Unanet and CIO Steve Karp Receive Global Recognition for Results-Driven Artificial Intelligence

Awards recognize companies that have evolved from reactive intelligence to autonomous execution

DULLES, Va., March 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Unanet, the leader in AI-first ERP and growth software for project-based businesses, earned a 2026 Artificial Intelligence Excellence Award for AI Orchestration from The Business Intelligence Group today, a global recognition program honoring the companies, products, teams, and individuals defining what responsible, results-driven artificial intelligence looks like in practice. Chief Innovation Officer Steve Karp was named an Outstanding AI Professional finalist for his forward-thinking AI development and integration strategy that helped evolve Unanet into an AI-first solution provider.

Unanet's AI Orchestration award reflects its work in "a market that has moved past model selection and is now investing in the plumbing: how AI systems connect to real data, route tasks across enterprise workflows, and operate reliably at scale" according to The Business Intelligence Group. Unanet's AI-first strategy has driven a decisive focus on integrating AI capabilities thoughtfully into its solutions so customers can realize performance gains across their entire project lifecycle. This strategy is exemplified by Champ AI™, Unanet's natural language AI platform, that unifies and accesses data, answers and advises, automates multi-step tasks, is context- and role-aware, and delivers agentic capabilities to take over work tasks. Champ AI helps customers work faster and smarter by assisting with tasks and deploying agents that execute and automate workflows.

Unanet Champ AI assists project-based businesses in a variety of ways including:

• Understanding opportunity fit, comparing it to past performance and providing clear explanations
• Generating high-quality first draft proposals up to 70% faster with ProposalAI
• Running smarter capture with unified intel, pipeline, and proposals
• Automating receipts and invoice processing with intelligent optical character recognition and accounting field mapping
• Helping small and mid-sized GovCons manage the entire capture lifecycle with their existing teams with Unanet GrowthStudio for GovCon.

Champ for AE ERP, powered by Wyatt is Unanet's first AI agent that helps architect and engineering firms turn complex ERP queries into instant accurate answers, and automated workflows. Champ agents think, analyze, and act within the ERP using governance and human oversight at every step by:

• Asking questions about projects, expenses, or financials in plain language
• Rounding up ERP data, analyzing it, and returning clear outputs
• Kicking off next steps and approving actions from emails
• Scheduling tasks and digests for accounts receivable risk, project health, and compliance

"The 2026 AI Excellence Award winners are not talking about AI. They are building with it," said Russ Fordyce, Chief Recognition Officer at the Business Intelligence Group. "What stood out this year was the sheer accountability of the work. These are organizations and individuals who can point to measurable outcomes - lives protected, fraud prevented, patients helped, workflows transformed. Agentic AI emerged as the dominant theme, which tells you something important: the industry has moved past prompts and pilots. The winners are now orchestrating AI systems that act, adapt, and deliver at scale."

"This recognition underscores something we strongly believe at Unanet: the future belongs to AI-first applications that don't just build AI workflows, but are architected with secure access to the ERP and CRM system of record. AI-first solutions understand data, connect it, and use it to drive meaningful and compliant action," said Craig Halliday, CEO of Unanet. "We're proud to see our team's work recognized with this honor and remain committed to playing an active role in shaping that AI-driven future for project-based organizations."

The 2026 Artificial Intelligence Excellence Awards recognize organizations, products, teams, and individuals leveraging AI technology to solve real-world problems across agentic AI, cybersecurity, healthcare, and more - across 36 industries and 15+ countries. Since 2013, the program evaluates advances across 46 major AI application types, celebrating innovations that improve the human experience and advance society as a whole. Judged by a panel of experienced business executives who provide transparent feedback and detailed scoring, the awards honor those dedicated to using AI as a force for good.

To learn more about Unanet's AI-first ERP, CRM, and growth solutions visit www.unanet.com.

About Unanet
Unanet is the leader in AI-first ERP and growth software for project-based businesses. Trusted by more than 4,200 government contractor, architecture, engineering, and construction firms, Unanet unifies financials, projects, and pursuits with built-in automation and compliance—all supported by a dedicated customer success team. This empowers leaders to make confident, real-time decisions that drive growth from pipeline to profit. Learn more at unanet.com.

About Business Intelligence Group
Business Intelligence Group (BIG) is an independent awards organization that has been recognizing outstanding achievement in business since 2012. Now in its 14th awards season, BIG operates 12 annual programs spanning innovation, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, customer service, cloud computing, sustainability, sales and marketing, workplace culture, and women's leadership. Business award programs include the BIG Innovation Awards, AI Excellence Awards, Fortress Cyber Security Awards, Excellence in Customer Service Awards, Stratus Awards for Cloud Computing, Sustainability Awards, SAMMY Awards for Sales and Marketing, Best Places to Work Awards, Herizon Awards, We Love Tech Awards, NAA Top Employers Award, and BIG Awards for Business.

Unlike popularity contests, BIG programs use professional judging panels and objective scoring benchmarks to identify organizations, products, and individuals making real, measurable impact. Winners receive a complete promotional toolkit — including blockchain-verified credentials, press release support, social media assets, and featured placement across BIG's global community of more than one million business professionals. For more information about BIG award programs, nomination deadlines, and judging criteria, visit bintelligence.com.

SOURCE Unanet