Referred to by many in the profession as the ‘Oscars of the treasury world’, Treasury Today Group’s Adam Smith Awards programme is one of the most rigorous annual award programmes in corporate treasury and finance.

Launched in 2008 to highlight the often-unsung achievements of corporate treasurers, the first Adam Smith Awards recognised 18 winners across 11 categories. Since then, the programme has expanded considerably: the 2026 programme attracted a record 635 nominations from 42 countries, spanning a wide range of industry sectors.

The programme also includes the Adam Smith Awards Asia, which was launched in 2014. This year’s Adam Smith Awards Asia programme received 345 nominations across 19 categories.

Vision and impact

The goal of the Adam Smith Awards is not just to highlight the pivotal role of treasury in corporate success, but also to create a vibrant forum for treasurers to share and learn about best practice.

True to that vision, over the years our awards have highlighted the achievements of treasury and finance teams at some of the most successful corporations in the world, including Google, Walmart, Alibaba, Samsung, Sinopec and Toyota, to name just a few of the hundreds of winners recognised in recent years.

The awards ceremony, and our wider award coverage of feature articles and interviews, gives treasury professionals a chance to glean insights and connect with diverse winners from over 65 countries across the world.

The awards enable smaller companies to elevate their names, as well as encouraging incumbents to up their game. Over the years our awards have highlighted not just household names, but a wide range of emerging companies.

For our corporate community, winning an award has also become a chance to promote the role of treasury and finance within the organisation, whether that means improving efficiency, reducing costs or managing risk. It also provides a rare chance to publicly celebrate a profession that is often behind the scenes, while recognising the value of treasurers’ collaboration with banks, fintechs and consultants.

From showcasing enduring trends to capturing the zeitgeist

In response to the rapid advancement of technology like host-to-host connectivity, API solutions, digital currencies and AI, the awards celebrate companies that have successfully integrated technology solutions to support foreign exchange, cash flow forecasting, invoice netting and much more.

The awards capture and celebrate enduring trends, such as the role of financial leadership teams integrating risks like cyber and climate, for example. But they also reflect the zeitgeist of the moment – whatever that is. In 2020 and 2021, for example, we ran Best Crisis Management Solution to recognise companies’ achievements in response to the Covid pandemic.

More recently, this year’s awards featured a category for the Best use of AI in Corporate Treasury, alongside longstanding categories reflecting achievements in cash management, risk management, funding, payments and more.

“Winning the Adam Smith Award for Best Use of AI in Corporate Treasury is a tremendous honour for our team across Treasury and Engineering… We are proud that our work is helping redefine how treasury teams anticipate change, collaborate under pressure, and make better decisions when it matters most.”

Kathy Brustad, Director, Treasury, Microsoft
Overall Winner, Best use of AI in Corporate Treasury, Adam Smith Awards 2026

Celebrating a people business

The Adam Smith Awards are unique because they are an affirmation that treasury is, ultimately, a people business – as demonstrated by the enthusiastic applause that award winners receive from colleagues and peers during the celebratory dinner, as well as the ringing endorsements via our wider network. But the award slate also, deliberately, celebrates the teams and remarkable individuals whose courage and creativity serve as an inspiration to others to climb the ladder.

Our prestigious Top Treasury Team award is designed to reflect the scope and ability of industry-leading corporate treasury teams, as well as their interactions with functions outside treasury – legal, tax, supply chain, procurement and accounting. Often reflecting a multi-year project, the award spotlights the breadth of initiative and results that a well-coordinated team can achieve.

The programme also recognises the achievements of outstanding treasury professionals at different points in their careers, from relative newcomers to seasoned industry heavyweights. Our individual awards – Corporate Treasurer of the Year and A Rising Star – are designed to highlight the achievements of both established and up-and-coming treasury professionals.

Winners in these categories have often not just proved highly successful in their roles, but have gone above and beyond in developing leadership skills, mentoring junior professionals and contributing to industry-wide initiatives.

Highlights of the 2026 awards

Given the high number of nominations this year, the winners of the 2026 Adam Smith Awards have all demonstrated exceptional achievements.

While there is not space to do justice to all of this year’s winners here, notable highlights include The Magnum Ice Cream Company (TMICC), which was named Overall Winner in the Top Treasury Team category. The company impressed the judges with the team’s achievements in building a treasury function from the ground up, following TMICC’s spin-off from Unilever.

Anna Elphick, TMICC’s Global Head of Tax, Treasury & Insurance, explains how she approached this ambitious project, and why teamwork proved crucial to the company’s achievements – from issuing a €3bn debut bond to achieving the largest listing on Euronext in 2025.

Meanwhile, in the inaugural Best use of AI in Corporate Treasury category, Microsoft was recognised not once, but twice. The company was named Overall Winner with its Qiro AI intelligence solution, with a separate Microsoft collections solution recognised as a Highly Commended Winner. The category also showcased the impressive achievements of Highly Commended Winners SiriusXM and Save the Children.

In addition:

• eBay was named Overall Winner in Best Treasury Transformation Project, with judges noting that the winning solution “truly raises the team to a strategic business partner.”

• AstraZeneca was named Overall Winner in Best Cash Management Solution, with a solution incorporating machine learning models, technology-driven cash forecasting and liquidity intelligence.

• Walmart took the award for Best Supply Chain Solution, with judges commending its “innovative approach to supply chain finance, offering purchase order-stage financing to smaller suppliers and building a more resilient supply chain.”

• Strategic Treasurers Alliance was named Overall Winner in Judges’ Choice, with a collaborative effort by a group of around 20 treasury leaders to quantify the climate impact of cash and short-term investments.

The awards also included two regional categories: Best in Class Treasury Solution in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Best in Class Treasury Solution in The Americas. The Overall Winners in these categories were BHP Group in EMEA and PayPal in The Americas.

Turning to the individual categories, this year’s winners included the inspirational Tony Masone, Vice President and Treasurer at Amazon, who was named Corporate Treasurer of the Year.

The Rising Star award was given to Sofia Calvo of Grupo Bimbo, who impressed the judges with her rapid career progression, strong leadership skills, and an outlook that extends beyond her own organisation and role.

Have you got what it takes?

Every year, hopeful contenders are invited to submit detailed entries outlining their achievements. For those charged with the gruelling task of award submissions and thoughtfully writing 1,000-odd words in response to some challenging questions, a winning solution needs to demonstrate real achievement.

Our judges look for evidence of best practice and innovation – whether that means developing a unique in-house solution, or pioneering a new solution with a bank or technology partner. They’re also looking for solutions that have resulted in quantifiable benefits, from reduced banking costs to improved working capital metrics.

Many successful solutions also include top-notch teamwork, both within the treasury team itself, and in collaboration with other functions across the organisation. Equally, submissions that include compelling human stories are likely to set themselves apart from the competition.

Solutions that span multiple geographies can score higher than a single country solution, and the quantitative and qualitative benefits are important. But every company has a fair chance if its financial leadership team can demonstrate resilience, agility and a willingness to embrace change. And in some cases, nominations that don’t fit one of our standard categories gain recognition through our special Judges’ Choice award.

What happens after the closing date?

The closing date for the Adam Smith Awards is also the beginning of our rigorous judging process. Following several weeks of shortlisting and judging by our expert panel, the winners are announced online by Sophie Jackson, CEO of Treasury Today Group and Meg Coates, Publisher & Operations Director. After a celebratory dinner, which is attended by winners and their partners, we publish case studies detailing winners’ achievements.

Beyond the awards programme itself, our Finance Leaders Forums provide an opportunity to explore best practice for a modern generation of corporate leaders – from technical excellence to essential skillsets. The forums bring together Adam Smith Award alumni from around the world with other industry experts, in locations including Amsterdam, Silicon Valley, Hong Kong and Mumbai.

Looking forward, we will continue to evolve our prestigious annual awards programme into 2027 and beyond – recognising excellence, showcasing best practice and demonstrating that when treasury professionals apply themselves to today’s challenges, anything is possible.