Nextatlas Named Finalist for the ISG EMEA Software Innovation Awards 2025

We’re proud to share that Nextatlas has been selected as one of only three finalists in the Industry category at the 2025 ISG EMEA Software Innovation Awards—a recognition reserved for technologies that meaningfully transform how entire sectors operate. The nomination highlights the deep impact of ChefAtlas, our AI-powered culinary foresight platform, and the leadership of Erich Giordano, our Head of Business Development, who co-led the system’s evolution from concept to enterprise-ready intelligence.

ISG’s Software Innovation Awards celebrate solutions that materially advance productivity, insight generation, and operational performance across complex organizations. Being shortlisted for the Industry Award signals something important: Nextatlas is not simply building tools; we are redefining what sector-specific intelligence can be.

Why ChefAtlas Was the Perfect Fit for the Industry Category

ChefAtlas is built on a defining insight: the future of food begins with the professionals who shape it. Rather than analysing consumer chatter, the platform draws intelligence from more than 45,000 verified chefs and culinary experts across 25+ markets—those who influence taste, technique, and product innovation long before trends reach the mainstream. Their real-time conversations feed directly into ChefAtlas’ 25,000-node culinary graph taxonomy, enabling the system to interpret ingredients, methods, formats, and cultural movements with unparalleled contextual depth.

This architecture—combined with advanced machine learning, natural language interaction, and human-in-the-loop validation—creates industry foresight that is precise, explainable, and grounded in real culinary practice. Within Barilla, where ChefAtlas originated, it has already transformed operations: shrinking time-to-insight from weeks to minutes, and unifying product R&D, foodservice, Academia Barilla, and marketing around a single, continuously updated foresight layer.

This combination of domain specificity, real-time signal detection, and intuitive usability is what makes ChefAtlas a standout in the Industry category. It moves organizations from reactive research to continuous intelligence—setting a new benchmark for how the food sector can understand and anticipate change, and guiding innovation at the speed of culture.

Why This Recognition Matters

Being named a finalist for the ISG EMEA Software Innovation Awards affirms the strategic direction we have taken with ChefAtlas and its role in reshaping the food industry’s relationship with data, creativity, and cultural intelligence. It acknowledges the depth of our technological approach, the tangible impact demonstrated within Barilla’s global teams, and the broader relevance of a model that blends AI with human expertise in a transparent, explainable way.

Most importantly, it signals that the market is ready for a new generation of sector-specific intelligence systems that don’t simply process information but interpret it, contextualise it, and translate it into meaningful strategic advantage. This recognition reinforces our belief that the future of enterprise foresight lies in continuous, contextual, and collaborative intelligence—and that ChefAtlas is helping chart that path.

A Recognition Shared With Our Partners

This achievement reflects the collective work of our team and our collaborators—most notably Barilla for Professionals, whose partnership was foundational in the development and validation of ChefAtlas. Together, we built not just a tool, but a new cultural operating system for food innovation.

And of course, it celebrates Erich, whose leadership was central to shaping ChefAtlas into the platform it is today. His ability to bridge strategy, technology, and human insight was described in our submission as transforming AI into “a partner for curiosity, foresight, and collaboration”—and this recognition affirms it.

Looking Ahead

Being named a finalist for the ISG EMEA Software Innovation Awards 2025 is more than an accolade; it is a milestone in our mission to reinvent how industries anticipate change. ChefAtlas is only the beginning. We are continuing to expand this framework across new sectors, refining what it means to turn cultural complexity into strategic clarity.

The future of foresight is continuous, contextual, and collaborative—and we are proud to be shaping it.

Trend lines, data, and information described in this article emerge from the ongoing analysis performed by Nextatlas on its global observation pool made of innovators, early adopters, industry insiders expressing their views on Twitter, Instagram, and Reddit.

To learn more about our AI, discover Nextatlas Methodology here