The Adam Smith Awards continue to go from strength to strength, showcasing excellence and innovation in the treasury profession and celebrating the achievements of the best treasury talent around the world.
This year was no exception, with the 2026 Adam Smith Awards attracting a record 635 nominations from 42 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas. As a result, our Overall and Highly Commended Winners have truly achieved something exceptional in what was an incredibly crowded field.
The 2026 winners unveiled
Our 2026 Adam Smith Awards winners were unveiled at our live announcement on 5th May, with winning solutions including the following:
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Best Cash Management Solution: AstraZeneca was named Overall Winner, with a solution that incorporates machine learning models, technology-driven cash forecasting and liquidity intelligence.
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Best Cash Pooling Solution: This year’s Overall Winner was Solventum, with a sophisticated multicurrency notional pooling solution in Dublin. As the judges observed, “The cash pooling solution has been a critical component of this impressive transformation journey.”
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Best Payments Solution attracted a large number of entries, with Technip Energies named Overall Winner. Our judges were impressed by the winning solution’s “good level of automation, centralisation, innovation and best practice,” as well as the impressive approach to change management and delivery.
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Best Use of AI in Corporate Treasury: New for 2026, this category attracted some incredibly sophisticated solutions demonstrating a wide scope of applications. Microsoft’s AI intelligence solution prevailed as Overall Winner, with a separate Microsoft collections solution recognised as a Highly Commended Winner, alongside impressive solutions from SiriusXM and Save the Children.
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Best in Class Treasury Solution in Europe, Middle East & Africa: BHP Group emerged victorious in our regional category for EMEA, with the judges lauding an innovative solution leveraging virtual accounts, that “demonstrates what is feasible when a dedicated treasury team and their banking partner work together and challenge each other to bring out the best solution.”
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Best in Class Treasury Solution in The Americas: PayPal was named Overall Winner in the Americas, with a solution that “truly showcased the power of AI as a tool to deliver the strategic vision and ambitious goals of an innovative team.”
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Best Treasury Transformation Project: eBay was named Overall Winner in this heavily contested category, with judges noting that the winning solution “truly raises the team to a strategic business partner.”
Other winning solutions included ServiceNow in Harnessing the Power of Technology, Siemens Energy in Best Funding Solution, Roche in Best Investing Solution and Gedeon Richter in Best Risk Management Solution. Meanwhile, the judges selected Colgate-Palmolive as Overall Winner in Best Foreign Exchange Solution.
Armacell was named Overall Winner in Best SME/MME Solution, with Unilever recognised in Best Sustainable Treasury Solution. And Walmart took the award for Best Supply Chain Solution, with our judges noting its “innovative approach to supply chain finance, offering purchase order-stage financing to smaller suppliers and building a more resilient supply chain.”
Overall Winner in Judges’ Choice was the Strategic Treasurers Alliance, with a collaborative effort by a group of around 20 treasury leaders to quantify the climate impact of cash and short-term investments. Judges’ Choice is not awarded every year, but is designed to recognise solutions that demonstrate something unique. The judges felt this solution was “a compelling example of treasurers across different organisations coming together to solve an industry problem.”
Corporate Treasurer of the Year and Rising Star
Turning to the individual awards, Tony Masone of Amazon was named Corporate Treasurer of the Year – a well-deserved accolade for a treasury professional who has not only spearheaded infrastructure and technology development, but is deeply committed to developing the next generation of treasury leaders.
Avramar’s Marianna Polykrati was named Highly Commended Winner, reflecting her strategic contribution to her organisation, as well as her impressive track record of overcoming challenges in times of pressure.
This year’s Rising Star award was given to Sofia Calvo of Grupo Bimbo, who has progressed rapidly in her career, with strong leadership skills and an outlook that extends beyond her own organisation and role.
And highly commended in this category was Anika Williams of Zalando Payments, who impressed the judges with her commitment to innovation, combining her strong foundation in treasury with her interest in data science.
Top Treasury Team 2026
Last but not least, the accolade of Top Treasury Team 2026 went to The Magnum Ice Cream Company, in recognition of the team’s achievements in building a treasury function from the ground up following the company’s spin-off from Unilever.
Also Highly Commended in this category were Rohit Group, DSV A/S and KENT Group DMCC, all of which demonstrated wide-reaching achievements and impressive teamwork.
Next steps
With this year’s winners announced, the Adam Smith Awards season is now underway. Overall Winners, Highly Commended Winners and their partners will be invited to join us at the Adam Smith Awards black-tie Celebration Dinner in London, which takes place on Thursday 25th June 2026 at InterContinental London Park Lane.
In addition, all winning solutions will be showcased in case studies that will be published on our website later in the year.
