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Zinnov Awards 2026 Recognise GCCs Shaping Enterprise Outcomes in the AI Era

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17th edition of the longest-running GCC and technology awards recognizes 18 organizations and leaders defining the next era of value creation from India

BENGALURU, India, Aug. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The 17th edition of the Zinnov Awards, held on Day 1 of Zinnov Confluence 2026, recognized 18 organizations and leaders across 10 categories for their impact on innovation, AI, leadership, talent, culture, and enterprise value creation. One of the most coveted recognitions in the GCC ecosystem, the Zinnov Awards celebrate the Titans in Tech building world-class capabilities from India for the world.

This year’s Awards come as India’s GCCs undergo a fundamental reset – moving beyond labor and cost arbitrage to value arbitrage and evolving into high-maturity nerve centers that increasingly own products, platforms, innovation, and global business outcomes.

Anchored in the theme of Winning the AI Race, this edition reflects how quickly GCC transformation is accelerating. According to the Nasscom-Zinnov GCC Landscape Report 2026, more than 1,200 India GCCs have AI/ML capabilities, supported by over 250,000 AI/ML professionals. Further, 96% of GCCs established post-FY2021 entered with a product or portfolio mandate, while 49% were AI-first from day one.

Three new categories – AI Excellence, Ecosystem Synergy Award, and AI Innovation Vanguard – were introduced this year, recognizing the growing importance of enterprise AI impact, ecosystem-led innovation, and technology leadership.

The three new categories reflect how GCCs are moving beyond AI adoption to shape innovation, ecosystems, and enterprise-wide outcomes. Their introduction mirrors a broader shift already underway across the industry, even as the Awards continue to recognize excellence across the full spectrum of GCC leadership, talent, scale, and capability.

“India’s GCC story is entering a defining new chapter. The advantage is no longer simply talent at scale or cost; it is the ability to create disproportionate enterprise value. As AI reshapes businesses, we are seeing greater product ownership, innovation, global leadership, and decision-making emerge from India. The organizations and leaders recognized at the Zinnov Awards represent this next frontier – GCCs evolving from centers of capability into nerve centers of the global enterprise,” said Nitika Goel, Managing Partner and Chief Marketing Officer, Zinnov.

The 2026 winners span organizations and leaders advancing AI, creating enterprise value, building innovation ecosystems, developing talent, and strengthening technical and leadership depth. Together, they underscore a larger shift: India is no longer only where global enterprises build capability. It is increasingly where they build what comes next.

The Zinnov Awards celebrate the people and organizations making that possibility real

Full list of 2026 winners by category in Appendix A.

Appendix A

Awards Name

Name of trophy

Ecosystem synergy award

Samsung R&D Institute India – Bangalore

Guidewire Software India

Great Place to Innovate

Micron Technology India

Value creation champion

Blackhawk Network

Fluence Global Innovation Center

AI Excellence

TIAA Global Capabilities

Fiserv

People & Culture Excellence

TIAA Global Capabilities

Hewlett Packard Enterprise India

NextGen Women leaders

Vasudha Bommireddy – Providence Global Center

Garima Srivastava – SAP Labs India

AI Innovation Vanguard

Ajay Tikare – SAP

Ranjan Kumar Samal – Samsung R&D Institute India – Bangalore

Dr. Sunil Kumar Chinnamgari – Maersk Technology Center, Bangalore

Technical Role Model- Emerging

Narayanan Balakrishnan – Walmart Global Tech 

Technical Role Model- Established

Ravi Kumar Kappagantu – Lloyds Technology Centre

GCC Icon Award

Wells Fargo India & Philippines

Walmart Global Tech 

About Zinnov 

Zinnov is a global management and strategy consulting firm that helps organizations build, scale, and transform businesses through technology, AI, globalization, and innovation. 

For over two decades, Zinnov has partnered with Fortune 500 enterprises, technology platforms, hyperscalers, Global Capability Centers (GCCs), technology service providers, and Private Equity firms to solve complex growth and transformation challenges. The firm has advised 250+ Fortune 500 companies, helped establish and transform 220+ Global Capability Centers, and supported 100+ Private Equity firms on technology investments, M&A, and value creation. 

Zinnov’s expertise spans four strategic areas: 

Global Capability Centers (GCCs): End-to-end advisory and implementation across the GCC lifecycle, including strategy, location and workspace selection, setup, scaling, operating model design, AI-led transformation, and global enterprise integration.  
Through its GCC-as- a -Service model, Zinnov combines consulting, execution, and the industry’s largest proprietary GCC intelligence platforms to help enterprises make data-driven decisions across talent, innovation, operating models, and AI while accelerating business outcomes through productivity, cost optimization, and revenue growth Enterprise AI & Technology Transformation: Helping organizations build AI-first operating models, modernize technology organizations, accelerate engineering innovation, and unlock business value through digital transformation. Growth Strategy for Technology Companies: Advising technology service providers, software platforms, and hyperscalers on market expansion, go-to-market strategy, partnership ecosystems, AI-led offerings, and competitive positioning. Private Equity & M&A Advisory: Supporting investors and portfolio companies through technology due diligence, commercial diligence, post-merger integration, operating model transformation, and long-term value creation. 

Combining research-led insights with execution capabilities, Zinnov helps organizations accelerate growth, unlock innovation, optimize technology investments, and build enduring competitive advantage. With a presence across North America, Europe, and Asia, the firm continues to advise many of the world’s leading enterprises on the future of business and technology. For more information, visit http://www.zinnov.com

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The Apex Institute Reveals What Hiring Managers Actually Want in Cloud and AI Infrastructure Roles

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Job seekers spend most of their energy guessing what employers want. The people actually doing the hiring say the answer is simpler than most candidates think.

BOWIE, Md., Aug. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Hiring managers filling cloud and AI infrastructure roles decide on four things: whether they trust you with a system that costs money when it breaks, whether you can explain a technical problem in plain language, whether you can point to real work you did, and how you behave when you do not know an answer. Skill only gets you past the first filter.

Most career advice is written from one side of the table. How to write a resume, how to answer interview questions, how to follow up. Almost none of it comes from the people actually deciding who gets hired.

That is the more useful conversation, says Tayo Lusi, founder of The Apex Institute. His training program tracks hiring patterns across cloud and infrastructure roles closely, and he says most candidates optimize for the wrong thing.

“Job seekers think hiring managers are looking for the smartest person in the room,” Tayo said. “Most of the time, they are looking for the person they trust the least to cause a problem at two in the morning.”

What do hiring managers actually decide on?

Four things, in roughly this order.

Trust. Would they hand you a system that costs real money and real downtime if it breaks.Communication. Can you explain a technical problem to someone who is not technical.Proof of real work. Can you point at something you built and say what problem it solved.Handling uncertainty. What you do when you hit something you do not know.

Does the most technically skilled candidate win?

Rarely. Skill is the entry fee, not the deciding factor.

Technical skill gets you through the first filter. It proves you can do the work at a baseline. Past that point the skill gap between finalists shrinks, and something else decides it.

That something else is trust. Hiring managers are not only asking whether you can build something. They are asking whether they want you paged at midnight when it goes down. If you want to know what to learn and in what order before any of this matters, the free Cloud Engineering Career Path Roadmap lays out the sequence.

Why does clear communication matter so much?

Because cloud and AI infrastructure roles are never isolated. You explain technical problems to non technical people, write documentation other engineers rely on, and stay calm describing what went wrong during an outage.

Candidates who can only speak in technical language raise a quiet red flag. Hiring managers read it as risk. If you cannot explain a problem clearly in an interview, they wonder how you will explain a production issue at 3 a.m. to a team already under pressure.

What counts as proof of real work?

A resume full of tool names says almost nothing. Everyone lists the same platforms and certifications. What separates candidates is pointing at something they built and explaining the problem it solved.

“A project with a clear before and after is worth more than five certifications,” Tayo said. “I have sat across from candidates who could not explain why the thing they built mattered. That is a bigger problem than not knowing enough tools.”

This is the common blind spot for graduates of traditional coding and IT programs. They finish with a list of completed lessons and no story about impact. Hiring managers notice that gap immediately.

Get the free Cloud Project Portfolio Blueprint and build the one project a hiring manager will actually ask about.

How should you handle not knowing an answer?

Say so, then explain how you would find out. That answer beats a confident guess almost every time.

Nobody walks in knowing a company’s specific systems, and hiring managers expect gaps. They are watching how you respond when you hit one. Someone who guesses confidently and gets it wrong is a bigger risk than someone honest about the gap, because in infrastructure work false confidence under pressure does more damage than missing knowledge.

Why are cloud and AI infrastructure roles harder to fill right now?

Because spending on this area is rising while hiring slows elsewhere. Roles sit open longer here than almost any other category in tech. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects continued growth across computer and information technology occupations through the decade, with demand concentrated near infrastructure and security.

That pressure does not lower the bar on trust and communication. It raises it, because a bad infrastructure hire is more expensive to unwind than almost any other role. And when you do reach the offer, the free Tech Salary Negotiation Scripts and the free Cloud Engineering Salary Benchmark cover what the role is worth and how to ask for it.

Can these qualities be taught?

That is the bet The Apex Institute is built on. Most programs teach the technical skill and leave the rest to the candidate. Here, communication, documented proof of work and how you handle uncertainty are part of the curriculum rather than an afterthought.

Students have reported more than $11 million in combined job offers across 41 people. Individual results vary and are not typical.

“We are not just trying to teach people cloud infrastructure,” Tayo said. “We are trying to teach people to think like the person on the other side of the interview table, because that is who decides whether they get hired.”

The longer term goal is bigger than any one cohort. The company aims to impact millions of lives globally, including future nonprofit initiatives in developing countries teaching foundational cloud and tech skills. The qualities hiring managers trust are not tied to a country or a background. They can be built anywhere.

How do you become the candidate they hire?

Stop trying to be the smartest person in the room. Be the one they trust with cloud and AI infrastructure roles at two in the morning.

Get the free Cloud Project Portfolio Blueprint and build proof instead of another certificate.

Book your free career strategy call and get an honest read on how you would interview today.

About The Apex Institute

The Apex Institute is an IT career training company that trains working professionals in cloud engineering, DevOps and AI infrastructure, helping them move into the roles employers are struggling to fill as AI adoption accelerates. Students have reported more than $11 million in job offers to date. Individual results vary and are not typical. Learn more at apexedu.io.

Media Contact
Tayo Lusi
contact@apexedu.io

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SOURCE The Apex Institute

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Avidian Wealth Solutions Surpasses $6 Billion in Assets Under Management (as of date)

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The $6 billion milestone underscores more than two decades of growth for the independent, fiduciary-led firm.

HOUSTON, Aug. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Avidian Wealth Solutions, an independent SEC-registered investment advisor firm serving families throughout Texas and across the United States, has grown its total assets under management to more than $6 billion. The milestone continues a multi-year growth trajectory for the firm, which surpassed $4 billion in AUM in 2023.

“We remain focused on the same mission that has guided us from the start: helping the families we serve better consolidate and coordinate their financial lives and plan for their financial futures,” says Avidian CEO Luke Patterson.

Avidian’s growth over the past several years reflects an expanding footprint and a broadening suite of services, including financial planning, investment management, private fund opportunities, risk management, and endowment/foundation services, all delivered through a family office-style model. The firm has continued to add planners and CPAs to its team as it has grown.

“This milestone reflects the dedication of our team and the trust our clients place in us,” says Avidian CEO Luke Patterson. “We remain focused on the same mission that has guided us from the start: helping the families we serve better consolidate and coordinate their financial lives and plan for their financial futures.”

Moving forward, Avidian will stay committed to its service-driven approach, continuing to invest in its team and its offerings on behalf of the individuals and families it serves.

ABOUT AVIDIAN WEALTH SOLUTIONS

Avidian Wealth Solutions is a team of independent fiduciaries who are committed to meeting the unique needs and challenges of our clients. With a comprehensive and evolving suite of services including but not limited to financial planning, investment management, and insurance solutions, we strive to minimize risk through all aspects of our business, by understanding trends and planning strategically — while consistently maintaining our core values of trust, credibility, and transparency. For more information, visit Avidianwealth.com

For more information, please contact Justin King at 281-822-8802 or email justinking@avidianwealth.com.

Media Contact

Justin King, Avidian Wealth Solutions, 1 281-822-8802, justinking@avidianwealth.com, https://avidianwealth.com/

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SOURCE Avidian Wealth Solutions

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What If Your Selfie Became a Game? DREAMOSIS Turns You and Anything You Own Into a Collectible World

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DREAMOSIS is a new kind of mobile game where your selfie, everyday objects and real-world places become the building blocks of your own evolving collectible universe.

LONDON, Aug. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Take a selfie. Photograph anything around you. DREAMOSIS turns the combination into something that has never existed before — a unique digital Relic born from you and your world.

London-based Novifolium Ltd has launched DREAMOSIS, a mobile game built around a provocative idea:

What if the main character wasn’t designed by a game studio — because it was you?

Instead of entering somebody else’s predetermined universe, DREAMOSIS asks players to bring their own reality into the game.

Your face. Your possessions. The places you visit.

They become ingredients.

Take a selfie. Pick an object. See what you become.

The core experience starts with something almost everyone already does: taking a selfie.

Players combine a selfie + a photograph of virtually any object + a Dreamdrop discovered within DREAMOSIS.

Then the unexpected happens.

Those ingredients are transformed into a unique digital Relic that becomes part of the player’s collection.

A pair of sunglasses. A coffee cup. A souvenir found halfway around the world. Even something sitting forgotten on your desk.

If you can photograph it, it can become part of your DREAMOSIS world.

Because the ingredients come from the player, two people can play DREAMOSIS and emerge with radically different collections.

Dreamdrops hide parallel versions of the real world

Behind the selfie experience sits another layer: Dreamdrops.

Dreamdrops are collectible discoveries tied to parallel, imagined versions of real locations. Cities become explorable constellations of familiar landmarks, hidden places and unexpected curiosities — each reinterpreted through the DREAMOSIS universe.

A player exploring London, for example, might encounter Dreamdrops connected to places ranging from the British Museum and Highgate Cemetery to Little Venice, Portobello Road and the Barbican Conservatory — alongside more obscure locations waiting to be uncovered.

Some are visible. Others exist only as rumours until discovered.

But finding them is only the beginning.

The Dreamdrop becomes an ingredient. The player provides the selfie and the object. DREAMOSIS turns all three into something personal.

So a discovery associated with a real place can ultimately become a Relic that could belong to only one player.

This isn’t a game world. It’s your world, dreaming.

Traditional games create a universe and ask millions of people to enter it.

DREAMOSIS reverses that relationship.

It takes your face, your objects and echoes of places that actually exist and lets them collide inside a parallel collectible universe.

A journey can leave behind more than photographs.

A random possession can acquire another identity.

And a selfie can become the beginning of something that has never existed before.

The universe has already escaped the screen

DREAMOSIS doesn’t end as an app.

DREAMO — Novifolium’s physical collectible character series — was successfully backed on Kickstarter, demonstrating early interest in bringing the wider universe into physical form.

The relationship works in both directions: DREAMOSIS pulls people, objects and locations into its digital universe, while DREAMO brings characters from that creative world back into physical reality.

Together, the projects point toward a broader ambition:

A world that can move between person, place, screen and shelf.

What if the next entertainment universe is built from its audience?

Generative technology is changing how games, characters and digital worlds can be created.

DREAMOSIS asks a different question:

What happens when the player’s own face, possessions and experiences become the raw material?

Millions of players don’t have to experience exactly the same universe.

They can create millions of different ones.

One selfie. One object. One Dreamdrop. What will you become?

DREAMOSIS — The game doesn’t just give you a world. It dreams yours.

About DREAMOSIS

DREAMOSIS is a mobile interactive entertainment experience developed by Novifolium Ltd. Players combine selfies and photographs of real-world objects with collectible Dreamdrops connected to parallel interpretations of real locations, creating unique digital Relics and personal collections.

About DREAMO

DREAMO is Novifolium’s physical collectible character series. The project was successfully backed through Kickstarter and forms the physical collectible layer of the wider DREAMOSIS universe.

About Novifolium

Novifolium Ltd (Company No. 16788696) is a London-based company developing original entertainment, digital experiences and collectible intellectual property.

DREAMOSIS is available now on iOS and Android:
dreamosis.com/app

Media enquiries:
Novifolium Ltd — hello@novifolium.com

Press Contact: Augustine, https://www.novifolium.com/

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SOURCE Novifolium Ltd

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