Revealing the 2026 Acquia Engage Award Finalists
We are excited to announce the finalists for the 2026 Acquia Engage Awards.
Every year, our customers and partners build digital experiences that move the needle for their audiences, their organizations, and their industries. These awards celebrate the visionaries and problem-solvers behind that work. This year's five categories span the full arc of modern digital experience, from AI-driven workflows and content operations to security, accessibility, and scale. The submissions our judges reviewed raised the bar across every one of them.
"What struck me about this year's submissions was the ambition. These teams aren't just keeping pace with change — they're rethinking how their organizations work. From using AI to unblock a migration that had been stalled for months, to transforming how entire institutions manage, protect, and deliver their digital presence, the Acquia Engage Awards recognize teams that are truly changing the way digital works," said Jennifer Griffin Smith, Chief Market Officer, Acquia.
Congratulations to all our finalists. Winners will be announced live at Acquia Engage Denver, April 27–28, 2026. There's still time to join us — register below to see who takes the stage and celebrate the teams setting the standard for digital experience.
The Five Award Categories
- Best Digital Experience at Scale
- Excellence in Brand Protection & Digital Accessibility
- Best Transformation for Security & AI Readiness
- Best Use of Asset Management & Content Workflow
- Best Use of AI for Learning & Acceleration
Best Digital Experience at Scale
From race-day athlete experiences to city government platforms serving millions of residents, this category showcases what it takes to build digital experiences that hold together and perform at the moments that matter most.
- Axelerant | IRONMAN
- Material | City of Austin
- Paragon DCX | Rathbones
- Tactis | Investment Company Institute
Excellence in Brand Protection & Digital Accessibility
This year's finalists include a sovereign nation reclaiming its ancestral identity online and organizations pushing accessibility well beyond legal requirements — proof that brand protection and inclusive design are two sides of the same commitment.
- Axelerant | American Medical Association
- Elevated Third | Comcast Technology Solutions
- JAKALA | Saint-Gobain
- Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation
Best Transformation for Security & AI Readiness
Universities, global enterprises, and national health research institutions all arrived at the same conclusion: the path to AI readiness runs through governance. These finalists did the hard infrastructure work first.
- Alcon
- Arizona State University
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- Tactis | Prince George's County
Best Use of Asset Management & Content Workflow
Hundreds of authors. Two terabytes of scattered assets. Forty-five years of decentralized storage. These finalists turned content chaos into governed, scalable operations — and made the unglamorous work look like strategy.
- Axelerant | Union Coop
- Bauer Media Outdoor
- Hounder | Tulare County
- Ronald McDonald House New York
Best Use of AI for Learning & Acceleration
From unblocking a stalled migration to documenting 25–30% efficiency gains across an entire software development lifecycle, these finalists treated AI as a tool for acceleration — not a talking point.
- ESinergia | Universidad de La Sabana
- FreelyGive | Edrington
- Velir x Brooklyn Data / ATLAS
- VML | United Rentals