September 8, 2026This year’s Digiday Technology Awards finalists reflect an industry adapting to a rapidly changing digital landscape, with AI-ready infrastructure, first-party data, privacy and operational efficiency emerging as defining priorities.
Across publishing, commerce and advertising, technology leaders are rethinking the systems that underpin digital experiences and finding new ways to make those systems more responsive to both evolving consumer behavior and the demands of AI-driven discovery.
WordPress earned a finalist spot in the Best Content Management System category for its WordPress VIP platform. The platform is helping organizations rethink the role of the CMS as AI reshapes how audiences discover information. In partnership with Pew Research Center, WordPress VIP transformed Pew’s CMS into infrastructure designed for machine readability and attribution, making its research easier for AI systems to discover and interpret. The work demonstrated how the CMS is evolving beyond a publishing tool into a strategic foundation for AI- driven discovery, development and content operations.
ShopMy, which is nominated for Best E-Commerce Technology, used first-party audience signals and creator-led curation to build a different model for digital commerce and product discovery. Its shopping app connected consumers with creators they trusted and allowed them to follow curated collections, save products and make purchases directly within the platform. This gives brands a direct channel to high- intent shoppers while creating additional monetization opportunities for creators, illustrating how technology can use audience data to strengthen the connection between discovery and purchase without relying entirely on algorithmic recommendations.
Google is a finalist for Best Sell-Side Programmatic Platform for its work with The Guardian. Using
Google Ad Manager, The Guardian applied first-party signals to improve audience addressability and monetization while simplifying its programmatic supply chain in a post-cookie environment. The resulting gains in signal coverage, revenue and operational performance pointed to a broader industry shift: privacy-compliant technology is increasingly expected to improve business outcomes rather than simply replace legacy targeting methods.
Together, this year’s finalists represent a technology industry moving from adaptation toward reinvention. As AI, privacy and changing audience behaviors continue to reshape digital media and commerce, these companies offer a glimpse of how the infrastructure beneath the internet may evolve next.
Stay tuned for the reveal of this year’s winners. In the meantime, check out the full shortlist below.
Best Affiliate Marketing Platform
NucleusLinks Drives 129% Affiliate Revenue Uplift for Zilch
The CJ Platform
Sally Beauty, impact.com & Tombras Drive Affiliate Growth
Superfiliate
Best Agentic AI Tool – NEW
FERMÀT – Agentic Commerce Platform
Uma, Upwork’s Mindful AI
Seel
Search Atlas: The First Agentic AI Marketing Platform
Flipkart Commerce Cloud –Agentic Commerce Suite
PubMatic AgenticOS: Autonomous Advertising Platform
Best AI Platform
Clinch’s Flight Control: AI Content Orchestration Platform Conversational AI Solves for Product Discovery for Onewheel
Rokt – AI-Powered Relevance at the Transaction Moment
Bria – Introducing the Controllable Visual AI Platform
Disney excites travelers using Cluep’s AI Agent
WRITER & Qualcomm: A New Standard for Brand Excellence
Best AI Tool
Incubeta – Seamless Search
PMG – Alli Operating System
Conative AI: Inventory Planning for Modern Ecommerce
LTX – Launch of LTX-2.3
PolyAI & SafeRide: The AI agent America’s patients call
Blockboard – Launch of BlockVantage AI Campaign Tool
Best Alternative Identification Technology
Mundial Media’s Cadmus AI
PODiQ Identity by Consumable for Sonoro Intelligencia
Seedtag and Qatar Tourism: Privacy-First Global Campaign
Nexxen Discovery Drives Visitation for AOT
Intent IQ: Empowering Buy-Side & Sell-Side Simultaneously
Best Attribution Tool
Kroger Precision Marketing – PrecisionView 360
Digital Remedy Connects the Dots for Ski Resort
Spectrum Reach’s MSA Drives Attribution for Matter Brothers
Max Connect Digital’s Kudos AI
Mastercard Commerce Media
Best Automation Tools and/or Platform
Kevel Console + CoinGecko: Where Retail Media Runs Itself
NucleusLinks x Zilch: 129% Revenue Uplift Through Automation
Celtra Unifies McDonald’s Creative Operations at Scale
Foam, part of Whalar Group
GetResponse -Automation and AI Recommendations
ThisIsWhyWithGoogle
Best Buy-Side Programmatic Platform
AdRoll’s Buy-Side Platform Powers Quint Revenue Growth
Nexxen DSP Drives Donor Growth for Direct Relief
Viant’s Ad Platform Redefines CTV as a Growth Engine
Deploy by DSPolitical: Setting a New Standard for Politics
Blockboard – Development of Verified AI Media
Intent IQ’s IDeal 360 for ID-less audience amplification
Best Content Creation Platform
Digiday Media & RHEI – Global Launch of Made for Creators
Bria Delivers Production-Ready Gen AI Content at Scale
swsh x Rolling Loud
Streamlabs Sponsorships Expands Brand Access for Creators
Best Content Management System
WordPress VIP & Pew Research
Center Boost LLM Visibility
Contentstack Content Cloud
WMT Astra CMS Platform
Lastmile Retail – Leading Enterprise-Grade Local Marketing
Best Content Marketing Platform
Celtra Boosts Siemens Content Production & Performance
Realtor.com achieves 300% ROI with Knotch
Influencity
RAD Amplify, a RAD Intel Company
Best Customer Data Platform
Amperity Powers New Look’s Customer Data Transformation
Team Velocity – Apollo Platform
swsh x Rolling Stone
Best Data Management Platform
LucidLink & Sandwich – Automating Creative Production
Optable & Unity – Unlocking Brand Demand for 256M Gamers
The Irish Times expands advertiser base with new technology
Rokt mParticle
Experian + American Home Shield Boost CPA efficiency by 18%
Permutive’s AI-Powered DMP Delivers Real Results
Best Data Team
Kroger Precision Marketing Data Team
Rise
Best Digital Out-of-Home Advertising Technology
Premium reach & results: Bauer
Media Outdoor x Lloyds Bank
HOPE Hydration
Big Happy & Haverty’s – Boosting Store Visits with 3D DOOH
Vistar Media & Travel Texas: Inspiring Travel with 3D DOOH
Best Event Platform
Cvent Event-Led Growth at Scale
RainFocus: Event Orchestration Across Customer Journeys
Best In-Store Technology
Endear & GANNI: Driving In-Store Sales
Perfect Corp. & Invoshop’s AI Skin Analysis at Amazon Milan
Intel Retail Experience Tool (RXT)
Best Interactive Content Platform
Genuin – Video Experience
Infrastructure for the Open Web
Kaltura Agentic Avatar
Club Canela from Canela Media
Celtra Helps MPlus Deliver 6x Higher Ad Engagement
VIVERSE: Frictionless Discovery and Distribution for Devs
BrightLine & Disney Advertising: State Farm® x FX’s The Bear
Best Location Data Platform
Simpli.fi Turns Location Data Into Measurable Store Visits
Lastmile Retail – Leading Enterprise-Grade Local Marketing
Best Marketing Analytics Platform
How Practix MMM Proved Linear TV’s Financial Impact
Arimas integrated MMM takes agency partner to the next level
Adjust & Praktika – Measurement & Automation
Semrush Traffic & Market
How Spectrum Reach Architect Optimizes Advertising Budgets
Realtor.com achieves 300% ROI with Knotch
Best Subscription Platform
Subtext SMS Platform Powers
Subscriber Engagement & Growth
The Digital Vending Machine from Bango
Best Sustainable Ad Tech Platform
DanAds & Tripadvisor – EcoRewards in Ad Express
Best Video Advertising Platform
Turning Live Moments Into Measurable Outcomes
MNTN Launches QuickFrame AI
Best Video Management Platform
Cloudinary Video Platform
ViewLift – Scalable VMS for Global Streaming
Technology Founder of the Year
Adam Singolda – Taboola
Andrew Casale – Index Exchange
Andrés Fócil – WMT Digital
J Brooks – GlassView
Anda Gansca – Knotch
Mark Jablonowski – DSPolitical
