Appian Celebrates 2026 Innovation Award Winners
Appian celebrates customers delivering real-world value with AI in process.
ORLANDO, Fla., May 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Appian [Nasdaq: APPN] today announced the winners of the North American 2026 Innovation Awards at the annual Appian World conference. This year's honorees demonstrate how "Serious AI" delivers measurable business outcomes when embedded directly into core enterprise processes. By combining AI agents, process orchestration, and a unified data fabric, these organizations have moved beyond AI experimentation to achieve operational excellence at scale.
"Congratulations to this year's North American Innovation Award winners for showcasing the transformative power of AI and intelligent process orchestration," said Neil Ward-Dutton, VP Global Agentic Automation and AI Technologies at IDC. "The industry has moved past the experimental phase; today, AI must be an integral part of the process to be effective. These winners highlight the value that can be achieved when modern process platforms are used to streamline operations, improve consistency, and deliver outcomes at scale."
The 2026 Innovation Awards were judged by Neil Ward-Dutton of IDC and Pavel Zamudio-Ramirez of Appian. The 2026 North American Innovation Award winners include:
Commercial North America Winners:
AARP
AARP is using AI to modernize how it manages a number of key internal business processes across the organization. One early initiative is focused on invoice management -- automating the review and approval of vendor payments that previously required significant manual effort. The result is faster processing and fewer bottlenecks, which allows staff time to be redirected toward work that directly supports AARP members. By building more efficient operations, AARP can focus on what matters: helping Americans 50 and older live with better health, financial security, and personal fulfillment.
Carlyle
Carlyle has modernized its payments process to enhance efficiency, transparency, and control across front-, middle-, and back-office teams. The Global Payment Management (GPM) program introduces a standardized, AI-enabled platform that streamlines workflows, captures payment data earlier, and enables parallel approvals. Integrated with core financial systems, the platform supports intelligent invoice ingestion and validation while providing real-time visibility into payment status. This unified approach strengthens financial controls and delivers a consistent experience across payment types and geographies. Since go-live, GPM has improved invoice-to-payment cycle times and established a scalable foundation for continued growth and automation.
Global Excel Management (GEM)
GEM required a more efficient way to manage complex insurance claims that were bogged down by manual handling and inconsistent workflows. Partnering with Xebia, they implemented the Appian Connected Claims platform to centralize the claims ecosystem and apply AI for automated summaries. The initiative delivered a boost greater than 50% in claims processing productivity and halved the amount of manual intervention required, significantly improving service delivery for their global clients.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading biotechnology company, has developed a pioneering approach to study design and protocol evaluation by embedding generative AI within governed, end-to-end digital processes. Built on the Appian Platform, the solution unites structured workflows, orchestration, conversational AI, semantic search, and synthesized recommendations to improve consistency, quality, and cross-functional collaboration. These innovations increase rigor and transparency, reduce cycle times, and minimize operational risk.
Public Sector North American Winner
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aircraft Certification Service (AIR)
The Federal Aviation Administration's Aircraft Certification Service sought to eliminate the swivel chairing effect that slowed regulatory interactions and encumbered Aviation Safety Inspectors with administrative tasks. By launching a unified regulatory and compliance system powered by Appian's Data Fabric and External Portal, AIR created a transparent, automated environment for industry and internal stakeholders. This shift to digital orchestration will return thousands of high-value hours to Aviation Safety Inspectors, allowing them to focus on critical oversight rather than paperwork.
SMB North American Winner:
Acclaim Autism
As a provider of specialized behavioral healthcare, Acclaim Autism faced a fragmented onboarding process that left patients waiting up to six months for essential services. The organization implemented an AI-powered onboarding solution using Appian AI and RPA to automate data entry and coordination. The results were life-changing for patients and their families: the organization now onboards 15x more patients per month and has slashed total wait times from six months to less than one week.
"Our North American 2026 winners are setting a new standard for what's possible when you move from AI as a bystander to Serious AI in process," said Pavel Zamudio-Ramirez, Chief Customer Officer at Appian. "These Innovation Award winners are not just transforming operations; they are creating meaningful, measurable impact by giving AI the purpose and governance that only a process-led approach can provide. We are proud to partner with organizations that share our vision of using AI in process to deliver real-world value at enterprise scale."
About Appian
Appian provides process automation technology. We automate complex processes in large enterprises and governments. Our platform is known for its unique reliability and scale. We've been automating processes for 25 years and understand enterprise operations like no one else. For more information, visit appian.com. [Nasdaq: APPN]
Follow Appian: LinkedIn, Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, and X.
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1488235/Appian_Caption_2700px_Logo.jpg
SOURCE Appian
Share this article