CMSWire IMPACT Awards
The CMSWire IMPACT Awards celebrate exceptional work in the fields of customer experience, digital experience and customer service.
Apply Now (early bird pricing expires Sep 30th)
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Award Categories
Not all categories are offered in all years.
For Practitioners
Customer Experience Leader of the Year
Recognizes executives who excel at elevating customer experience by leveraging digital technologies and partnering across the organization.
Customer Journey Innovation
Recognizes the digital customer experience team that has implemented the most novel and/or impactful customer journey optimization over the past year.
For Vendors
Best Customer Experience Transformation
Recognizes the vendor that has helped one of their customers achieve the most complex transformation of the customer experience.
Best Use of AI in Customer Experience
Recognizes the vendor that has helped one of their customers use artificial intelligence to improve the customer experience.
Excellence in CCaaS & Customer Service
Recognizes the vendor that has brought meaningful innovation to contact center platforms and partnered closely with customers to elevate customer support operations.
Excellence in Chatbots & Conversational AI
Recognizes the vendor that has delivered innovative self-service and chatbot solutions and worked with customers to improve support experiences.
Excellence in DX Analytics, Observability & Intelligence
Recognizes the vendor that has empowered customers with innovative journey analytics and observability tools, with a strong commitment to customer needs and feedback.
Excellence in Digital Experience & Journey Optimization
Recognizes the vendor that has helped customers optimize digital journeys through platform innovation and collaborative partnerships for CX improvement.
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2025 Winners
Practitioner Awards
Customer Experience Leader of the Year
Mandi Fang, SVP, Client Operations
Customer Journey
Innovation (Gold)
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, World Trade Center – Customer Experience Team
Customer Journey
Innovation (Silver)
CV3 Financial Services, Marketing and Customer Experience Team
Vendor Awards
Best Customer Experience Transformation (Gold)
CSG
Best Customer Experience Transformation (Silver)
Sitecore
Best Use of AI in Customer Experience (Gold)
VOZIQ AI
Best Use of AI in Customer Experience (Silver)
NiCE
Best Contact Center
Innovation (Gold)
NiCE
Best Contact Center
Innovation (Silver)
Twilio
2021 Winners | 2022 Winners | 2024 Winners
About the CMSWire Impact Awards
The IMPACT Awards celebrate exceptional work in the field of digital customer experience. Honors are given to practitioners and vendors responsible for creating a notable impact either within their organization (practitioners) or for their customers (vendors).
If you want to showcase your company’s internal practices you should apply for the practitioner awards.
If you want to showcase the work you’ve done for a customer/client you should apply for the vendor awards.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the IMPACT Awards?
- The IMPACT Awards is a prestigious recognition program, celebrating exceptional work in the field of customer experience. Honors are bestowed on both exceptional practitioners (individuals, departments and teams) and vendors (companies and their customers).
How do I apply for the IMPACT Awards?
- Visit awards.simplermedia.com/cx to apply.
What’s new this year?
- We have restructured the fees for our practitioner awards. There is now no cost to apply for Customer Experience Leader of the Year, while the fee to apply for the Customer Journey Innovation award is now $149.
- We have added a new category and 4 new awards for vendors. The following awards recognize innovation, implementation and impact in vendor platforms/solutions:
- Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) & Customer Support Platform Impact
- Chatbots & Self Service Agent Impact, DX Analytics
- Observability & Intelligence Impact
- Digital Experience & Journey Optimization Solution Impact
- The following awards are no longer offered:
- Customer Service Excellence
- Innovative Use of CX Technology
- Best Omnichannel Personalization
- Best Contact Center Innovation
Who is eligible to apply?
- Nominees for the practitioner awards should be customer experience, digital experience or customer service leaders, departments or teams that have deployed impactful initiatives or technology over the past 12 months.
- Nominees for the vendor awards should be vendors who have either solved a particularly impressive challenge for one of their clients or produced particularly impactful capabilities for their products or solutions within the last 12-24 months.
- You may self-nominate for any award.
What is the difference between the practitioner and the vendor awards?
- If you want to showcase your company’s internal practices you should apply for the practitioner awards.
- Companies whose business model includes CX programs, platforms or solutions may not apply for the practitioner awards.
- If you want to showcase your platform, solution or the work you’ve done for a customer/client you should apply for the vendor awards.
- Your customer’s name may remain anonymous, although we encourage you to identify them in your application. Failure to disclose customer names may hinder recognition efforts, should your application win.
What are the awards categories?
- Please scroll to the top of this page for the full list of awards categories.
Is there a cost to apply? How do I pay?
- There is no cost to apply for the Customer Experience Leader of the Year award.
- The cost to apply for the other Practitioner awards is $149 per application (early bird saves you 30% through Sept. 30, 2025).
- For all Vendor awards, there is a $995 fee per application (early bird saves you 30% through Sept. 30, 2025).
- NOTE: Registering at the awards portal during the Early Bird period by September 30 saves you 30% off your application fee.
- Other discounts are available. Contact us for more information.
- All application fees are payable by credit card prior to application submission. Applications are not considered final until fees are paid in full.
- If you are unable to pay by credit card, contact us.
How long does it take to complete the application?
- Applications typically take 1-2 hours to complete.
Is there a word limit? Can I include charts, photos or other attachments in my application?
- All application questions have maximum word counts. These vary and are listed on each question.
- Charts, photos and other attachments are not allowed.
Who are the judges?
- Judges are volunteer practitioners, specialists, consultants and CX experts, recruited for their field expertise.
- Please scroll to the bottom of this webpage to see the list of last year’s judges.
What is the judging process and criteria?
- Judges apply through the awards portal and are vetted by CMSWire prior to reviewing applications.
- Judges receive detailed instructions and a scoring rubric to assist in the review process.
- Judges agree to keep all material confidential. Certain application fields with proprietary information are not shared with judges.
- All applications are reviewed by multiple judges to minimize bias. Judges are not assigned applications from participants in their own industry and judges can recuse themselves from any application to avoid direct or indirect conflicts of interest.
How are the winners determined?
- Questions are weighted according to importance. Judge scores are aggregated to determine the final winners of each category.
- Judges only score the “category-specific questions” section of each application. Demographics information is not shared with judges and not scored.
How are the winners notified? When are the winners announced?
- Winners are notified through email once the judging period is over. The Awards Director will notify the main point of contact for each winner. Please provide alternate contact information if you are an agency or otherwise applying on behalf of an individual or company.
- Winners are announced in the spring.
How are winners recognized?
- Winners are publicly recognized in the following ways:
- Press release on CMSWire, promoted through PR channels.
- As part of a longer awards article on CMSWire.
- Mention on awards website.
- Opportunity to participate in CMSWire TV.
What else do winners receive?
- Gold award winners receive a physical trophy as well as a digital badge for social media promotion.
- One trophy is included in your win. It is possible to order additional trophies at your cost; contact us for details.
- One trophy is included in your win. It is possible to order additional trophies at your cost; contact us for details.
- Silver award winners receive a digital badge for social media promotion.
- It is possible to order a trophy or trophies at your cost; contact us for details.
- It is possible to order a trophy or trophies at your cost; contact us for details.
- All awards participants (winners and nonwinners) receive a PDF scorecard with their score and judge comments.
Who were the previous winners?
How will my application data be used?
- By signing up for the IMPACT Awards, you agree to receive emails related to the awards program, including (but not limited to) reminder emails, open/close dates and finalist status. All finalists and winners will be contacted through email and may be contacted via phone for additional information. Winners’ contact information may be shared with our Events team for the purpose of coordinating your participation in our events. Winners’ addresses will be shared with our awards vendors for the purposes of awards delivery and digital badge distribution. Finalists’ and winners’ application data may be shared with our Editorial team for background information only.
Who do I contact if I have any questions?
- Please send all questions to [email protected].
2025 Judges
Judges are volunteer practitioners, specialists, consultants and CX experts, recruited for their field expertise.
Adrian Barbour
General Manager and CIO, Siobahn Visconti, LP / SaaS
Afrozy Ara
Co-founder and CEO, LuminaData
Akshay Sura
Composable Architect and Founding Partner, Konabos
Alan Pelz-Sharpe
Industry Analyst, Deep Analysis
Amy Dufrane
Ed.D., SPHR, CAE, CEO, HRCI
Amy Gorham
VP Global Customer Experience, Cision
Amy Sessions
Division Manager, Utility Customer Service, City of Clearwater
Angela Bandy
Director of Human Resources, Reconciled
Beth Martin
Digital Services Expert, federal government
Bob Holloway
Lead Consultant/Founder, RXperience Solutions
Brandie Ebert
Senior Customer Success Manager, ITA Group
Brianna Henderson
Regional CX Manager, Waste Connections
Carolyn Vincent
Director of Online Community and Web Services, ADEA
Cathy Hayes
Director of Online Community and Web Services, ADEA
C. Anonymous
Director of Digital, Unnamed Organization
Chloe Lo
Workplace Experience Manager, Animoca Brands
Cindy Brummer
CEO/Creative Director, Standard Beagle
David Zimmerman
Director of Customer Experience & Performance Support, QVC Group
Dennis Gershowitz
Principal, DG Associates
Elakkiya Daivam
Lead Software Engineer, Capital One Financial Services
Erika Heald
Founder and Chief Content Officer, Erika Heald Marketing Consulting
Erika Holland
Customer Experience Manager, SylvanSport
Francis Mona III
Owner, Francis J Consulting
Greg Kihlstrom
Principal, The Agile Brand
Gurneen Bedi
Leader in Customer Success, Feedzai
Hank Brigman
President, Chief Experience Officer, Customer Experience Strategies
Heather Shankwiler
Director, Product Marketing, Smart Compliance Solutions, ADP
Jonathan Sawitsky
Senior Director, UX & Engagement, Quinnipiac University
Karyn Furstman
Chief Experience Officer, CustomersFurst
Kenneth C.C. Yang
Professor, University of Texas at El Paso
Kim Sanchez
Director Customer Experience, 7-Eleven
Kristen Hayer
CEO, The Success League
Laura Rossi
CMO, RL&F
Lisa Carr
Brand & Comms Senior Strat Mgr, Accenture Song
Mari Federow
Sr. Manager of UX Research, Circle Internet Services
Maria Feay
Senior Director, Quantum Health
Maria Scarangella
President, Scarangella Consulting
Mario Chatzidamianos
Director Compliance, Communications & Business Development, Creators of Cosmos SMPC
Matt Lyles
Chief Experience Officer, Brand Builders Group
Melissa Langenbach
Human Resources Manager, WonderWorks
Mike Goracke
Director, Media, Bain and Company
Millicent McIntyre
Senior Director Buyer Services, IAA
Mohit Gupta
UX Manager, CDK Global
Patty Radford Henderson
Founder & CEO, Annum
Paula Rivera
Sr. Director, Public Relations, IntelePeer
Piyush Poddar
VP Sales and Partnerships, Axelerant
Priya Dharshini Kalyanasundaram
Technical Program Manager, Amazon
Reem El Asaleh
Associate Professor, Toronto Metropolitan University
Rishi Kumar
Vice President, Relanto
Robert Jacobi
Founder and Strategist, Warbi
Scott Robinson II
Director of Digital Engagement, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Senthamizh Selvan Pandian
Head of CX Customer Success, SAP Asia
Stacy Warden
CMO, Brightly
Stephen Lynch
Senior Director, Consumer Experience, Novo Nordisk
Sunil Sharma
Senior Lead Software Engineer and Senior Solution Architect, Capital One
Suzie Dieth
Senior Director of Customer Experience, NRG Energy
Thom San Filippo
SVP Customer service and Experience Design, Dow Jones
Verima Pereira
Specialist, UCSF
Vien-An Friedel
Director, Product Management, TurtleTree