Turning back the clock to last year’s awards programme, the Digital Transformation & AI Awards 2025 brought together Ireland's leading innovators in technology and digital excellence at the Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire on 19 June 2025, with Maria Svejdar, Head of Retail at GS1 Ireland, serving as Judging Coordinator for a programme that spanned over 40 categories across digital transformation and artificial intelligence.

Svejdar brought more than 25 years of commercial experience across the B2B, technology, retail, and consumer goods sectors to the coordinator role, giving the evaluation process a grounding in the practical realities of digital adoption across some of the most competitive and fast-moving industries in the Irish economy.

Her cross-functional background spanning business development, marketing, operations, and customer experience gave her a command of the full value chain that digital transformation touches, and her sustained focus on promoting the commercial case for digitisation as a driver of growth, profitability, and efficiency shaped an evaluation framework attentive to both innovation and measurable business impact.

As coordinator, Svejdar oversaw an independent judging panel that included Noel Carroll of the University of Galway, Warren Kavanagh of Aweb Digital, Brendan Keegan of Maynooth University, Cliona McParland of Dublin City University Business School, Denis O'Brien of GS1 Ireland, Peter Robbins of Dublin City University, Pierangelo Rosati of the University of Galway, Peter Rose of TEKenable, Antonio Vieira Santos of Atos, Declan Sheehan of the National Transport Authority, and Mike Yan of Manychat. The panel's composition reflected the awards' ambition to assess entries from perspectives spanning academia, enterprise technology, and industry leadership.

The 2025 programme covered the breadth of Ireland's digital transformation landscape, from Overall Best Digital Transformation and AI Innovation of the Year to sector-specific categories in healthcare, financial services, retail, public sector, aviation, and life sciences, alongside awards for responsible AI, sustainability, and best use of AI across multiple industries.

Visit the Digital Transformation & AI Awards website to view the 2025 winners and explore the full programme and subscribe to the newsletter for more information.