14.07.2026 Author: IPMA Awards

Celebrating Excellence in Agile Leadership: Meet the IPMA Global Awards 2026 Finalists

The IPMA Global Awards Team is delighted to announce the finalists of the IPMA Global Individual Awards in the prestigious Agile Leader of the Year 2026 category!

This category recognizes individuals who demonstrate exceptional agile leadership by showcasing strong competence, adaptability, and innovation across projects of different sizes, complexities, and areas of application.

Each application was carefully evaluated by our expert assessors, who considered candidates’ leadership and management capabilities, their understanding and application of Project Management and Agile Project Management principles, as well as the impact and value created through their projects.

Following a thorough and highly competitive assessment process, the most outstanding agile leaders have been selected as finalists.

The Agile Leader of the Year 2026 Finalists are:

  • Ghadh Alotaibi (Saudi Arabia), with a project Next-Generation AI Infrastructure, Solutions by stc
  • Xiaobo Sang (China), with a project Tiangong Intelligent Brain Language Large Model, Shanxi Tiangong Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd 
  • Yeganeh Akbarnataj (Iran, Islamic Republic of), with a project Finance360: Agile Transformation of Financial Operations through CRM – Finance Integration, Pishro Modiriat Piran (PMPiran)

 

We extend our sincere congratulations to this year’s finalists and celebrate their exceptional achievements in demonstrating agile leadership excellence. Their ability to inspire teams, embrace change, and drive innovation through agile practices represents a valuable contribution to the project profession and sets an example for future generations of agile leaders. 

The final rankings will be announced during the IPMA Global Awards Gala Ceremony on 18 September 2026 in Hiroshima, Japan. This year’s Awards Gala will be a special occasion, marking the closing of the 35th IPMA World Congress.

We warmly invite you to join us for this special occasion and honour the achievements of the world’s most exceptional project professionals.

Tickets for the Gala are available here: IPMA World Congress 2026 Tickets – Secure your participation now

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