategic Advisory: Directly pressure-testing the positioning of major technology vendors and guiding enterprise buyers on how to move from "innovative theater" to measurable ROI by prioritizing governance and human-in-the-loop protocols.

Key Achievements and Impact:
Maribel’s impact is defined by her ability to drive market clarity and provide a vendor-neutral "reality check" during a period of peak AI hype.

Market Leadership in Agentic AI: Recognized as a primary voice in the shift toward Agentic AI Governance. Her 2025–2026 research correctly predicted the rise of "autonomous digital teammates" and established the industry standard for auditing and securing multi-agent workflows.

Quantifiable Audience Reach: * Maintained a top-tier global ranking on Thinkers360 across AI, Digital Transformation, and Future of Work.

Produced over 50+ deep-dive articles/blogs and reached thousands of monthly listeners via her podcast, providing a platform for "counter-consensus" positions that challenged standard vendor narratives.

Direct Industry Influence: * Advised leading organizations on the "Production-Ready" roadmap, contributing to a measurable shift in how enterprises allocate AI budgets—moving away from broad experimentation toward governed, scalable agents.

Delivered major keynotes at industry-defining events like Cisco Live! 2025 and AWS re:Invent 2025, where she served as a lead analyst providing real-time synthesis of "Full-Stack AI Maturity."

The "Right-Time" Legacy: Successfully evolved her "Right-Time Experience" (RTE) methodology to include Generative and Predictive AI, helping retailers and service providers improve NPS and efficiency by delivering contextual, automated support at the edge.

Maribel Lopez

Analyst of the Year

Finalist

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Jeff KAGAN

Analyst of the Year

Finalist

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Award Nominee

Name: Michael Fauscette
Organization/Company: Arion Research LLC
Job Title/Position: CEO & Chief Analyst
Country: United States
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Thinkers360 Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
High-tech leader, board member, software industry analyst, author and podcast host. He is a thought leader and published author on emerging trends in business software, AI, agentic and generative AI, digital transformation, and customer experience. Michael is a Thinkers360 Top Voice 2023, 2024 and 2025, and Ambassador for Agentic AI, as well as a Top Ten Thought Leader in Agentic AI, Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, AI Governance, AI Orchestration, and CRM.

Michael is the Founder, CEO & Chief Analyst at Arion Research, a global AI and cloud advisory firm; advisor to G2 and 180Ops, Board Chair at LocatorX; and board member and Fractional Chief Strategy Officer at SpotLogic. Formerly Michael was the Chief Research Officer at unicorn startup G2. Prior to G2, Michael led IDC’s worldwide enterprise software application research group for almost ten years. An ex-US Naval Officer, he held executive roles with 9 software companies including Autodesk and PeopleSoft; and 6 technology startups.

Books: “Building the Digital Workforce” - Sept 2025; “The Complete Agentic AI Readiness Assessment” - Dec 2025

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Personal Excellence
Sub-Category: Analyst of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Defining the Agentic AI Era: Research, Frameworks, and Practical Guidance for Enterprise Transformation
Project/Contribution Description:
Over the past year, Michael Fauscette has been at the forefront of helping enterprises understand and prepare for the shift to agentic AI. Through his role as Founder, CEO & Chief Analyst at Arion Research, he has delivered advisory services, published original research, and provided strategic guidance to organizations navigating AI adoption and digital transformation.
His contributions include two published books: "Building the Digital Workforce" (September 2025), which provides a practical framework for integrating AI-driven automation into enterprise operations, and "The Complete Agentic AI Readiness Assessment" (December 2025), which gives organizations a structured methodology for evaluating their readiness to deploy agentic AI systems. Both works bridge the gap between emerging technology trends and actionable enterprise strategy.
Beyond publishing, Michael has served as a recognized thought leader and analyst across the AI ecosystem, contributing insights through his podcast, speaking engagements, advisory work, and ongoing research. His scope spans agentic AI, generative AI, AI governance, AI orchestration, CRM, and broader digital transformation, with a consistent focus on helping business leaders make informed technology decisions.

Key Achievements and Impact:
-Named a Thinkers360 Top Voice for three consecutive years (2023, 2024, 2025) and selected as Ambassador for Agentic AI
-Ranked as a Top Ten Thought Leader across six categories: Agentic AI, Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, AI Governance, AI Orchestration, and CRM
-Published two books in 2025 focused on enterprise AI readiness and workforce transformation
-Delivered advisory and analyst services to global enterprises through Arion Research, helping organizations develop AI strategies and evaluate technology investments
-Contributed to board-level strategy at multiple organizations including LocatorX (Board Chair) and SpotLogic (board member and Fractional Chief Strategy Officer)
-Host of the Disambiguation Podcast: published 45 episodes in 2025
-Cohost In the Hot Seat on the Playrz Production Network (PPN)
-Published 94 Articles on Arion Research blog, topics were heavily focused on Agentic AI, AI Governance, the Digital Workforce, and enterprise AI topics throughout the year.
-Published 21 analyst Research Reports.
-Appeared as a regular panelist on Analysts Gone Wild live show.

Author of the Year

Finalist

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Award Nominee

Name: Danny Wareham
Organization/Company: Firgun Ltd
Job Title/Position: Culture & Engagement Director
Country: United Kingdom
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Thinkers360 Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
Danny believes that happy bees make tasty honey.
With a purposeful culture, strategy and support systems, high performance becomes a side effect.

He is a psychologist, author, accredited coach, and psychometrician whose work lies at the intersection of leadership, culture and personality, with a focus on individual differences – especially the “dark triad” traits of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism.

An expert in culture and leadership dynamics, Danny has been recognised among the Global Top 25 Thought Leaders on Culture and in Leadership and has spent nearly 30-years in contact centre, retail and fintech industries, designing cultures, leadership systems, and strategies in which energy, clarity, and collaboration multiply success.

He is the founder of Firgun, a consultancy whose Hebrew name captures his core motivation: “the genuine, sincere and pure happiness for another person’s accomplishment or experience”, whose clients include Worldpay, M&G Investment Bank, and LEGO.

He lives in Stoke-on-Trent, UK, with his partner, Charlene.

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Personal Excellence
Sub-Category: Author of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Thought Leadership in Constellation Leadership
Project/Contribution Description:
Who leads when the leader is not in the room?
'Constellation: Leadership reimagined for a connected age' provides the first ever academic research into a 'leader-less' form of leadership, where purpose, culture and context, rather than people at the top, become the guiding forces.

This ground-breaking study draws on psychology, organisational science, and fresh empirical evidence to reveal a revolutionary approach to leadership for a world too complex for hierarchies to keep pace.

This is not a reworking of old theories. It is a new map.

The book has 2 core purposes:

1. To introduce the first ever academic research in an accessible and practical way, highlighting how culture can provide the behavioural influence needed for leadership in a complex time. This would be made available for academics and practitioners to critique and build upon; and

2. To provide a practical framework and approach to creating the environment, culture and structures in real-world organisations, which leadership practitioners can utilise.

With reviews from Henley Business School, The Institute of Leadership, the Association for Business Psychology, LEGO, the Contact Centre Management Association, Glasgow Caledonian University and more, Constellation has already achieved those goals.

Key Achievements and Impact:
The book is currently shortlisted for Book of the Year at the Business book Awards 2026.
It is also nominated for Book of the Year at the Institute of Leadership awards.

Reviews are 100% 5-star, with praise acknowledging that this "...book should be on every business leader's desk."

Other praise for Constellation inlcudes:
‘Constellation Leadership may well be the leadership of tomorrow. It takes you on a thought-provoking journey through leadership history, relatable case studies, and an invitation to explore the real power of organisational culture.’
- Jo Garland
Director, Customer Engagement (EMEA), the LEGO Group

‘Constellation leadership is a wonderful book that shines light on how leading can work collectively. We know that leading is a collective process but struggle to find ways to make that practice tangible and accessible. This book is giving you access to the why and the how of leading by the many. It nudges you to learn and put your reading into practice, which is, to me, a must for any good book.’
- Professor Bernd Vogel
Director, Henley Centre for Leadership UK & Africa, Henley Business School, University of Reading

‘Grounded in research yet highly readable, Constellation explores leaderless leadership with clarity and engaging prose, offering fresh insights for navigating today’s connected world.’
- Melanie Robinson
Deputy CEO, The Institute of Leadership

‘It’s so practical, relatable, and beautifully underpinned by research. One of the clearest and most usable explanations I’ve seen of what actually needs to be true for psychological safety to exist – especially in distributed and hybrid teams.’
- Marion Anderson
HR Leader & PhD Researcher in psychological safety at Glasgow Caledonian University

‘In an age where the contact centre evolves with technology, I love hearing of new approaches to enable individuals to excel within their roles. Constellation leadership definitely gives food for thought and to think about organisation structure a little differently.’
- Kate Knowles
Services Director, Contact Centre Management Association (CCMA)

‘The way it connects history, research, and practical insight makes what could be complex ideas accessible, without ever dumbing them down. Reframing culture as a leader in its own right, is a refreshing new perspective that will resonate strongly. Constellation will be powerful and relevant for leaders and organisations’
- Martin Teasdale
Founder of The Team Leader Community™ & Get Out Of Wrap podcast

‘Constellation Leadership is a fascinating concept. The book takes the reader on a voyage of exploration, showing how leadership can be reimagined in fresh and thought-provoking ways.’
- Judith Germain
Leadership Impact Catalyst and Founder, The Maverick Paradox

Danny Wareham

Author of the Year

Finalist

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Abdurahman Kajumba

Francisco Javier Echeverria Dazarola

Consultant of the Year

Finalist

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Award Nominee

Name: Ileana Scemtovici, EMBA
Organization/Company: ISTINNOVA
Job Title/Position: Fractional CRO | Finance Transformation Exec | NED & Board Member | GTM, RevOps, Pricing | Governanc
Country: Romania
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Thinkers360 Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
Consultant of the Year nominee: FinOps and finance transformation leader delivering measurable, repeatable client impact. I redesign operating models, embed governance, and automate workflows (ERP/RPA/analytics) to cut decision debt. Proven results: 30–50% efficiency gains, faster closes, stronger control. Experience includes telecom M&A stabilization and Oracle global compliance (65K+ cards, 75+ countries).

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Personal Excellence
Sub-Category: Consultant of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Finance Transformation That Pays for Itself: Automation, Controls, Outcomes
Project/Contribution Description:
Over the past year, I delivered a consulting-led finance transformation portfolio focused on one core outcome: building finance functions that pay for themselves through measurable efficiency, stronger controls, and faster decision-making. The work targets the “messy middle” where cost overruns and risk hide: fragmented spend data, manual handoffs, unclear ownership, and governance that exists on paper but not in operations.

My approach combines FinOps discipline with finance operating-model redesign. I start with a diagnostic of decision debt (where delays, rework, and ambiguity create avoidable cost). From there, I design a pragmatic target operating model: clear accountability, controls-by-design, and a cadence that turns reporting into action. I then translate that model into execution through process redesign and enabling technology, integrating ERP and adjacent tools, automating workflows via RPA where appropriate, and implementing analytics dashboards that make unit economics, spend drivers, and variances visible in near real time.

The deliverables typically include: an end-to-end transformation blueprint, redesigned process maps and control points, governance routines (roles, forums, escalation paths, KPIs), automation opportunities and implementation backlog, and executive-ready dashboards for forecasting and performance management. Where confidentiality applies, results and examples are provided in anonymized form and can be substantiated upon request.

The consistent outcome is a finance organization that moves from reactive reporting to proactive control, reducing inefficiency, improving compliance posture, and enabling leaders to make faster, higher-quality trade-offs.

Key Achievements and Impact:
Delivered 30–50% reduction in process inefficiencies by integrating ERP/CRM/SaaS workflows, automation and AI-driven analytics.
Reduced operational bottlenecks by ~50% through workflow redesign and automation (RPA + standardized controls).
Built real-time budgeting/forecasting dashboards integrating finance + operational data to improve visibility and decision cadence.
Led digital finance transformation and integration work in a telecom M&A context (AP/compliance/supplier data/process alignment).
Strengthened governance by aligning processes and reporting to GDPR/IFRS/SOC 2 requirements; embedded controls into day-to-day operations.
Earlier proof of scale: managed Oracle’s global corporate card compliance portfolio (65,000+ cards across 75+ countries) and improved risk controls; delivered 125%+ of DSO target in OTC operations.

Supporting File (1): Click
Supporting File (2): Click
Supporting File (3): Click

Ileana Scemtovici, EMBA

Consultant of the Year

Finalist

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Award Nominee

Name: Tom Laine
Organization/Company: Manna InsectOy Ltd
Job Title/Position: CMO
Country: Finland
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Thinkers360 Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
Earlier achievements and honorable mentions:
Ranked #6 on Thinkers360 list of Top 50 Global Thought Leaders & Influencers on #HR (2022)
Ranked #1 on Finnish supernetworker list by SuperLinked (2020)
Ranked #2 on Thinkers360 list of Top 50 Global Thought Leaders & Influencers on #social (2020)
The 1st Finnish "Top Voices of Linkedin" Winner (2019)
"Alumni of the year" for Turku UAS (2019)
"Recruitment deed of the year" finalist (2018)
Best selling author (2017)
TEDx speaker (2017)
Rise Global's no. 4 on Top 100 HR Influencers List (December 2016)

Executed over 1.700 trainings / consultations for clients across Europe, Middle East, Asia, Australia and the United States of America since 2011, 70.000+ attendees, topics being Linkedin, B2B marketing, Social Selling, Social Media Recruitment and Employer Branding.

Over 80.000 followers across social media, incl. Linkedin, X/Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest - at Pinterest achieved over 1.2 million views per month at best.

Social media specialist in:
- Social Media recruitment & employer branding
- Social Media job hunting & personal branding
- Social Selling and B2B Marketing
- LinkedIn expertise since 2004, the most networked person in Finland in LinkedIn.

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Personal Excellence
Sub-Category: Consultant of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Building Thought Leadership in Insect Farming
Project/Contribution Description:
When starting as a part-time CMO with Manna Insect approx. 3 years ago, the company was one of many startups entering the novell industry of insect farming. The target was to clearly differentiate the company from others, build a strong personal brand for its CEO, and position the company as the thought leader in insect farming, especially that of Black Soldier Fly (BSF) farming. The table was wide open, no actual marketing had been done prior to this, but the CEO had already some recognition as a skilled individual and a specialist in BSF farming.

Key Achievements and Impact:
During this time the company has become a market leader in insect farming technologies with customers in over 40 countries across 6 continents, far more and more widely sprerad than any other company working in the same niche. On top of that, the company has gained significant following at Linkedin with Tom's content strategy and execution, and achieved a clear thought leadership status in its field of expertise, especially with content series run as free webinars, article series, podcast series, free online courses, and Linkedin content series such as "Insect Industry ABC", and "Q&A series". This all on top of sharing widely industry news, tips and research, that has helped the whole industry get wider recognition. Tom has been working on this content all by himself, with the insect industry insight help from the CEO.

During the last year Tom has also been involved in setting up a new central hub for insect farmers globally, the Insect Farm Hub (https://www.insectfarmhub.com/), and a marketplace for insect products and services, the recently launched BSF Market (https://bsfmarket.com/). Both of which are first of its kind in the industry.

Almost no paid advertising is done, with the exception of small budget paid advert at an African newsletter for chicken farmers, and specialized small budget marketing campaigns at Linkedin and with Google Ads.

Tom Laine

Consultant of the Year

Finalist

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Capt Pradeep Singh

Damian Piñero

Influencer of the Year

Finalist

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Award Nominee

Name: Dr. Suman Ghosh
Organization/Company: British Telecom
Job Title/Position: Lead Project Manager
Country: India
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Thinkers360 Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
I am a global ICT transformation, project management, and cybersecurity leader with 22+ years of experience delivering large-scale telecom and digital initiatives across EMEA and APAC. A world-record holder with 250+ global certifications, I am also an acting Cyber Ambassador (Govt. of India), CCIO volunteer, mentor, and multi-award-winning professional recognized for driving resilience, governance, and community impact.

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Personal Excellence
Sub-Category: Influencer of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Influencing Cyber Resilience, Ethical AI, and Project Leadership at Scale
Project/Contribution Description:
I have consistently leveraged my professional platform to influence cybersecurity resilience, responsible technology adoption, and structured project governance across enterprises and the broader community. My contribution spans thought leadership, mentoring, national cyber awareness initiatives, and industry advocacy.

As a Lead Project Manager at BT Group, I influence secure ICT service delivery across global programs, ensuring cybersecurity is embedded into governance, delivery, and decision-making. Beyond corporate boundaries, I actively serve as a Cyber Ambassador under the Government of India’s cybersecurity awareness mission, a CCIO volunteer supporting cybercrime victims, and a Brand Ambassador for organizations promoting ethical AI, cybersecurity education, and professional excellence.

Through articles, community sessions, panel discussions, mentoring programs, and advisory roles, I translate complex cybersecurity and governance concepts into actionable insights for professionals, students, and leaders—bridging the gap between strategy, execution, and societal impact.

Key Achievements and Impact:
Influenced 100+ professionals and students through structured mentoring, cyber awareness sessions, and leadership programs (PMI, GMI, MentorTogether, CCIO).

Recognized as Top 100 Cybersecurity Influencer 2025 (CyberFrat) and Cybersecurity Influencer of the Year for sustained thought leadership.

Acted as Cyber Ambassador (MeitY, Govt. of India), supporting national cyber safety awareness and digital trust initiatives.

Supported real cybercrime interventions as a CCIO volunteer, helping victims recover financially and emotionally.

World Record holder with 216+ global certifications, reinforcing credibility and continuous learning leadership.

Regular contributor to LinkedIn thought leadership content on cybersecurity, PMO governance, AI risk, and leadership—reaching a global audience

Supporting File (1): Click
Supporting File (2): Click
Supporting File (3): Click

Dr. Suman Ghosh

Influencer of the Year

Finalist

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Award Nominee

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Personal Excellence
Sub-Category: Influencer of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Influencer of the Year in Emerging Technologies
Project/Contribution Description:
As a leading Global Thought Leader and B2B Tech Influencer specializing in emerging and future technologies—including AI, IoT, robotics, manufacturing, cybersecurity, smart cities, automotive innovation, and digital transformation—I have consistently shaped industry discourse, aiming to inspire professionals, and driven adoption of cutting-edge solutions through high-impact thought leadership and influencer activities. My contributions in 2025, particularly regarding the Influencer of the Year category, are highlighted by my appointment as Thinkers360 Ambassador for Emerging Technology, where I actively supported platform initiatives, amplified expert voices, and advanced B2B influencer marketing in emerging tech domains. This role, combined with my inclusion in the Thinkers360 Top Voices of 2025 (across Robotics, Automotive, and Personal Branding leaderboards) and Thinkers360 Top Voices EMEA 2025 (Robotics, Automotive, Smart Cities), underscores my sustained influence in fostering insightful conversations on future technologies. I authored influential content, such as the Top Article of 2025 “The Future of Machining: Key Trends and Innovations” for DELMIA (Dassault Systèmes), syndicated on RoboticsTomorrow and recognized in their year-end roundup for its visionary analysis of AI and robotics in industrial automation and manufacturing. These efforts, alongside top rankings like Top 25 Thought Leaders in Emerging Technology 2025, Top 10 Tech Influencers to Follow in 2025 (insight.tech, sponsored by Intel), and awards including Thought Leader & B2B Tech Influencer of the Year 2025, Global B2B Tech Thought Leader of the Year 2025, and Leading Tech Influencer & Marketing Expert 2025 – USA, have elevated global awareness of emerging tech trends, bridged technical innovation with strategic branding, promoted diversity (e.g., as a Women in Tech advocate), and influenced B2B decision-makers and communities worldwide. I aim my work to inspire the next generation of tech professionals while forecasting societal impacts of transformative technologies.

Key Achievements and Impact:
As a globally recognized Global Thought Leader and B2B Tech Influencer in emerging and future technologies (including AI, IoT, robotics, smart cities, automotive innovation, and digital transformation), my work in 2025 has driven significant measurable influence, industry recognition, and community impact in the Influencer of the Year category. Key quantifiable achievements and specific impacts include:
• Appointed Thinkers360 Ambassador for Emerging Technology in 2025, contributing to platform growth, expert amplification, and B2B influencer marketing initiatives in emerging tech domains, as highlighted on Thinkers360 profiles and announcements.
• Named in the Thinkers360 Top Voices of 2025 (across Robotics, Automotive, and Personal Branding leaderboards) and Thinkers360 Top Voices EMEA 2025 (Robotics, Automotive, Smart Cities), reflecting high rankings driven by authored content, engagement, peer endorsements, and thought leadership impact.
• Authored “The Future of Machining: Key Trends and Innovations” on behalf of DELMIA (Dassault Systèmes), recognized as a Top Article of 2025 by RoboticsTomorrow and featured in their year-end roundup (December 2025), generating substantial traction in robotics, factory automation, industrial manufacturing, and AI/robotics communities for its forward-looking insights on Industry 4.0 transformations.
• Earned multiple 2025 awards, including Thought Leader & B2B Tech Influencer of the Year 2025, Global B2B Tech Thought Leader of the Year 2025, and Leading Tech Influencer & Marketing Expert 2025 – USA, alongside top rankings such as Top 10 Tech Influencers to Follow in 2025 (insight.tech, sponsored by Intel), Top 10 IoT Influencers in 2025, Top 10 Instagram IoT Influencers in 2025, Top 25 Thought Leaders in Emerging Technology 2025, Top 10 Thought Leaders in Robotics 2025, and inclusion in Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Smart Cities 2025.
• Maintained a robust personal brand with over 31,000 LinkedIn followers (as of early 2026), consistently achieving high engagement through posts, articles, and discussions on emerging tech trends, inspiring B2B professionals, decision-makers, and audiences while promoting diversity and inclusion (e.g., as a nominee and advocate in Women in Tech Global Awards 2025/2026 categories, building on prior recognitions like WomenTech Network Global Gold Winner).
• Amplified industry discourse through syndication on platforms like RoboticsTomorrow, Onalytica, and Thinkers360, contributing to broader adoption of emerging technologies in automation, manufacturing, and digital transformation, while mentoring emerging professionals and forecasting societal/tech trends.
These achievements have elevated global conversations on emerging technologies, influenced B2B strategies and innovation adoption, advanced women in tech representation, and fostered inclusive growth in the tech ecosystem, with ongoing impact measured via rankings, awards, content visibility, community endorsements, and follower growth.

Elitsa Krumova

Influencer of the Year

Finalist

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Award Nominee

Name: Svitlana Samko
Organization/Company: Verizon Connect, W2business
Job Title/Position: Senior Technical Project Manager
Country: Ireland
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Thinkers360 Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
Experienced Senior Manager with 18 years of success in managing and leading innovative teams. Demonstrated ability to develop strategies to drive product-centric culture and agile processes. Proven record of delivering projects on-time and under budget.

I am passionate about empowering individuals and driving their learning and development to help them progress in their careers.

In summary, I am driven by a deep passion for mentoring and guiding others in the tech industry. Through my roles as a mentor, coach, e-Mentor, community leader, volunteer, and speaker, I have strived to create a positive and lasting impact. My dedication to helping individuals develop their skills and progress in their careers is at the core of my work.

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Personal Excellence
Sub-Category: Influencer of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Driving Global Tech Leadership Through Digital Influence, Mentorship, and Human-Centered Innovation
Project/Contribution Description:
Svitlana Samko is a global technology leader, TEDx speaker, and digital mentor whose influence extends across conferences, professional communities, and social media platforms.

Through her Instagram platforms — IT Mentor Lana and W2Business Academy — she delivers practical guidance on AI adoption, project leadership, career growth in tech, and women’s advancement in business. Her content translates complex technical and strategic concepts into accessible, actionable insights for a global audience of technology professionals, aspiring leaders, and entrepreneurs.

Her influence is built on three integrated pillars:

1. Educational Influence

Micro-learning content on AI, digital transformation, and leadership

Practical project management and executive growth strategies

Real-world case studies from enterprise technology environments

2. Career & Leadership Mentorship

Guidance for women transitioning into tech leadership roles

Structured advice for professionals seeking global career advancement

Confidence-building and communication development frameworks

3. Community Building

Creation of an engaged online ecosystem focused on growth, empowerment, and innovation

Cross-platform amplification of thought leadership from conferences and speaking engagements

Collaboration with professionals, founders, and technology leaders

Her digital presence reinforces and scales the insights she shares on global stages, creating continuous influence beyond physical events.

Key Achievements and Impact:
1. Multi-Platform Digital Influence

Active leadership presence on Instagram through IT Mentor Lana and W2Business Academy

Consistent content delivery focused on technology, AI, leadership, and professional growth

Strong engagement within a targeted professional audience

2. Industry Credibility

2025 Tech Leader Award recipient

TEDx Speaker with international audience reach

President of Toastmasters, mentoring future leaders and communicators

3. Measurable Professional Impact

Guided professionals in advancing into leadership roles within tech

Influenced adoption of structured digital transformation practices

Supported women entering and scaling within technology careers

4. Ecosystem Influence

Bridges executive leadership and digital mentorship communities

Promotes ethical AI and responsible innovation practices

Actively contributes to inclusive leadership conversations in global tech spaces

Impact Statement

Svitlana’s influence is distinguished by substance and scalability. She combines enterprise-level execution expertise with accessible digital education, creating measurable impact across both corporate and individual growth trajectories.

Her platforms empower professionals to:

Navigate AI-driven transformation confidently

Build leadership authority in technical environments

Transition from operational roles to strategic positions

Strengthen communication and executive presence

Through consistent, high-value digital engagement and global speaking visibility, she has established herself as a credible and trusted voice shaping the next generation of technology leaders.

Svitlana Samko

Angel Ngele

Susanna Rantanen

Thought Leader of the Year

Finalist

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Award Nominee

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Personal Excellence
Sub-Category: Thought Leader of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Thought Leader of the Year in Emerging Technology
Project/Contribution Description:
As a contributor to thought leadership in emerging and future technologies—covering areas such as AI, IoT, robotics, cybersecurity, smart cities, automotive innovation, and digital transformation—I have focused on producing clear, forward-looking content that connects technical developments with real-world business applications and broader societal implications.

In line with the Thought Leader of the Year category, my work emphasizes consistent, high-quality insights that aim to inform professionals and support informed decision-making in rapidly evolving fields. During 2025, I was selected as Thinkers360 Ambassador for Emerging Technology, a role that involved supporting platform activities, helping highlight expert perspectives, and contributing to discussions around B2B applications of new technologies.

I was also included in the Thinkers360 Top Voices of 2025 (Robotics, Automotive, Personal Branding) and Thinkers360 Top Voices EMEA 2025 (Robotics, Automotive, Smart Cities), based on content engagement and recognition within the community.

One piece that received particular attention was “The Future of Machining: Key Trends and Innovations”, written for DELMIA (Dassault Systèmes) and later featured by RoboticsTomorrow as a Top Article of 2025 in their year-end selection. The article explored how AI and robotics are influencing machining processes, industrial automation, and manufacturing practices under Industry 4.0, and it was shared widely within relevant technical and business communities.

Additional acknowledgments in 2025 included listings such as Top 25 Thought Leaders in Emerging Technology, Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Smart Cities, and Top 10 Tech Influencers to Follow (insight.tech, sponsored by Intel), along with other category-specific recognitions.

Through a steadily growing presence on LinkedIn (over 31,000 followers) and ongoing content creation, I have aimed to share balanced perspectives on emerging trends, support greater inclusion in technology (including through Women in Tech advocacy), and encourage practical consideration of how these technologies may shape the future. The overall effort has been to contribute meaningfully and reliably to conversations in the emerging technology space.

Key Achievements and Impact:
The Thought Leader of the Year category recognizes individuals who have demonstrated exceptional, sustained expertise and influence in their field, consistently shaping discourse through high-quality insights, meaningful engagement, and contributions that advance knowledge and industry conversations—particularly in emerging technologies.

In 2025, several elements of my work aligned with these expectations:

• Appointed Thinkers360 Ambassador for Emerging Technology, enabling active participation in platform initiatives, expert amplification, and focused discussions on B2B applications of AI, IoT, robotics, smart cities, and related fields.
• Included in the Thinkers360 Top Voices of 2025 (Robotics, Automotive, Personal Branding) and Thinkers360 Top Voices EMEA 2025 (Robotics, Automotive, Smart Cities), selections based on consistent content production, audience engagement, and peer/community recognition within the global thought leadership ecosystem.
• Authored “The Future of Machining: Key Trends and Innovations” for DELMIA (Dassault Systèmes), which was chosen as a Top Article of 2025 by RoboticsTomorrow and featured in their official year-end roundup. The article offered a clear examination of AI and robotics integration in machining processes, industrial automation, and manufacturing under Industry 4.0, and it was widely shared and referenced in technical and business communities focused on these transformations.
• Received targeted 2025 recognitions that reflect influence in emerging technology areas, including Thought Leader & B2B Tech Influencer of the Year 2025, Global B2B Tech Thought Leader of the Year 2025, Leading Tech Influencer & Marketing Expert 2025 – USA, as well as rankings such as Top 25 Thought Leaders in Emerging Technology, Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Smart Cities, and Top 10 Tech Influencers to Follow in 2025 (insight.tech, sponsored by Intel).
• Sustained an engaged audience with over 31,000 LinkedIn followers, regularly publishing balanced, forward-looking content on emerging tech trends while actively supporting greater inclusion in the field through Women in Tech advocacy and related nominations/awards.

Collectively, these contributions have helped inform B2B professionals, encouraged practical adoption of emerging technologies, and added reliable perspectives to global discussions—demonstrating consistent impact through measurable platform metrics, content reach, syndication, and community acknowledgment in a rapidly evolving domain.

Elitsa Krumova

Thought Leader of the Year

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Jay Stansell

Thought Leader of the Year

Finalist

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Award Nominee

Name: Lindsey Leigh Hobson
Organization/Company: Future Untamed Pty Ltd
Job Title/Position: CEO
Country: Australia
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Thinkers360 Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
Lindsey Leigh Hobson is pioneering the future of leadership. She is the CEO of Future Untamed, a 2025 Global Recognition Award recipient for Leadership, LinkedIn Top Voice in Mentoring 2024, National Lead for the Professional Speakers Australia (PSA) Chapter President Council, Founder of The LDC, and Lindsey is also a budding crazy-cat-lady (don't get her started).

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Personal Excellence
Sub-Category: Thought Leader of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: The North Star of Leadership
Project/Contribution Description:
Lindsey Leigh Hobson is widely recognised for her enduring influence on leadership development—consistently shaping discourse, advancing innovation, and setting new standards of excellence in the field.

Among her contributions, two pioneering initiatives stand out for their global impact and industry adoption:

1) The Future Fit Framework & Assessment
Lindsey developed the Future Fit Framework - a practical methodology and assessment tool that has redefined how organisations prepare leaders for the future. By blending deep human insight with AI-driven personalisation, Lindsey equips organisations with a transformative, measurable approach to leadership. This innovation earned her the 2025 Global Recognition Award for exceptional achievement in leadership, service, and innovation.

2) The World’s First Global L&D Conference in the Metaverse
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lindsey produced and hosted the world’s first global Learning and Development conference in the metaverse. This ground-breaking event brought together over 120 L&D professionals worldwide for immersive, future-focused learning during a time of industry isolation. Importantly, several attendees went on to implement the platform and learning experience within their own organisations - for example, a major fast food chain adapted the model for new manager training - demonstrating the conference’s practical influence and reach.

Purpose and Scope
Both initiatives exemplify Lindsey’s commitment to making leadership development accessible, innovative, and impactful. The Future Fit Framework is now embedded in bespoke programs for diverse organisations, while the metaverse conference established a new blueprint for virtual engagement and knowledge sharing, with tangible adoption by industry peers.

The Future Fit Framework & Assessment has been recognised with a Global Recognition Award, while both projects are acknowledged by industry leaders for advancing innovation, delivering new insights, and inspiring adoption and transformation across the leadership development sector.

Key Achievements and Impact:
Lindsey Leigh Hobson’s thought leadership has made a significant and lasting mark on the global leadership development sector, driving innovation, building community, and inspiring meaningful change.

Award Recognition:
The Future Fit Framework & Assessment earned Lindsey the 2025 Global Recognition Award for exceptional achievement in leadership, service, and innovation. Lindsey was also a finalist for the Bx Awards in Leadership Coaching (2025).

Community Growth:
The Learning and Development Collective, founded by Lindsey, has grown into an international network of over 850 members, facilitating regular knowledge-sharing sessions and collaborative projects across industries and countries.

Industry Influence:
Lindsey was recognised as a LinkedIn Top Voice in Mentoring in 2024, with a following exceeding 16,000 professionals. Her thought leadership content consistently sparks discussion and engagement within the global leadership and L&D community.

Speaking & Industry Recognition:
Lindsey has delivered keynote presentations, workshops, and training sessions for audiences across Australia and internationally - for example, Lindsey recently spoke at at WOBI's Sydney Forum. Her work is acknowledged by leading organisations and the wider professional community, demonstrating her influence and credibility in the leadership development sector.

Through these achievements, Lindsey continues to set new benchmarks for excellence, shaping the future of leadership and empowering others to do the same.

Lindsey Leigh Hobson

Thought Leader of the Year

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Mustafa Hafizoglu

Wasfi AlSafadi

Rebecca Rutschmann

Thought Leader of the Year

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Award Nominee

Name: Sagar Saxena
Organization/Company: Genensys, UCD Professional Academy
Job Title/Position: Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Advanced AI Lecturer for Business
Country: Ireland
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning Professional | Data Scientist | Python developer | Neuroscience Enthusiast

Passionate AI and Machine Learning professional with over a decade of experience driving innovation and delivering transformative solutions. Specializing in extracting insights from data post-exploration while developing relevant models as per the requirement to provide an end-to-end pipeline. Interested in tackling complex challenges and optimizing performance.

As an AI mentor, evangelist, and speaker, I thrive on sharing knowledge and inspiring others while translating intricate technical concepts into actionable insights for the tech and non-tech audiences, which propels business growth.

Also, being a proponent of continuous learning, I try to stay at the forefront of emerging technologies, leveraging expertise in deep learning, natural language processing, and AWS cloud to create impactful AI solutions.

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Personal Excellence
Sub-Category: Thought Leader of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Human-Centered AI, Data Quality, and Governance: Thought Leadership that Makes AI Work in the Real World
Project/Contribution Description:
Sagar Saxena is an AI and technology thought leader who focuses on making artificial intelligence practical, trustworthy, and human-aligned—especially through emphasis on data quality, inference, and governance.

He shares insights publicly through consistent professional content and community engagement, and he contributes to public discourse by participating in high-visibility forums such as TEDx. In his TEDxDublin engagement, he positions AI development alongside human learning as a comparative lens, highlighting why quality data and governance determine whether AI creates value or risk.

Across his professional channels, he sustains an ongoing stream of content and discussion designed to help practitioners, learners, and technology decision-makers build better AI outcomes (not just “more AI”).

Key Achievements and Impact:
1) TEDx-level contribution to public understanding of AI

Confirmed TEDxDublin speaker; promoted talk theme “AI vs human – a symbolic comparative analysis” with explicit learning outcomes including data quality and governance.

2) Consistent, visible professional knowledge-sharing
Advanced AI Lecturer for Business in UCD Professional Academy

3) Community-minded leadership beyond tech

Demonstrates broader civic engagement (e.g., volunteer contribution with Greenpeace India), reflecting values-driven leadership alongside technical influence.

Impact Statement

Sagar Saxena’s thought leadership stands out for its practical orientation: he focuses attention on the “make-or-break” factors that determine whether AI succeeds in real environments—data quality, interpretability of outcomes, and governance—and communicates these ideas in accessible ways across public platforms and speaking forums, including TEDx.

Sagar Saxena

Thought Leader of the Year

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Award Nominee

Name: Delia Vulpe
Organization/Company: SBS SOFTWARE
Job Title/Position: Analyst Relations Manager
Country: France, French Republic
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
I lead Analyst and Influencer Relations at SBS Software, managing global engagement with firms like Gartner, Forrester, IDC, Celent, Chartis, and IBS Intelligence. With 15+ years in banking and enterprise tech, I bridge finance and innovation to shape market perception, elevate SBS’s visibility, and drive thought leadership across the fintech ecosystem.

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Personal Excellence
Sub-Category: Rising Star of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Amplifying SBS’s Voice Across Analysts and Influencer
Project/Contribution Description:
In 2025, I built and scaled the Analyst Relations and Influencer Relations function at SBS (Sopra Banking Software) from scratch, despite having no prior Analyst Relations experience.

Within a single year, I rapidly developed the required expertise, established trusted relationships with leading global analyst firms, and embedded Analyst Relations as a strategic capability within the organization. Through disciplined execution, structured processes, and strong relationship‑building, I significantly strengthened SBS’s visibility, credibility, and positioning across the banking and fintech ecosystem.

This steep learning curve, combined with tangible, measurable outcomes, reflects both adaptability and leadership potential—hallmarks of a Rising Star.

Key Achievements and Impact:
- Built the Analyst Relations function end‑to‑end, progressing rapidly with no prior AR background.
- Delivered 17 analyst briefings and 14 major submissions across Gartner, Forrester, IDC, Celent, Chartis, Everest, IBSI, NelsonHall, and QKS.
- Secured 30 industry awards, including 11 Leader category wins.
- Established trusted analyst relationships, increasing SBS’s presence in research, press releases, and industry events.
- Implemented standardized AR processes (submissions, inquiries, awards), improving internal readiness and consistency.
- Educated internal stakeholders on analyst expectations, creating a more collaborative and proactive AR culture.
- Recognized externally within the AR community, including being featured in “Friday’s AR Pros to Follow” by Carter Lusher.

Delia Vulpe

Rising Star of the Year

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Award Nominee

Name: Jonathan Westover
Organization/Company: Human Capital Innovations
Job Title/Position: Founder and CEO
Country: United States
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Thinkers360 Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
Dr. Jonathan H. Westover is a best-selling and award-winning author and podcaster, a TopVoice in HR, Innovation, Leadership, Culture, Future of Work, Diversity and Inclusion, Change Management, and Education (Thinkers360), ranked Top 30 in Organizational Culture and Management (Global Gurus), in the Top 200 Biggest Voices in Leadership (LeadersHum), and ScholarGPS ranks him the #14 scholar in the world for job satisfaction research. Jonathan is an educational evangelist, a philanthropist, an angel investor, and an entrepreneur. He is founder and CEO of Human Capital Innovations, the host/producer of multiple shows on the HCI Podcast Network, Chief Academic and Learning Officer of the HCI Academy, and Managing Editor of the Human Capital Leadership Review. As an OD/HR/Leadership consultant, he has worked with organizations across the globe.

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Personal Excellence
Sub-Category: Thought Leader of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Thought Leadership in AI and Work Transformation
Project/Contribution Description:
The HCI Nexus Institute for Work and AI represents a comprehensive, multi-faceted thought leadership ecosystem designed to advance understanding of how artificial intelligence transforms work and organizations while maintaining human-centered approaches. This initiative encompasses five interconnected research and practice centers that collectively address the critical gap between AI adoption enthusiasm and successful implementation.

Purpose: To bridge the concerning divide where 95% of enterprise AI investments fail to deliver promised returns by providing evidence-based frameworks, practical tools, and transformative research that help organizations integrate AI without sacrificing the human capabilities that drive sustainable performance.

Scope: The initiative operates across multiple dimensions:

The Nexus Institute for Work and AI serves as the foundational research engine, producing groundbreaking publications including peer-reviewed academic journals, white papers, and the flagship Annual State of Work & AI Report. This institute establishes new frameworks for understanding human-technology collaboration while providing transparent, reproducible research through open data and methodologies.

The Catalyst Center for Work Innovation democratizes access to world-class transformation resources through implementation-ready playbooks, validated assessment tools, comprehensive framework libraries, template collections, and video learning modules. This center makes sophisticated organizational transformation accessible to leaders at every level, regardless of budget constraints.

The Adaptive Organization Lab creates research-practice partnerships with pioneering organizations to test and validate innovative approaches through applied research collaborations, pilot program development, change readiness assessments, innovation workshops, and professionally documented case studies that contribute to field-advancing knowledge.

The Future of Work Collective builds an exclusive membership community connecting forward-thinking leaders through curated research access, expert roundtables, peer learning networks, and implementation support that accelerates transformation initiatives.

The Work Renaissance Project serves as the flagship visionary research initiative, exploring fundamental questions about work's purpose and human flourishing in the age of intelligent machines through multi-year research agendas, public dialogues, scenario planning resources, innovation challenges, and thought leadership content.

Key Deliverables:

The Augmented Workplace: Building Human-Centered AI Integration represents the culminating intellectual contribution—a comprehensive 14+ hour audiobook that synthesizes cutting-edge research and real-world case studies into actionable strategies. This work addresses critical questions about professional identity preservation, skills-based talent management, employee wellbeing amid disruption, and the practical implementation of AI collaboration frameworks. The book provides evidence-based roadmaps for C-suite executives, HR professionals, educators, and team leaders navigating the tension between technological sophistication and human-centered organizational design.

Additional deliverables include monthly research briefings, quarterly deep-dive reports, implementation guides, diagnostic frameworks, stakeholder engagement strategies, success metrics, communication templates, learning curricula, and multimedia content spanning books, essays, podcasts, and public events.

Key Achievements and Impact:
Research Influence and Reach:
The Nexus Institute research influences how thousands of organizations approach workforce transformation globally and informs policy debates worldwide. The work establishes paradigm-shifting frameworks for human-technology collaboration that balance innovation with human flourishing, creating new standards for evidence-based AI integration strategies.

Democratization of Transformation Resources:
The Catalyst Center has made world-class transformation tools accessible to organizations of all sizes, enabling outcomes previously accessible only to those with significant consulting budgets. Member organizations report achieving sophisticated transformation results without the traditional resource barriers, fundamentally changing the accessibility landscape of organizational change management.

Accelerated Organizational Learning:
Lab partner organizations demonstrate measurably faster, more successful transformations through research-backed confidence in their approaches. Partners gain external validation of innovative methodologies while contributing to field-advancing knowledge, establishing themselves as thought leaders in their industries through professionally produced case studies documenting their transformation journeys.

Community Impact:
Future of Work Collective members consistently report better-informed decision-making, costly misstep avoidance, and the building of more resilient, adaptive organizations. The community creates multiplier effects as member organizations implement learned strategies across their ecosystems, extending impact beyond direct participants.

Paradigm Shift in AI Adoption:
The Augmented Workplace directly challenges the prevailing replacement narrative, shifting discourse from "technology versus humanity" to strategic augmentation. The book's comprehensive treatment of professional identity preservation, wellbeing maintenance, and skills-based approaches provides the missing framework that explains why 95% of AI investments fail—and more importantly, how the critical 5% succeed.

Field-Wide Knowledge Advancement:
Through transparent research methodologies, open data sharing, and reproducible findings, the initiative enables researchers and practitioners globally to validate, build upon, and extend the work. This commitment to research integrity and accessibility amplifies impact far beyond direct organizational partnerships.

Cultural and Social Impact:
The Work Renaissance Project expands collective imagination about organizational possibilities, catalyzes bold experimentation, and contributes to creating futures where both organizations and people thrive. Public dialogues and thought leadership content bring diverse perspectives together—from business, academia, labor, government, and civil society—fostering broader societal conversation about work's future and humanity's relationship with technology.

Measurable Transformation Outcomes:
Organizations implementing the frameworks and methodologies demonstrate quantifiable improvements in AI integration success rates, employee engagement during technological transitions, retention of critical human capabilities, adaptive capacity for navigating uncertainty, and long-term organizational resilience amid disruption.

Educational Impact:
The comprehensive resource libraries, video learning modules, and on-demand training build organizational capability at scale, creating lasting knowledge infrastructure that continues delivering value long after initial implementation. Educational resources serve distributed teams and small to mid-size organizations that previously lacked access to sophisticated transformation guidance.

This body of work represents not just research output but a comprehensive ecosystem that translates academic rigor into practical application, ensuring that evidence-based insights actually transform organizational practice at scale.

Jonathan Westover

Thought Leader of the Year

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Award Nominee

Name: Barbara Vercruysse
Organization/Company: BV Empowerment & Kindness Institute
Job Title/Position: CEO & Founder
Country: Belgium
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Thinkers360 Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
Barbara Vercruysse: Global Kindness Advocate, Thought Leader, Leadership Mentor, Business Consultant in Quality Management & Operational Excellence, Public Speaker and Bestselling Author.

Barbara Vercruysse is an inspiring figure in the realm of leadership, recognized for her dedication to fostering kindness in both individuals and organizations. Surviving stage 4 skin cancer and navigating a near-bankruptcy ignited her passion for making a lasting, positive impact. She champions a leadership style rooted in kindness, believing it is essential for creating balanced, humane workplaces and for addressing the global challenges we face today.

With over 30 years of professional experience, Barbara is a seasoned entrepreneur, consultant, and mentor, specializing in resilience and operational excellence. Currently, she works as the Quality Officer and Operational Excellence Lead at a BMW dealership group, where she enhances business processes, nurtures talent, and promotes an empowering work environment.

Through her "Empowerment & Kindness Institute," Barbara provides mentorship and consulting services to inspire leadership that balances efficiency with empathy. Her insights are informed by a deep understanding of human behavior and a genuine care for her clients' well-being.

As President of Professional Women International (PWI) in Brussels, part of the PWN Global network, Barbara plays a pivotal role in empowering women to achieve professional success and advocating for gender-balanced leadership. Guided by values of respect, courage, collaboration, excellence, and inclusiveness, she leads initiatives that equip women with the tools to thrive in business and society.

Barbara also serves as Head of Communication at the European-Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EUICCI), where she applies her expertise in communications to strengthen partnerships and foster international collaboration.

A prolific public speaker, Barbara has delivered talks worldwide, including for Girl Up, a United Nations Foundation initiative; Microsoft's Soft Skills Community; Harvard University; and the World Young Scientist Summit (WYSS). She passionately advocates for “Leading with Powerful Kindness,” a philosophy she views as vital to personal and professional success.

Barbara is the bestselling author of The Path of Powerful Kindness, a transformative book that has resonated with readers worldwide. In this inspiring work, she shares her vision of kindness as a powerful leadership tool and a transformative force for individuals and organizations. Drawing from her personal journey and professional expertise, the book offers actionable insights on fostering compassion, resilience, and purpose-driven leadership in today’s complex world. The Path of Powerful Kindness has been praised for its profound yet practical wisdom, empowering readers to lead with authenticity and grace.

Barbara’s passions include reading, painting, travel, the arts, and meaningful conversations. She sets a yearly goal of reading 50 books, reflecting her lifelong commitment to personal growth. She has shared her insights in major publications like the Huffington Post and Thrive Global and reaches millions through her weekly Inspirational Talks across social platforms.

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Personal Excellence
Sub-Category: Thought Leader of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Thought Leadership in Powerful Kindness: Advancing Compassionate Leadership and Women’s Impact.
Project/Contribution Description:
My contribution centers on developing and advancing Powerful Kindness as a modern leadership paradigm that integrates compassion, courage, and strategic influence to drive sustainable personal, organisational, and societal change.

Through my work as a Global Kindness Advocate, author, keynote speaker, and leadership mentor, I have translated kindness from a perceived “soft value” into a rigorous, actionable leadership practice. My thought leadership is expressed through multiple channels:
- the publication of my book The Path of Powerful Kindness,
- keynote speeches and panels at international leadership and academic forums,
- mentoring and leadership development programs for women and emerging leaders,
- and continuous content creation (articles, videos, podcasts) focused on ethical leadership, resilience, and women’s empowerment.

The purpose of this work is to support leaders—particularly women—in expanding their influence without compromising authenticity, humanity, or values, while contributing to a broader dialogue on peace, nonviolence, and inclusive leadership.

The scope of my contribution spans corporate environments, nonprofit leadership, academic dialogue, and public discourse, with a particular focus on empowering women leaders and fostering cultures rooted in empathy, responsibility, and impact.

Key deliverables include published intellectual property, global speaking engagements, structured mentoring trajectories, and an extensive body of educational and inspirational content reaching an international audience.

Key Achievements and Impact:
* Author of The Path of Powerful Kindness, the first book in a leadership trilogy, published and distributed internationally, positioning kindness as a strategic leadership competency rather than a personal trait.

* Recognised thought leader, named twice on the List of 250+ Rising Stars & Upcoming Influencers of LinkedIn to Watch (2023-2024-2025), reflecting consistent impact and resonance of my ideas within professional leadership communities.

* Global speaking and thought leadership presence, including keynote talks, panels, and academic forums addressing leadership, women’s empowerment, resilience, and ethical influence across Europe and internationally.

* Leadership mentoring and development: Designed and delivered structured mentoring programs supporting women leaders, entrepreneurs, and changemakers in expanding visibility, confidence, and strategic positioning. Many mentees have gone on to speak at conferences, step into leadership roles, or redefine their professional direction with clarity and purpose.

* Extensive content creation and reach:
- Over 100 original video reflections on leadership, kindness, and resilience published over several years.
- A weekly thought leadership article and newsletter focused on positivity, leadership, and inner strength, with consistent engagement from a professional international audience.
* Community and institutional impact:
- President of a leading international women’s network chapter, contributing to leadership development, mentorship, and high-level events connecting corporate, academic, and nonprofit leaders.
- Active contributor to conversations on women’s leadership, peacebuilding, and nonviolence, aligning professional leadership with broader societal impact.
- Personal resilience as lived leadership: Drawing from lived experience, including overcoming a life-threatening illness at a young age, my work embodies resilience and ethical leadership, offering a deeply authentic and credible foundation for my thought leadership.

Collectively, this work has helped shift narratives around leadership—from dominance and performance alone toward courage, compassion, and responsibility—while equipping leaders with practical frameworks to lead with both strength and humanity.

Barbara Vercruysse

Thought Leader of the Year

Finalist

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Award Nominee

Name: Tom Raftery
Organization/Company: Tom Raftery
Job Title/Position: Independent Energy & Climate Strategist
Country: Spain
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Thinkers360 Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
Tom Raftery is an Independent Energy & Climate Strategist focused on electrification, renewable energy economics, AI, and supply chain resilience. Through executive-level podcasts, analysis, and advisory work, he helps senior leaders navigate systemic energy transition risks and opportunities. A former SAP VP, he translates complex climate and technology shifts into practical strategy.

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Personal Excellence
Sub-Category: Thought Leader of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Strategic Thought Leadership in Energy Transition & Climate Resilience
Project/Contribution Description:
Over the past year, my work has focused on reframing the global energy transition as a strategic business imperative rather than a compliance or communications exercise.

Through two weekly executive-level podcasts (Climate Confident and Resilient Supply Chain), long-form analysis on tomraftery.com, and a high-engagement newsletter, I examine how electrification, renewable energy economics, AI-driven emissions tracking, storage, and supply chain transformation are reshaping competitiveness, risk, and resilience.

The purpose of this initiative is to help senior leaders move beyond surface-level ESG reporting toward system-level thinking, integrating energy security, affordability, climate science, and digital transformation into core business strategy.

Key deliverables include:

* 100+ expert interviews annually with CEOs, policymakers, scientists, and technology leaders
* Data-driven articles translating complex policy and market shifts into executive insight
* Multi-platform distribution reaching a global audience of decision-makers

The overarching contribution is intellectual clarity: connecting climate, technology, and economic competitiveness into a coherent strategic framework for enterprise leadership.

Key Achievements and Impact:
Key Achievements and Impact

Content Scale & Reach:
2 weekly executive-level podcasts (Climate Confident and Resilient Supply Chain)
350+ combined podcast episodes
550,000+ cumulative podcast downloads
100+ expert interviews annually with CEOs, policymakers, scientists, and technology leaders

Audience & Platform Growth:
20,000+ LinkedIn followers in energy, sustainability, technology, and supply chain leadership
80,000 YouTube subscribers
3,100+ newsletter subscribers with ~50% average open rate (well above industry benchmarks)
Global English-speaking audience spanning Europe, North America, and Asia

Influence & Strategic Impact:
Regular engagement from senior leaders shaping energy transition and industrial decarbonisation strategies
Invitations to speak at industry events and participate in executive-level dialogue
Recognised for challenging fossil fuel misinformation and reframing electrification and renewable energy as economic imperatives

Enterprise-Level Contribution
Shifting executive conversation from ESG compliance to system-level resilience and competitiveness
Bridging climate science, AI, energy economics, and supply chain transformation into actionable strategic insight

Supporting File (1): Click

Tom Raftery

Thought Leader of the Year

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Peter F Gallagher

Thought Leader of the Year

Finalist

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Award Nominee

Name: Pamela GUPTA
Organization/Company: Trusted AI™
Job Title/Position: Founder & CEO
Country: United States
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Thinkers360 Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
Pamela Gupta is the Founder & CEO of Trusted AI and creator of the AI TIPS™ (Trust Integrated Pillars for Sustainability) framework — a comprehensive enterprise AI governance architecture comprising eight pillars, 243 operational controls, Trust Index scoring (0–100), six lifecycle gates, and regulatory crosswalks to the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001, and CSA AICM. Originally created in 2019, four years before the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, AI TIPS V2 was published on arXiv in 2025 with a provisional patent filed.
Pamela is the 2025 ISACA Joseph J. Wasserman Award recipient, Thinkers360 Top 50 Women Thought Leaders on AI 2026, and has chaired the GenAI stage at World AI Summit NYC for six consecutive years. She hosts the Trustworthy AI podcast and publishes the Trustworthy AI Briefing newsletter reaching ~4,000 subscribers. She holds CISSP, CISM, and CSSLP certifications.

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Personal Excellence
Sub-Category: Thought Leader of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Thought Leadership in Trustworthy AI Governance
Project/Contribution Description:
I created the AI TIPS™ (Trust Integrated Pillars for Sustainability) framework in 2019 — four years before the NIST AI Risk Management Framework — to give enterprises a comprehensive, operational approach to AI governance. AI TIPS comprises eight governance pillars (Cybersecurity, Privacy, Ethics & Bias, Transparency, Explainability, Governance, Audit, Accountability), 243 operational controls mapped to the CSA AI Controls Matrix, a quantitative Trust Index (0–100), six lifecycle gates (G0–G5), role-based scorecards for five stakeholder types, and regulatory crosswalks to the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001, and CSA AICM. V2 was published on arXiv in 2025 with a provisional patent filed. Beyond the framework, I built a full thought leadership platform: the Trustworthy AI podcast featuring practitioners from MITRE, NatWest, CSA, and Wayfair; a weekly newsletter reaching ~4,000 subscribers; and consistent LinkedIn thought leadership translating complex regulatory and security challenges into actionable intelligence for CISOs, CROs, and AI leaders.

Key Achievements and Impact:
2025 ISACA Joseph J. Wasserman Award — the highest individual honor in IT governance and risk management. Thinkers360 Top 50 Women Thought Leaders on AI 2026. Ranked #3 globally in Risk Management and #7 in Cybersecurity on Thinkers360 for four consecutive years. Six consecutive years chairing and speaking on the GenAI stage at World AI Summit NYC. AI TIPS demonstrates 40–50% ISO 42001 timeline compression for enterprises pursuing certification. The Trustworthy AI Briefing newsletter consistently exceeds industry benchmarks on open rates. LinkedIn thought leadership shows growing organic engagement week over week. ISC2 invited panelist for their 2026 AI Spotlight Conference. ISACA NY Metropolitan Chapter AI training collaborator. The framework has been cited in governance conversations across healthcare, financial services, and technology sectors, and is being explored for integration with partners including GLACIS Technologies for a Define–Prove–Certify architecture.

Pamela GUPTA

Thought Leader of the Year

Finalist

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Award Nominee

Name: Sajeed Ahmed
Organization/Company: Polaris Wireless
Job Title/Position: Senior Account Manager
Country: Oman
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
I help tech-driven companies across MENA close bigger enterprise deals faster by combining deep technical credibility with high-impact B2B sales strategy.

With 20+ years in ICT, I’ve led strategic accounts and delivered business-critical outcomes across Telecom, Cloud, AI, and enterprise software for both government and enterprise sectors.

I started as an engineer building telecom infrastructure, then moved into enterprise sales and saw a recurring pattern: great solutions lose when the sales gap is unclear. Today I work at the intersection of technology and sales, translating complex solutions into business impact.

Alongside my role, I support new-gen founders and early-career enterprise/B2B sales professionals to diagnose sales gaps (positioning, access, qualification, messaging, and deal control) and build practical habits that improve win rates.

Key achievements
• $60M+ revenue generated in niche markets
• Boosted Ooredoo’s Customer Satisfaction Index from 70% to 90%
• Scaled two strategic accounts to multi-million annual revenues
• Mentored teams to improve KPIs by 5%

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Personal Excellence
Sub-Category: Rising Star of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Tech-to-Sales: Practical Guidance for Founders Selling to Enterprises
Project/Contribution Description:
My contribution is a “Tech-to-Sales” approach that bridges technical credibility with enterprise sales execution. I publish actionable content and coach founders and B2B professionals on identifying hidden deal blockers (positioning, buying process, decision authority, risk, and internal alignment) and improving win rates through repeatable habits. The goal is to make enterprise selling clearer, more ethical, and more effective for technical teams.

Key Achievements and Impact:
Delivered 9 sales clarity calls to founders and early-career B2B sellers, helping them identify the primary sales gap (positioning, access, qualification, pricing, or deal control) and leave with a clear next-step plan.

Sajeed Ahmed

Rising Star of the Year

Finalist

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Award Nominee

Name: Ed Vald
Organization/Company: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
Job Title/Position: Metadata and Knowledge Manager
Country: United Kingdom
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Thinkers360 Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
Metadata and Knowledge Manager driving AI, taxonomy, search and content strategy at CIPD. Experienced in LLM chatbot development, metadata frameworks, governance, UX, and search systems. Speaker at Taxonomy Boot Camp; contributing author on Taxonomies (Facet Publishing). Taxonomy Practitioner of the Year 2019. Passionate about structured data and AI‑ready ecosystems.

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Personal Excellence
Sub-Category: Rising Star of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Buddy AI, custom RAG LLM for HR professionals
Project/Contribution Description:
CIPD Buddy AI is a Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG) assistant designed to provide customers with fast, accurate, governance‑aligned answers sourced directly from CIPD’s authoritative content. The project modernises internal knowledge access by combining curated content collections, metadata driven retrieval, prompt guardrails, and relevance ranking to minimise hallucinations and ensure quality.
The scope included: defining the corpus and metadata standards, engineering the RAG pipeline, implementing safety and governance controls, creating evaluation and test suites, and establishing an iterative improvement workflow with product and content stakeholders. Deliverables included: a fully working AI assistant, a structured content corpus, search and retrieval config, guardrails library, analytics dashboards, and a governance framework for safe expansion.

Key Achievements and Impact:
90+% grounding rate achieved across tested queries, ensuring that responses consistently cite trusted CIPD content.
Reduced colleague search time by 60%, enabling faster answers to policy and profession questions.
RAG‑focused corpus curation, improving accuracy and coverage.
AI readiness uplift across CIPD’s digital estate by demonstrating how high‑quality metadata, taxonomy alignment, and governance accelerate responsible AI delivery.
Scalable RAG architecture implemented, forming the foundation for future LLM driven experiences across CIPD.

Ed Vald

Rising Star of the Year

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Future of life Institute (FLI)

Non-Profit of the Year

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IBM Center for the Business of Government

Major Category: Organizational Excellence
Sub-Category: Thought Leading Company of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Thought Leadership in AI Center of Excellence (AI CoE)
Project/Contribution Description:
AJRA AI Center of Excellence (AI CoE)
Overview
The AI Center of Excellence (AI CoE) is a strategic initiative created by A.J. Rhem & Associates (AJRA) to provide a centralized capability for organizations seeking to adopt, scale, and govern artificial intelligence responsibly. The CoE operates as both a consulting hub and a knowledge platform, enabling enterprises and public-sector organizations to move from fragmented AI experimentation toward enterprise-grade, governed, and value-driven AI adoption.
Purpose
The purpose of the AJRA AI CoE is to ensure that AI initiatives are ethically grounded, strategically aligned, and operationally sustainable. It helps organizations integrate AI into core business processes while embedding governance, risk management, and accountability across the AI lifecycle. The CoE focuses on measurable business outcomes, regulatory readiness, and long-term trust.
Scope
The scope of the AI CoE spans AI strategy and governance, solution innovation, workforce enablement, risk management, and industry-specific application. It supports machine learning, generative AI, natural language processing, and data-driven automation across sectors such as government, healthcare, legal, finance, transportation, and logistics.
Key Deliverables
Key deliverables include AI governance frameworks, ethical AI policies, AI maturity and readiness assessments, risk and compliance frameworks, scalable AI architecture blueprints, sovereign AI solutions, implementation roadmaps, executive and board training programs, and ongoing advisory and technical support.
Strategic Value
The AJRA AI CoE enables organizations to institutionalize responsible AI practices, reduce operational and reputational risk, and accelerate innovation. By combining deep technical expertise with governance and ethics leadership, the CoE positions organizations to deploy AI with confidence, transparency, and sustained business value.

Key Achievements and Impact:
Measured Impact of the AJRA AI Center of Excellence (AI CoE)
Executive Overview
The A.J. Rhem & Associates (AJRA) Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence (AI CoE) is an operational, metrics-driven capability designed to institutionalize responsible AI adoption across public- and private-sector organizations. Rather than functioning as a conceptual advisory group, the AI CoE delivers enforceable governance, risk controls, and workforce readiness mechanisms aligned with NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001, IEEE CertifAIEd™, and U.S. Executive Orders. Its impact is best demonstrated through the Douglas County, Georgia AI Policy and Governance initiative.
Governance & Accountability Outcomes
Douglas County established a formal AI Governance Board (AIGB) reporting to the County Administrator and appointed a dedicated AI Risk Manager (AIRM). These roles provide lifecycle accountability for AI approval, risk classification, monitoring, and audit readiness. The governance framework applies to 100% of AI systems developed, procured, or embedded in third-party software across all County departments, eliminating informal or undocumented AI use.
AI Inventory & Risk Visibility
The AI CoE implemented a centralized AI Inventory Register and Risk Register, achieving a target of 100% AI system cataloging across departments. All systems are classified using a tiered risk model (High, Moderate, Low), enabling proportional governance controls. This delivered full system-level visibility and eliminated unmanaged or shadow AI usage, an uncommon level of maturity in public-sector environments.
Compliance & Procurement Controls
Quantified compliance thresholds were established to ensure enforceable governance. Douglas County targets at least 90% compliance with AI procurement and risk controls, including mandatory vendor disclosures related to model transparency, training data provenance, bias mitigation, and auditability. AI procurement addenda now embed ethical, legal, and cybersecurity requirements directly into vendor contracts.
Workforce Readiness & Training Impact
The AI CoE mandates workforce enablement as a core governance control. Douglas County targets at least 95% completion of AI Ethics and Governance training across employees, with role-based training for executives, operational leaders, IT, and risk personnel. This reduces vendor dependency and ensures informed oversight and ethical decision-making at all organizational levels.

Supporting File (1): Click
Supporting File (3): Click

Anthony J. (Tony) Rhem

Thought Leading Company of the Year

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Content Excellence

Award Nominee

Name: Pascal Bornet
Organization/Company: Irreplaceable With AI
Job Title/Position: Keynote Speaker, Best-selling Author and Social Media Influencer
Country: United States
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Thinkers360 Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
Pascal Bornet is an award-winning expert, author, keynote speaker, and influencer in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Automation. He has received multiple awards and is regularly ranked as one of the top 10 global AI and Automation experts.

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Content Excellence
Sub-Category: Newsletter of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Intelligent Automation Newsletter: Empowering 1 Million+ Leaders in the Agentic AI Era
Project/Contribution Description:
The Intelligent Automation newsletter, authored by world-renowned AI pioneer Pascal Bornet, is the global benchmark for insights into the future of work and human-centric technology. With over 220 weekly editions published to date, the newsletter serves a massive community of over 1 million subscribers on LinkedIn and Substack.

The publication goes beyond news aggregation; it provides a strategic framework for "making our world more human with AI." Each edition bridges the gap between complex technical developments—such as Agentic AI, Hyperautomation, and Generative AI—and their practical application for CEOs, managers, and individuals. By focusing on the "Irreplaceable" human skills (creativity, critical thinking, and social intelligence) that complement automation, the newsletter acts as a weekly playbook for navigating the Fourth Industrial Revolution with purpose, ethics, and high ROI.

Key Achievements and Impact:
Impact Summary:

As of early 2026, the Intelligent Automation newsletter has achieved unprecedented scale and influence in the tech community:

Massive Audience Scale: The newsletter has surpassed 1 million active readers, making it one of the largest and most influential niche technology publications in the world. Its reach extends across 100+ countries, with a primary audience of C-suite executives and digital transformation leaders.

Top-Tier Ranking: Pascal Bornet is consistently ranked as a Top 10 Global AI and Automation Influencer by Thinkers360 and other major analytical bodies, a position bolstered by the newsletter’s consistent 70+ annual long-form articles.

Catalyst for Professional Growth: The newsletter serves as the real-time research engine for Bornet's best-selling books, Intelligent Automation and IRREPLACEABLE. It has been cited by leaders from the World Economic Forum, McKinsey, and Forbes as "essential reading" for anyone looking to transition from knowledge workers to "insight workers."

Pascal Bornet

Major Category: Content Excellence
Sub-Category: Podcast of the Year

Submission Content

Navinkumar S

Video Content of the Year

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Douglas Laney

Article of the Year

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Zhanna Zhuravleva, Chartered FCIPD

Article of the Year

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Vaibhav Satapara

Article of the Year

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Award Nominee

Name: Dr. Ajaya Sankar R
Organization/Company: Ajay
Job Title/Position: Deputy General Manager
Country: Oman
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Thinkers360 Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
> Highly motivated Revenue Growth Lead with a proven record of achieving exceptional results. Focused on developing and implementing strategic initiatives to drive revenue growth and increase market share. Strong analytical skills and expertise in identifying expansion opportunities. Committed to delivering measurable outcomes and exceeding targets.
> 20+ years of experience in sales and marketing roles in Business Development (B2B & B2C), consistently delivering results by implementing commercial strategies.

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Content Excellence
Sub-Category: Article of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Thought Leadership in ESG & Governance implementing the Brain Skills
Project/Contribution Description:
Currently, I am working on a series of thought leadership articles for LinkedIn and Medium that position regenerative governance as the antidote to fragmented capitalism.

Purpose: My primary mission is to create resilient organizations that deliver long-term value through dialogue, diversity, circular leadership, and crisis recovery.

Scope: In this initiative, I am calling on leaders to operationalize bulletproof governance that turns volatility into an enduring advantage.

Key deliverables: > Frameworks for action > A Synthesis of Evidence > Metrics that measure impact

Key Achievements and Impact:
Key Achievements: > Integrated frameworks combining ESG, diversity (43% profit increase), and circular leadership. > With more than 22 years in sales, I have developed an elevated personal brand: Thinkers360 recognition trajectory and positioning as a Gulf governance expert.

Impact: > Achieved 20-30% faster resilience per synthesized studies by providing boards/CEOs with post-crisis recovery models. > A catalyst for stakeholder shifts: From shareholder primacy to integrated value, fostering trust in volatile markets.

Dr. Ajaya Sankar R

Article of the Year

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Award Nominee

Name: John Baldoni
Organization/Company: Baldoni Consulting LLC
Job Title/Position: Executive Coach, Keynote Speaker, Best-selling author of 16 books
Country: United States
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Thinkers360 Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
John Baldoni is an internationally recognized keynote speaker, advisor and author of 15 books that have been translated into ten languages.

As a communications advisor, John specializes in helping executives communicate with clarity and conviction to internal and external audiences. These communications reinforce an executive’s ability to lead with purpose, courage and compassion.

John’s thought leadership is reflected in his writing as well as his choice of media: columns, videos and books. John also integrates piano improvisations into his keynotes which he illustrates with his still life photos. John was the long-time host of LinkedIn Live’s GRACE under pressure interview series, a platform that has enabled him to interview more than 250 global business, academic and thought leaders and doers.

John’s books include Grace Under Pressure: Leading Through Change and Crisis;
Grace Notes: Leading in an Upside-Down World, GRACE: A Leader’s Guide to a Better Us, MOXIE: The Secret to Bold and Gutsy Leadership, Lead with Purpose, Lead Your Boss and The Leader’s Pocket Guide.

John is also the author three collections of poetry, including Grace Notes: Leading in an Upside-Down World and Golf Lessons: Chips, Chunks and Cheers.

Thinkers 360 named John its No. 1 Thought Leader in Management for 2025, No. 2 Coaching in 2023 and a Top 10 Thought Leader for both Leadership and Management in 2022. In 2025, Global Gurus ranked John a Top 10 global leadership expert, a list he has been on since 2007. In 2018 Inc.com named John a Top 100 speaker and Trust Across America honored John with its Lifetime Achievement Award for Trust. In 2014 Inc.com listed John as a Top 50 leadership expert. John is also a member of 100 Coaches, a select group of business, science, medicine and coaching thought leaders founded by Marshall Goldsmith.

John’s newest venture is the Baldoni ChatBot, an AI-tool that uses John’s database of books, articles and videos to provide virtual answers to management and leadership questions. John recommends using Baldoni ChatBot for coaching clients who want to develop the skills of their direct reports.

John has authored more than 1000 leadership columns for a variety of online publications including Forbes, Harvard Business Review and Bloomberg Businessweek. John also produced and appeared in a long-running video coaching series for Smart Brief, a news channel with over 4 million readers.

John is the author and host of two online leadership courses: “Leading through Change & Crisis” and “Leading with Resilience + Grace” for Methods of Leaders/100 Coaches. John’s leadership resource website is www.johnbaldoni.com

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Content Excellence
Sub-Category: Article of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Baldoni ChatBot -- Leadership Answers to Management Questions
Project/Contribution Description:
Welcome to the launch of Baldoni ChatBot, a generative AI tool designed to provide answers to your questions about management and leadership. The Baldoni ChatBot will search a database of my published works – along with my many videos – to provide insights into your questions. Discover insights into topics such as Purpose, Grace, Communications, Conflict Management, Presence, Power and Authenticity.
We focus on the good to help you become better.

Key Achievements and Impact:
Welcome to the launch of Baldoni ChatBot, a generative AI tool designed to provide answers to your questions about management and leadership. The Baldoni ChatBot will search a database of my published works – along with my many videos – to provide insights into your questions. Discover insights into topics such as Purpose, Grace, Communications, Conflict Management, Presence, Power and Authenticity.
We focus on the good to help you become better.

John Baldoni

Article of the Year

Finalist

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Norman Katz

Article of the Year

Finalist

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Award Nominee

Name: Paulo Crepaldi
Organization/Company: ING Marketing & Training
Job Title/Position: Executive Director
Country: Brazil
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Thinkers360 Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
Paulo “PC” Crepaldi is a Behavior Designer, specializing in AI-driven trends, human behavior, and digital disruption literacy. Founder of ING Marketing & Training and co-founder of Rocketbase — a venture studio with 10 healthtech companies and over 200 million invested in healthcare — he helps leaders and organizations thrive in the phygital era. He is a certified Situational Leadership® trainer by The Center for Leadership Studies, with executive training in Digital Disruption (University of Cambridge), Communication Strategies in the Virtual Age (University of Toronto), and Omnichannel Marketing (Northwestern University), and is pursuing an MBA in Digital Business at USP. Recognized by UNESCO as a Trusted Voice Online, he combines marketing, communication, and AI to prepare executives and companies for the next phase of human transformation.

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Content Excellence
Sub-Category: Article of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: The Hybrid Doctor: Orchestrating Empathy, Silicon, and AI
Project/Contribution Description:
In my LinkedIn article, I reframe the tired “AI will replace doctors” debate into a more urgent—and practical—question: how do we orchestrate empathy (human judgment), silicon (sensors/robotics), and algorithms (AI) into safer, more human care?

The piece translates fast-moving healthcare AI trends into an executive-ready narrative grounded in 2025 evidence: adoption and usage data from clinicians worldwide, the rise of the “digital patient,” and a critical warning sign—deskilling—when clinicians become dependent on AI without deliberate training and governance.

To move from theory to execution, I close with two actionable playbooks:

Playbook A (Clinicians): how to use AI at the point of prescribing and decision-making without surrendering clinical judgment—plus governance essentials (training without AI, drift monitoring, cognitive autopsies, audit trails, and privacy-by-design).

Playbook B (Life Sciences/Pharma): how to serve the hybrid clinician with workflow-integrated clinical utility (not promotional PDFs), measurable value, and transparent, evidence-linked AI support.

Deliverables include a clear mental model, a curated evidence base, and step-by-step implementation guidance with suggested KPIs.

Key Achievements and Impact:
Introduced a differentiating framework (“orchestration” / “hybrid clinician”) that replaces fear-based narratives with an operational model leaders can implement immediately.

Synthesized multiple 2025 datasets and reports into one coherent, decision-useful viewpoint—including global clinician AI adoption and where AI is already influencing clinical reasoning and prescribing behavior.

Elevated an under-discussed risk—clinical deskilling—and made it actionable, using a real-world performance drop after AI removal as a governance wake-up call, then translating it into concrete safeguards (deliberate practice without AI, drift monitoring, structured learning from errors, and auditability).

Delivered two practical playbooks (14 total actions) with measurable KPIs (e.g., medication errors avoided, conscious override rates, alert usefulness vs. fatigue, integration time, active installs, time saved per consult, CSAT/NPS).

Connected global innovation to local system readiness, highlighting how medical education policy is already embedding AI, telemedicine, and data protection as core competencies.

Validation signal: the article was amplified by the Thinkers360 community, expanding its reach beyond my immediate network.

Paulo Crepaldi

Article of the Year

Finalist

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Dan Toma

Book of the Year

Finalist

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Award Nominee

Name: Carlo Tortora Brayda
Organization/Company: Cyber Eagle Project Inc.
Job Title/Position: CEO
Country: United States
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Thinkers360 Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
CEO Cyber Eagle. Chairman of National Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Security ISAO, Chairman The Tortora Brayda Institute for AI & Cybersecurity, a global Think Tank to improve the effectiveness of partnerships in the private and public sectors. The ISAO aligns with Government Cyber policy and supports Cyber diplomacy and private sector growth within the NATO community.
Judge on United Nations' AI for Good Innovation Factory for North America and also Global Contest, 2020-2023. Selected as Judge for the new AI for Good Contest for Climate Change in partnership with ITU, UNESCO, FAO, IAEA, and World Bank at COP 28.
Former CEO of Gorilla Corporation, the leading global partner marketing and sales agency for the technology sector. Gorilla drives hundreds of millions of dollars annually for its vendor clients.
Special Constituent Member of the World Economic Forum and an expert contributor to the G20 for Global Risk Assessment.
Fellow of the British Computer Society, Freeman of the City of London, and a Hidalgo d'España.
Global Leader for the Forbes Technology Council Cybersecurity Group and contributes thought leadership articles on channel strategy, cybersecurity, and AI. Won two Forbes recognition awards in 2023, and one in 2024. https://councils.forbes.com/u/15e589e1-5251-4b45-a03c-1c662051d440
https://twitter.com/tortorabrayda
https://www.youtube.com/@tortorabraydainstitute/videos

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Content Excellence
Sub-Category: Article of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Polymorphic Defense: Cybersecurity For An AI-Driven Threat Landscape
Project/Contribution Description:
This article introduces “Polymorphic Defense” as a necessary structural evolution in cybersecurity for the AI-driven era. As adversaries increasingly leverage artificial intelligence to automate reconnaissance, mutate attack patterns, and generate adaptive payloads at machine speed, static security architectures become strategically obsolete.

Polymorphic Defense reframes cybersecurity as an adaptive system rather than a fixed control stack. The article argues that defense must itself become dynamic, capable of continuous reconfiguration in response to behavioral signals, threat intelligence, and contextual risk shifts. Instead of relying on signature detection or perimeter fortification, the model emphasizes AI-orchestrated security layers that evolve in parallel with emerging threats.

The framework advances three core principles: adaptive infrastructure that can alter defensive posture in real time; coordinated agentic monitoring systems capable of predictive response; and governance-aligned resilience that connects technical controls to executive-level continuity strategy. By bridging architecture with institutional oversight, the article elevates cybersecurity from operational tooling to strategic infrastructure.

Polymorphic Defense is positioned not as a feature or product enhancement, but as a doctrine-level shift in how organizations and national systems must defend in an environment where threats learn and adapt autonomously. It contributes a forward-looking model for resilience that anticipates adversarial evolution rather than merely reacting to it.

Key Achievements and Impact:
• Published by Forbes Technology Council, contributing to global executive discourse on AI-era cybersecurity strategy.

• Introduced a differentiated conceptual framework—Polymorphic Defense—that reframes static security paradigms into adaptive, AI-driven resilience models.

• Influenced subsequent architectural discussions around agentic AI defense and predictive threat anticipation within executive and policy circles.

• Elevated the conversation from tactical cybersecurity tooling to systemic digital deterrence and institutional continuity.

• Builds on a body of work previously recognized within the Thinkers360 ecosystem, demonstrating sustained thought leadership in emerging cyber paradigms.

Carlo Tortora Brayda

Article of the Year

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Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Content Excellence
Sub-Category: Article of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Has AI Killed Design Thinking?
Project/Contribution Description:
Something fundamental has changed in how products are created.

Artificial intelligence can now generate working software in minutes. Designers can move from an idea to a functional prototype without waiting for engineering. Engineers can generate interface concepts, user flows, and even early product ideas with a few well-crafted prompts.

The traditional product development cycle — design, then build, then test — is collapsing into something faster, messier, and far more fluid.

In the past, the biggest constraint in innovation was the cost and time required to build something. Today, AI dramatically reduces that barrier. Entire features, experiments, and even applications can be created almost instantly.

Which raises an uncomfortable question that many product leaders, designers, and engineers are quietly asking:

If we can ship almost immediately, do we still need design thinking?

Key Achievements and Impact:
This article started a conversation around how the fields of engineering and design change and interact as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly capable and how this impacts innovation.

Braden Kelley

Article of the Year

Finalist

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Award Nominee

Name: Lauren Clemett
Organization/Company: The Audacious Agency
Job Title/Position: CEO
Country: Australia
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Thinkers360 Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
Lauren heads up The Audacious Agency, a premier profile building and award writing specialist company. A global thought leader in personal branding, with over three decades of experience in brand management and a reputation as a sought-after keynote speaker, Lauren empowers entrepreneurs and business owners to build powerful personal brands. As the brand navigator Lauren and her team help leaders to boldly stand out from the competition and be sought-after credible brand champions.

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Content Excellence
Sub-Category: Book of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: The Itty Bitty Shitty Committee: Fire Your Inner Critics To Achieve Your Dreams
Project/Contribution Description:
This book is a high-impact, interactive audit of the ten internal critics currently living rent-free in your head. It’s a hilarious yet grounded guide to externalising the self-doubt that keeps high achievers playing small.

By personifying the toxic inner voices - like Tallulah Poppy (Imposter Syndrome), Tiffany (The Fear Of Failure) and Prof. Crastinator (Analysis Paralysis) the book transforms the abstract struggle of managing mindset into a tangible boardroom battle. It’s about taking the destructive alliance of voices that whisper "you aren't enough" and giving them their marching orders, effectively firing your inner critics so you can finally hire your Big, BOLD, Brilliant Board.

This is the stop-stalling handbook for the innovators, the changemakers, and the visionaries who are ready to make a bigger impact but find themselves ambushed by their own thinking.

It’s specifically crafted for business owners, speakers, and professional service providers who have reached a level of success only to find that their own "lizard brain" is trying to keep them safe by keeping them stuck.

Whether you are a start-up entrepreneur, a stressed-out CEO or a frantic franchisee, this book is for anyone who knows they are capable of more but needs the tools to overrule the internal committee of critics holding them back.

The Itty Bity Shitty Committee provides a cognitive rewiring of resilience, introducing the BOLD Mind Model (Breathe, Observe, Look, Do), and giving readers a four-step neurological circuit breaker to bypass the amygdala’s fear response in real-time.

Readers move from analysis paralysis and fear of change to audacious momentum, learning how to leverage their perceived limitations as their greatest leadership assets.

This book takes the world’s best-kept secrets and turns them into visible, credible, and award-winning leaders who lead with confidence rather than caution.

Key Achievements and Impact:
Published in December 2025, the market has already spoken - the book immediately secured #1 Best Seller status on Amazon and has been nominated for multiple prestigious industry awards.

Its core message has already moved from the page to the global stage, debuting as a featured keynote in New York City and soon to headline a major women’s business conference in Sydney.

At a time when change is happening far too rapidly for most leaders to keep up, and SME resilience is at an all-time low, this book provides the measurable metrics and psychological framework needed to turn internal critics into an unstoppable competitive advantage.

Supporting File (1): Click
Supporting File (2): Click

Lauren Clemett

Book of the Year

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Award Nominee

Name: Johann Botha
Organization/Company: getITright
Job Title/Position: CEO
Country: South Africa
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Thinkers360 Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
Digital Transformation, Strategy, Change & Innovation Leader | Lean, Business Agility & Scrum Coach | Cybersecurity & Governance Assessor | Author & Keynote Speaker. (HDI Top 25 Thought Leaders of 2021, itSMF Lifetime Achievement Award 2014)

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Content Excellence
Sub-Category: Book of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Innovation-driven digital Business Transformation
Project/Contribution Description:
Johann is the Chief Architect of Agile ADapT ® 0 - an innovation-driven Digital Business Transformation model and framework.

He began this work in 2017 and published the third book (the previous two were Thinkers 360's 50 must-read books) on the subject, co-authored with Christoph Danker, at the end of 2025. The book, titled Innovation-Driven Digital Business Transformation: How Industrial–Age Organizations Can Compete in a Digital Future, is available on Amazon (free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers).

Industry praise included some of the following:

This book is not only about a model – it’s a call to action! It invites leaders, teams, and organizations to treat transformation as a continuous discipline, to navigate uncertainty, scale innovation, and rethink their organizations' roles in a rapidly evolving world. It will inspire you to lead with intention, experiment with confidence, innovate with empathy, and transform with courage. Dr. Kulpreet Nanda (Global Emergent Practices Lead – Capgemini)

It cuts through the noise and provides a straightforward common-sense approach to strategy, technology, innovation, and transformation. Once you have read the book, it’s so obvious, it’s so simple, and Johann’s thought Leadership is profoundly relevant. David Cannon (Executive VP nfinity3, and long-time best-practice (ITIL®) lead author)

During this work, it became clear to Johann that many senior leaders—often highly capable in their own domains—continue to interpret “digital transformation” primarily as a technical or IT-led endeavour.
This misconception has led organisations to invest substantial resources in technology-driven initiatives that improve operational efficiency or speed, yet deliver little to no lasting impact on strategic relevance or competitive advantage.

In practice, technology is merely an enabler.

The true challenge lies in transformation itself: how organisations must fundamentally adapt, structurally and culturally, to remain relevant in an environment shaped by continual technological, societal, and market change - and the tech cannot do that - only people can.

What Johann and his team observed repeatedly is that transformation is ultimately about an organisation’s capacity to embrace change, not about deploying technology per se.

George Westerman of MIT Sloan captures this distinction succinctly: “Digital transformation is about becoming a beautiful butterfly, not making faster caterpillars.”

Too often, organisations use technology to accelerate existing ways of working rather than undertake the deeper metamorphosis required. Digital transformation, like evolution, has no fixed endpoint—it is a continuous journey of adaptation.

Agile ADapT is an iterative, innovation-driven transformation approach grounded in nine transformational principles (and associated recommended practices) across three phases: Extract, Explore, and Expand.
• The first phase focuses on strategy—not as a static planning exercise, but as a dynamic, iterative process grounded in customer needs and deep market understanding.
• The second phase centres on rapid innovation, experimentation, and validation, embedding innovation as an organisation-wide capability rather than a specialised function.
• The final phase addresses execution and realisation, recognising that organisations themselves must continually change to support new products, services, and business models. This phase explicitly acknowledges organisational resistance to change and the critical leadership role required to ensure that validated innovation is protected, sustained, and scaled.

ADapT helps Leaders and their Organizations become truly relevant in the digital age and has shown that industrial age organizations can compete with Unicorns!

Key Achievements and Impact:
Organizations that have adopted the ADapT principles consistently demonstrate enhanced agility and a stronger capability to deliver digitally enabled or digital‑native products and services. These improvements translate into measurable gains in customer engagement, acquisition, satisfaction, and overall operational efficiency and profitability.

One notable example is a financial institution that achieved an average 400% increase in IT‑enabled innovation projects, with one initiative achieving more than 2500% year‑over‑year ROI growth.

Supporting File (1): Click

Johann Botha

Book of the Year

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Award Nominee

Name: Debbie Jenkins
Organization/Company: The Asset Path
Job Title/Position: Founder
Country: Spain
Website/LinkedIn Profile URL: Click
Thinkers360 Profile URL: Click
Short Bio/Description:
I help senior experts turn their thinking into books and frameworks that build credibility, attract clients, and open better rooms.

Discovery is shifting from search to inference. If your thinking doesn’t exist as structured, authoritative text, it won’t be recognised by people or machines.

My work is about building the version of your expertise that others trust, reference and act on.

I work with experienced consultants, founders, coaches, and independent experts who know a great deal but struggle to turn that knowledge into clear authority, defensible IP and commercial demand.

I’m an award-winning publishing strategist with more than two decades at the intersection of expertise, positioning, and commercial publishing.

Awards Category Selection

Major Category: Content Excellence
Sub-Category: Book of the Year

Submission Content

Submission Title: Stop The Credibility Crisis
Project/Contribution Description:
Stop The Credibility Crisis
In a world where trust is scarce and competition is rampant, "Stop The Credibility Crisis" emerges as the essential guide for expert business owners navigating the murky waters of the expertise economy. Debbie Jenkins offers not just hope but tangible strategies to transform your business from overlooked to overbooked.

Stop The Credibility Crisis offers a lifeline to expert business owners submerged in a sea of AI, industry newcomers and diminishing trust. If you find yourself struggling to stand out, battling fakes, or losing your market grip, this book is your flag in the fog.

With proven strategies and a touch of humour Debbie guides you through the fog of modern business challenges. Learn why you must stop the credibility crisis to elevate your expertise, become the sought-after leader in your field, and finally get the business you deserve. Coaches, consultants, founders and leaders act now – your business can't afford to wait.

Key Achievements and Impact:
Won a Stevie Award in 2025, in New York. Global book awards winner. Amazon bestseller.

Supporting File (1): Click

Debbie Jenkins

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