🏆 Romanian Business Services Gala Awards celebrated its Winners for the 2026 Edition

On May 21, the business services industry in Romania awarded its FINALISTS & WINNERS for their performances registered in the past business year, within the 12th edition of ROMANIAN BUSINESS SERVICES GALA AWARDS 2026 at InterContinental Athénée Palace Bucharest.

THE BUSINESS SERVICES AWARDS GALA, now in its 12th edition, is an elite event and a platform to recognize, reward and celebrate the success of the most prominent companies, projects and individuals acting in the business shared services field in Romania. Based on rigorously researched information and a Judging Panel formed of prominent names in business, the Gala Awards established itself as a must-attend in your Romanian Gala Awards event calendar.

Created 12 years ago, Outsourcing Today, the online platform dedicated to the business services industry’s community, reconfirms today its mission to deliver the newsworthy of the industry and business to readers and companies.

Over the past 12 years, the industry of business services saw a foremost transformation, in line with the other industries, and, despite all the challenges we encountered, it escalated the complexity of its services and generated business performance, thousands of hirings, innovation and business transformation.

Fast forwarding to this day, we witnessed an industry leap and transformation to a mature market with an important headcount, turnover and increasing complexity of services.

So, today, we take great pride and joy to join as a trustful and relevant media platform and keep close to the business services industry, and we are looking forward to a thriving business community!

THE WINNERS OF 2026 Edition are:

BEST CUSTOMER CENTRIC INITIATIVE            

The first awarded project represents a landmark achievement in financial crime prevention led by the awarded company for France’s largest life insurance company. Starting with a 10-person Romanian team, the initiative rapidly scaled to 60 specialists within four months while maintaining exceptional quality and compliance standards.

Through the creation of an internal Money Laundering Academy and process standardization, the team achieved an 80% efficiency gain and successfully cleared 120,000 sanctions alerts in just two months.

The program expanded into fraud investigations and Enhanced Due Diligence, resolving a three-year fraud backlog with 100% quality and completing 3,500 high-risk investigations.

🏆The winner is ACCENTURE ROMANIA for Transforming financial crime risk into regulatory strength

BEST UNIVERSITY-BUSINESS COOPERATION PROJECT

For this category, we award an academic collaboration that redefined academia–industry partnership by transforming traditional learning into a hands-on, business-driven experience that equipped students with real-world operational skills while strengthening workforce readiness in the Business Services sector.

Through its innovative, practice-based model and 100% project completion rate, the initiative delivered measurable impact for both students and the private company, enhancing employability, employer branding, and long-term talent pipeline development.

This category awards the collaboration between WIPRO ROMANIA &

The FEAA Iași University (The Faculty of Economics and Business Administration)

BEST WELLBEING INITIATIVE 

The awarded program for this category transformed the employee wellbeing into a scalable, employee-driven culture ecosystem, empowering over 3,000 employees through initiatives centered on Body, Mind, Soul, and social impact.

Driven by a unique network of 25 internal ambassadors, the program fostered belonging, inclusion, and collaboration across hybrid teams and multiple locations, contributing significantly to employee satisfaction and the company’s recognition as a Best Place to Work.

🏆The winner is TP ROMANIA for The Feel Good Legacy: Building a TP Ambassadors Wellbeing Ecosystem

CSR INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR               

The awarded program for this category is a high-impact citizenship program that unites corporate resources, employee expertise, and NGO partnerships to address some of Romania’s most critical social and environmental challenges through education, inclusion, employability, and sustainability initiatives.

In 2025 alone, the program exceeded all objectives by supporting over 17,000 beneficiaries and engaging more than 1,600 employee volunteers, demonstrating an innovative, community-driven model that creates lasting social impact while strengthening a culture of purpose, collaboration, and responsibility.

🏆The winner is SOCIETE GENERALE GLOBAL SOLUTION CENTRE for We Care Together program.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR                         

The awarded project transformed the company’s observability ecosystem through a rapid, automation-first migration from a legacy log analytics platform to a scalable, future-ready Observability architecture, completed in just one month without disrupting critical operations.

By successfully migrating thousands of endpoints, dashboards, and alerts while delivering €7 million in savings, the initiative established a resilient foundation for AI-driven operations, improved governance, and sustainable large-scale digital transformation across the company’s markets.

🏆The winner is VOIS ROMANIA for Project Dune

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IMPACT AWARD             

The awarded project transformed generational diversity into a strategic business asset by creating an innovative, scalable framework for continuous collaboration, reverse mentoring, and cross-generational learning.

Engaging more than 950 employees globally, the initiative strengthened leadership adaptability, technology adoption, and organizational alignment while proving that impactful cultural transformation can be achieved through employee-driven collaboration and zero dedicated financial investment.

🏆The winner is WIPRO ROMANIA for The Generational Advantage project

L&D INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR

The following L&D initiative redefined early-career talent development by creating an immersive, AI-driven learning ecosystem that combines recruitment, hands-on training, real business challenges, and direct deployment into commercial projects.

By attracting over 2,900 applicants, hiring and training 312 future-ready professionals, and delivering 48 industry-focused MVPs, the initiative established a scalable model for building AI-native talent while accelerating business readiness, innovation, and long-term competitiveness in the digital economy.

🏆The winner is ENDAVA ROMANIA for DAVA.X Academy Program

TOP DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION SERVICES PROVIDER         

The awarded company delivers an AI-first enterprise modernization platform that integrates automation, cloud, analytics, and cybersecurity to drive measurable performance gains across global organizations.

By enabling up to 85% productivity improvements, 10× faster data processing, and significantly accelerated decision-making, the initiative sets a new benchmark for scalable, secure, and intelligent digital transformation in the Business Services sector.

🏆The winner is STEFANINI DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION SERVICES

TEAM LEADER OF THE YEAR  

The awarded manager at this category exemplifies high-impact leadership in the company, combining operational excellence with a strong commitment to ESG, employee experience, and community engagement.

Through her coordination of complex multi-brand events and leadership of 11 ESG initiatives involving over 340 volunteers, she has delivered measurable social impact while strengthening workplace culture, operational efficiency, and the organization’s standing as a leading employer and community partner.

🏆The winner is SIMONA GRIGORAȘ, Workplace Experience Team Lead of Booking Holdings Romania

HR MANAGER OF THE YEAR

The following leader has redefined HR as a strategic business enabler by embedding psychological safety, internal mobility, and talent development into the organization’s core operating model, driving stronger retention and performance in a highly competitive talent market.

Through impactful initiatives such as the Fearless Organization Scan, large-scale career transparency programs, and a high-performing mentoring framework, she has delivered measurable improvements in employee engagement, talent acquisition, and organizational resilience while actively shaping industry dialogue on the future of work.

🏆The winner is LAURA BUȘU, HR Director of Michelin CBS Bucharest

CEO OF THE YEAR       

Under the management of the following awarded CEO, the company’s leadership appointments reflect a strategic strengthening of its global outsourcing division, reinforcing its position as a technology-driven partner in customer experience and business process services across multiple industries.

With deep operational expertise and a strong focus on AI-enabled transformation, the organization continues to scale global delivery capabilities, enhance client outcomes, and drive measurable improvements in efficiency, service quality, and customer experience excellence.

🏆The winner is VLADIMIR STERESCU, President of Global Outsourcing Division of CGS

VISIONARY COMPANY AWARD          

The awarded company for this special category demonstrated sustained strategic growth in 2025 by expanding into new international markets, strengthening operational excellence, and reinforcing its position as a leading employer in the business services industry.

Through strong leadership and a continued focus on people development, employee experience, and operational efficiency, the company achieved measurable growth in workforce, revenue, and market reach while building a future-ready and globally competitive organization.

🏆The winner is TP ROMANIA

BRAND OF THE YEAR 

The most voted brand this year is for a company that strengthened its position as a leading technology center of excellence by expanding its national footprint through the opening of a new office in Iași, reinforcing its role in delivering advanced IT services across Vodafone’s global ecosystem.

With a strong focus on software engineering, cloud, data, and cybersecurity, the initiative drives sustained growth, talent development, and innovation while further consolidating VOIS Romania as one of the largest and most dynamic IT&C employers in the region.

🏆Brand of the Year at this edition is VOIS ROMANIA

NEW ENTRY ON THE MARKET AWARD

The new entry award goes to a company that marks a strategic milestone in the Group’s global digital transformation journey, establishing a new capability center to support secure, scalable, and compliant IT services across its international operations.

By leveraging local tech talent to deliver expertise in cloud, ERP, AI, and data governance, the initiative strengthens operational resilience, accelerates digital innovation, and reinforces Equans’ position as a global leader in energy and services transformation.

🏆The winner is EQUANS IT ROMANIA

MOST TRANSFORMED WORKPLACE

The awarded company at this category has evolved into a high-performance regional hub combining AI-driven transformation, multilingual service delivery, and advanced capability centers across CX, Financial Crime & Compliance, and Trust & Safety for over 2,000 global clients.

By embedding AI into operations, scaling specialized Centers of Excellence, and building a future-ready workforce through large-scale upskilling and internal mobility, the organization delivers measurable gains in efficiency, talent retention, and operational excellence while setting a new standard for intelligent, human-centered business services.

🏆The winner is CONCENTRIX ROMANIA

EMPLOYER OF THE YEAR (under 800 employees)

The awarded company is a digital engineering hub with over 500 specialists in Iași and Timișoara, delivering AI, cloud, and software development services for industries like automotive, finance, and media. 

In 2025, the company is scaling toward 1,000+ employees while focusing on cloud, DevOps, and data-driven engineering, alongside community initiatives in STEM education, women in tech, and regional innovation partnerships.

🏆The winner is NESS DIGITAL ENGINEERING ROMANIA

EMPLOYER OF THE YEAR (over 800 employees)

This award goes to a company that is building a future-ready, AI-enabled workforce by combining large-scale multilingual service delivery with advanced capabilities in Customer Experience, Financial Crime & Compliance, and Trust & Safety across 7 locations and more than 2,500 employees.

Through 100% AI readiness accreditation, strong internal mobility, and a data-driven engagement ecosystem that integrates wellbeing, culture, and learning, the organization delivers measurable gains in retention, performance, and operational excellence while transforming careers at scale in complex, regulated global environments.

🏆The winner is CONCENTRIX ROMANIA at this category

BUSINESS SERVICES COMPANY OF THE YEAR (under 800 employees)

We award at this category a company that is a Bucharest-based shared service hub supporting the Group with HR, procurement, automation, and digital transformation services, increasingly focused on AI, RPA, and data-driven operations.

In 2025, the organization strengthened its shift from traditional shared services to a strategic digital partner by expanding capabilities in network engineering, analytics, and cloud, while investing heavily in employee development through structured leadership and AI-driven learning programs.

🏆The winner is DEUTSCHE TELEKOM SERVICES EUROPE ROMANIA

BUSINESS SERVICES COMPANY OF THE YEAR (over 800 employees)

The awards series of this evening summits with an award for a company that delivers large-scale AI, automation, and digital transformation services across industries such as automotive and financial services, with over 5,500 employees driving complex programs from Bucharest and regional hubs.

In 2025, it strengthened its leadership in GenAI-enabled transformation and talent development, while expanding major projects in automotive procurement, financial crime prevention, and sustainability, alongside large-scale education and inclusion initiatives like Digital Skills Academy and MentorAct.  

🏆The winner is ACCENTURE ROMANIA

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