Forrester’s inaugural Data & AI Impact Award sought excellence in enterprise data and AI initiatives that drive effective decision-making for enterprisewide business outcomes. We asked applicants for exemplary data and AI initiatives built around the pillars of scale, enablement, and trust and that provide strategic alignment, technical excellence, and cultural transformation. The number of high-quality submissions in our first year was overwhelming. The depth, creativity, and execution across entries showcased not just technical excellence but thoughtful, business-aligned innovation. This made judging both inspiring and incredibly challenging.
A few standout trends emerged across submissions: operating model shifts to make data and AI more embedded than centralized; growing investment in enterprisewide AI literacy; using no-code platforms to enable nontechnical employees; and an emerging effort to build and deploy AI agents. Several initiatives in the submissions treated AI models as products with measurable ROI and also undertook A/B testing. Across industries, we saw a shift toward modular, reusable AI components, such as predictive maintenance engines and agentic workflows that scale across teams and use cases.
Banking On Intelligence: Bank Of America’s Blueprint For Enterprise AI
Bank of America (BofA) stood out from the rest of the submissions for its enterprisewide execution of data and AI, blending scale, trust, and enablement into a cohesive strategy that delivers measurable impact. Its approach embeds AI into every aspect of the organization: how it operates, helps the company serve clients, and empowers employees.
Bank of America has scaled AI across client-facing and internal functions. Over 50 million users engage with Erica, BofA’s virtual AI financial assistant, and 17,000 developers use generative AI tools. The bank’s mature AI architecture supports forecasting, fraud detection, and personalized insights. Trust and responsible AI are ensured through effective governance, oversight, and training. AI tools automate tasks such as meeting prep and call summaries, freeing time for higher-value work. Internal assistants have cut IT service desk calls by 50%, and coaching simulations have enabled over 1 million training sessions. Employees are enabled through training platforms such as “The Academy” to understand and engage with emerging technologies. Across the enterprise, BofA has built a culture where AI is seen as a partner.
BofA’s roadmap includes expanding AI capabilities and is supported by the $4 billion allocated toward new technology initiatives within its $13 billion annual technology budget. With a strong patent portfolio and a decentralized innovation culture, the bank is poised to continue scaling responsibly, achieving operational excellence, and delivering personalized experiences. We applaud Bank of America’s powerful submission!
Honoring Our Finalists: KBTG And Swift Transportation
Two finalists demonstrated exceptional vision, execution, and impact in their submissions. Each offered a distinct blueprint for enterprise-scale data and AI transformation:
- KBTG, the technology arm of Thailand’s Kasikornbank, took a holistic and human-centered approach to scaling AI across infrastructure, governance, and workforce. Its “AI and Data Playground” enabled over 2,600 employees to prototype and build custom AI agents to reduce development cycles from 30 days to just one by generating millions of lines of code. With a focus on AI literacy across the organization and advanced programs for agentic AI, KBTG has built a culture where innovation is democratized and responsibly governed.
- Swift Transportation, a large trucking and logistics company, embedded AI into its logistics and decision-making, enabling predictive maintenance, route optimization, and real-time dispatch. A data-as-product approach, strong governance, and cross-functional enablement led to a 12% drop in empty miles and 9% better on-time delivery. By making AI intuitive, explainable, and trusted across teams, the ETL and DevOps team at Swift helped drive measurable business impact and operational transformation.
Meet The Winner At Technology & Innovation Summit North America
Join us at Forrester’s Technology & Innovation Summit North America, taking place in Austin and digitally from November 2–5, 2025, to hear directly from Bank of America’s data and AI leader about how the bank built scalable and reusable capabilities that are deeply embedded across operations and technology, as well as employee training. Sharyn Leaver, Forrester’s chief research officer, will host a mainstage panel with Bank of America and the leaders from our North America Technology Strategy Impact and Enterprise Architecture Award winners.
We’re inspired by the ways that data and AI teams are catalyzing effective decision-making to drive business outcomes for their organizations. If you’re inspired, start thinking about your story and submission for the 2026 Data & AI Impact Award!