2026 Excellence in Practice (EiP) Silver Award winners
We are proud to unveil the 2026 Excellence in Practice (EiP) Silver Award winners!
The Excellence in Practice (EiP) Awards honour the power of partnership in learning and development. Through these awards, EFMD highlights the organisations and learning providers that come together to design and deliver initiatives capable of driving genuine change, growing talent, and reshaping how professional development is approached.
Whether the focus is leadership, organisational transformation or ecosystem-wide impact, the EiP Awards bring attention to initiatives that deliver tangible results for individuals, companies, and the wider community. The winning cases illustrate how well-designed partnerships can unlock innovation, build adaptability, and support sustainable growth. By spotlighting collaborative excellence, the EiP Awards invite organisations to think differently about how they nurture talent and shape learning ecosystems.
The 2026 Excellence in Practice (EiP) Silver Award winners across the categories are:
Category: Organisational Development
Sanofi & HEC Paris
“From vision to adoption: Putting leaders in the drivers’ seat of data & AI transformation”
Wanda Shoer, Chief Learning Officer, Sanofi, added, ‘At Sanofi, digital transformation is a leadership imperative to better serve patients. Winning the EFMD Excellence in Practice Award with HEC Paris reflects Sanofi’s commitment to turning digital ambition into action. Through DriveDigital, more than 2,500 senior leaders have strengthened accountability for data and AI transformation by this year – accelerating innovation and impact for patients.’
Barbara Stöttinger, Dean of Executive Education, HEC Paris, commented, ‘Winning the EFMD Excellence in Practice Award with Sanofi is a great achievement for us; we co-created a programme enabling leaders to own data and AI transformation and translate strategy into impact. What makes this journey distinctive is not only the scale—engaging senior leaders and cascading across the organisation—but the depth of transformation it enabled.’
Category: Talent Development
Tiger Brands & Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
“Re-Imagine Tiger: Creating a pipeline of strategic leadership and cultural change”
Sinenhlanhla Magagula, Chief People Officer, Tiger Brands, said, ‘We are delighted that our “Reimagine Tiger” Programme has been recognised by EFMD. At Tiger Brands, our people are the heartbeat of our business. Our intentional investment in growing our own talent and nurturing agile leaders of the future is a source of great pride for us. This recognition underscores our passion for cultivating and nourishing lives through future-ready talent.’
Sara Bux, Head of Corporate Education, Delivery, GIBS Business School, commented, ‘GIBS is honoured by Tiger Brands’ trust in a co-created leadership journey grounded in shared purpose and impact. The programme reflects alignment between our teaching philosophy and Tiger Brands’ learning approach: learning designed with the business, embedded in challenges, translating insight into action, value, and return on investment across industries and economies in Africa.’
Category: Leadership Development
Helios Towers & Cranfield University
“Supercharging prosperity through connectivity”
Fatima Coninx, Group People Director, Helios Towers, remarked, ‘This recognition is a proud moment for Helios Towers and reflects our deep commitment to developing purpose-driven leaders who create lasting impact. Together with Cranfield University, we’ve built a programme that strengthens our people, our culture and our ambition to lead with excellence across our markets.’
Chris Coghlan, Programme Director, Cranfield School of Management, added, ‘Cranfield University is truly honoured to receive this award alongside such an outstanding partner in Helios Towers. Over five years, this has been a highly effective partnership, enabling us to design and deliver development experiences that have supercharged Helios Towers’ growth. We are most proud of the meaningful commitment to advancing female leadership across Helios Towers. We would like to pass on our thanks to all those that have been part of the journey so far and we look forward to the next chapter of the partnership.’
Standard Bank & Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
“Standard Bank retail executive programme: A journey of discovery, innovation and growth”
Saras Govender, Head of People & Culture, Personal and Private Banking, Standard Bank Group, added, ‘It is a great privilege to receive this recognition. This accolade is a powerful affirmation of our commitment to developing leaders who can help shape the future of banking in Africa. Through the Retail Executive Programme, we have built a connected, future-ready leadership community that is applying its learning to solve real business challenges, drive innovation and create measurable impact. We are incredibly proud of the teams who brought this programme to life, and of our partnership with GIBS. Together, we share a commitment to investing in our people, strengthening our leadership pipeline and enabling the purposeful growth that supports our clients, our business and the continent we serve.’
Pravashen Pillay, Managing Executive – Corporate Education, GIBS Business School, said, ‘GIBS and Standard Bank’s long-standing partnership demonstrates how deeply contextual, immersion-based executive learning drives measurable business impact, builds future-fit leadership capability, and delivers sustained value across Africa. This Silver Award recognises a shared vision and Standard Bank’s commitment as a true learning organisation.’
Category: Professional Development
Tech Mahindra & INSEAD
“Velocity at Tech Mahindra: Turning sales capability into a multi-billion-dollar growth engine”
Richard Lobo, Chief People Officer, Tech Mahindra, expressed, ‘This recognition is a proud milestone for Tech Mahindra and a powerful validation of our belief that learning must be deeply integrated with business transformation. Velocity was built to create future-ready sales leaders who can navigate disruption, drive meaningful customer impact, and lead with agility in an increasingly dynamic global environment.’
Nathalie Nawrocki, Executive Director, Corporate Partnerships, INSEAD, said, ‘Velocity demonstrates what executive development can achieve when learning is embedded directly into business strategy. Our partnership with Tech Mahindra combines INSEAD’s academic rigour with deep diagnostics, live-deal application and strong leadership commitment to transform capability into measurable commercial impact. We are honoured that EFMD has recognised this work with a Silver Award.’
Category: Ecosystem Development
Bangkok Metropolitan Council (BMC) & Talat Phlu Metropolitan Police Station & Thammasat Business School
“Lifelong learning and future skills development system for Thailand’s silver economy: Talat Phlu”
Jirasek Wattanamongkon, Member, Bangkok Metropolitan Council (BMC), stated, ‘As a Member of the Bangkok Metropolitan Council (BMC), I am proud to see our historic
community elevated through global knowledge. This achievement proves that collaboration among communities, local authorities, and academia can create sustainable circular economy development, and I remain committed to supporting inclusive and sustainable community development with all sectors.’
Pisan Chumvijit, Chair of the Police Administration Audit and Monitoring Committee, Talat Phlu Metropolitan Police Station, Volunteer of Civil Defence Volunteers (CDV), Thonburi District, and Advisor to the Research Project on Lifelong Learning and Future Skills Development System for Thailand’s Silver Economy, added, ‘I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Dr. Duangjai and the team for entrusting me to be part of this successful initiative. I warmly congratulate the project on receiving this prestigious award, which reflects its meaningful impact and contribution to society.’
Duangjai Lorthanavanich, Assistant Professor, Project Leader and Director of the ABCD Centre (Ageing Business, Care and Innovation Development Centre), Thammasat Business School, Thammasat University, expressed, ‘Cross-sector collaboration and intergenerational learning can create lasting impact on the economic and social well-being of seniors. Through this initiative, TBS delivers business education beyond the classroom, empowering senior entrepreneurs in Bangkok’s informal economy with digital and business capabilities, while bridging generational gaps and fostering inclusive entrepreneurship, employment opportunities, and resilient communities.’
Congratulations and thank you from EFMD
Eric Cornuel, President, EFMD, congratulated the 2026 EiP Award winners, saying, ‘Warmest congratulations to the 2026 Excellence in Practice Award winners. This year’s cohort reflects what makes these awards so meaningful: partnerships between organisations and learning institutions that are genuinely committed to creating change and willing to do the careful, sustained work that real impact requires. The winning cases come from very different sectors and parts of the world, yet they share a common thread — a clear sense of purpose, a deep respect between partners, and a focus on learning that translates into lasting value for people, organisations, and society. It is in this kind of collaboration that executive development is at its most powerful, and where business schools demonstrate their continued relevance to the challenges of our time.’
Jan Ginneberge, Senior Advisor, EFMD Corporate Services, commented, ‘In these challenging times, it is more important than ever to demonstrate the value of investing in people and organisations: how these efforts are professionally designed and executed, and above all, how they fulfil their promise by delivering genuine impact. As always, I cannot thank the applicants and jury members enough for the expertise, dedication, and time they contribute — whether by formalising and sharing their projects or by carefully reviewing and evaluating the cases. Above all, I hope that many stakeholders will take the time to read the award-winning cases, draw inspiration from them, and continue investing in learning, development, and organisational growth.’
EFMD is committed to giving visibility and support to professionals across the L&D community. The winners will be celebrated at the next EFMD Executive Development Conference on 7-8 October 2026, hosted by University College Dublin.
Our sincere thanks go to all the applicants and to our jury members for their dedication throughout this year’s edition. We look forward to receiving more inspiring cases in the years to come, and we are pleased to see the quality of submissions continue to rise. Alongside the Silver Award winners, Gold Award winners were also selected from this year’s entries.
Next submission deadline: March 2027.
Executive summaries are available on the EiP Winners page—full case studies will follow in June. For submission guidelines and expressions of interest, please visit our website. If you have any questions or would like more information on the EiP awards, take a look at the EiP Overview Brief, or get in touch with Florence Gregoire.
