The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCKT), a global leader in generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) consulting and business advisory, has announced the winners of its landmark 2025 Hackett Innovation Awards, recognizing top organizations redefining business process excellence through cutting-edge AI implementation.

The honorees—Bosch, BT International, Johnson & Johnson, McCormick & Company, Roche Turkiye, and Schneider Electric—have demonstrated extraordinary vision and execution in deploying AI to deliver competitive advantages and measurable value in their industries. The awards, judged by senior Hackett Group leaders and AI experts, spotlight rapid progress from pilot experimentation to enterprise-scale digital transformation.

AI at the Heart of Enterprise Transformation

According to Vin Kumar, Hackett Group principal and award judge, the 2025 submissions mark a shift from AI pilots to full-scale implementation, with organizations leveraging Gen AI and automation agents to overhaul key operations. “These companies aren’t just adopting AI – they’re building intelligent systems that solve real business problems at scale,” Kumar remarked.

Key trends evident among the winners include:

• Hyper-automation at scale: End-to-end AI automation is accelerating cycle times and eliminating repetitive manual processes, enabling rapid return on investment.
• Domain-specific innovation: AI is solving industry-specific challenges—from industrial procurement to pharmaceutical operations—unlocking fresh performance frontiers.
• Quantifiable results: Every winner achieved meaningful ROI within 3-12 months, with some projects surpassing 2,500% in return—an unprecedented feat in enterprise tech deployment.

Spotlight on 2025 Innovation Award Winners

Bosch: Revolutionizing Invoice-to-Pay with Agentic AI

Category: Purchase-to-Pay

Bosch deployed an AI-powered agent to streamline the company’s Invoice-to-Pay (I2P) Customer Service Center, which contends with nearly 500,000 inquiries annually. The AI solution automates response workflows by intelligently searching Bosch’s 40 SAP instances to retrieve invoicing information, reducing response times for up to 80% of cases to just a few minutes. Within four months of launch in late 2024, the system handled 20% of cases autonomously—with a projected 80% by late 2025. This large-scale automation highlights Bosch’s commitment to sustainable, user-centric digital products and operational excellence.

BT International and Wipro: Predictive AI for Order-to-Cash Optimization

Category: Order-to-Cash

Facing significant delays and backlogs in order fulfillment, BT International, in partnership with Wipro, implemented machine learning models capable of predicting order issues with over 85% accuracy. This approach resulted in a 29% reduction in order backlog and a dramatic improvement in right-first-time delivery (96%). The project has already realized $83.9 million in annualized benefits, achieving an extraordinary ROI of over 26,000%. Such results are positioning BT International as a digital leader in telecommunications, setting new standards for global order management efficiencies.

Johnson & Johnson: Building a Gen AI Center of Excellence

Category: AI/Automation Center of Excellence

Johnson & Johnson’s JAIDA (J&J Artificial Intelligence Digital Assistant) program, launched in 2020, evolved into a mature Gen AI platform with broad process improvement mandates. Operating across 11 business functions, JAIDA deploys a five-stage automation methodology designed for measurable value and employee experience enhancement. Executives anticipate payback for individual use cases within 12 to 18 months, as the company positions itself for future, AI-driven innovation and growth.

McCormick & Company: Predictive Procurement Excellence with Project IRMA

Category: Source-to-Purchase

As a leader in the global flavor and seasoning industry—and a significant agricultural goods purchaser—McCormick & Company transformed its procurement strategy via the IRMA (Iconic Raw Materials Analytics) AI system. IRMA integrates machine learning insights from agricultural, financial, and weather datasets to optimize buying cycles, ensuring supply resilience and sharpening the company’s competitive position. Since implementation, IRMA delivered consistent efficiency gains, cementing McCormick’s reputation for agile, data-driven supply chain management.

Roche Turkiye: AI for Life-saving Oncology Advancement

Category: Business Operations

Roche Turkiye’s Clinical Data Platform for Oncology leverages AI agents to standardize and improve breast cancer treatment nationwide. During a four-month pilot, 25% of patients received more effective care following AI-driven treatment recommendations. Enrollments by clinicians grew 50% over the next four months, and financial returns exceeded 2,500%, mainly through the health and economic benefits of earlier, better care. This initiative exemplifies AI’s evolving role not just in business performance but life-saving healthcare delivery.

Schneider Electric: Advanced Cost Analytics for Global Procurement

Category: Plan-to-Source-to-Make-to-Deliver

Schneider Electric developed the CAP (Cost Analytics Power) Tool, built on a Quickbase low-code platform, to enhance procurement negotiations and cost visibility. By fusing traditional ERP data with market intelligence and product composition analytics, the CAP tool now processes 30 million annual transactions and identifies major savings opportunities, with payback realized within three months. This has significantly strengthened Schneider Electric’s global sourcing strategies and supply chain resilience in the face of ongoing market disruptions as seen in recent years.

Setting the Pace for Enterprise AI Adoption

John K. Thompson, The Hackett Group’s senior vice president, highlighted that all award-winning organizations have successfully embedded AI into their core production environments. He emphasized, “We were impressed with the ability of these organizations to drive change and transformation with AI and to begin to see and plan for scaling of those solutions across their global operations.”

The results from the Hackett Innovation Award honorees align with the broader market movement: IDC has forecasted worldwide spending on AI solutions to exceed $500 billion by 2027, with more than half of large enterprises planning increased AI investments in 2025. Use cases such as intelligent automation for business processes, supply chain analytics, and AI-enhanced healthcare are among the fastest-growing segments globally.

About The Hackett Group

The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCKT) is a platform-driven, Gen AI strategic consulting and executive advisory firm enabling Digital World Class® performance. Leveraging proprietary tools such as AI XPLR™ and ZBrain™, the firm supports enterprise clients in achieving breakthrough business results with generative AI. Hackett Group’s deep industry benchmarking experience means its recommendations are grounded in data from over 90% of Fortune 100 and Dow Jones Industrial Average firms. For more information, visit www.thehackettgroup.com.