Vermillio, Time and Critical Mass are Digiday AI Awards finalists
Across the media, marketing and advertising industries, organizations continue to embrace innovative uses of artificial intelligence — setting new standards for creative and ethical use of AI. The finalists for the 2025 Digiday AI Awards are demonstrating tangible success through their AI efforts, from empowerment and accessibility to global reach and inclusivity.
For instance, in the Most Responsible Use of AI category, nominees include Vermillio, an AI licensing and protection platform that empowers talent, studios, labels and other IP holders to safeguard their work in the era of generative AI. Built around its proprietary TraceID technology, Vermillio gives creators control over how their content is used while enabling them to safely tap into AI’s potential. In 2024 alone, the company removed more than 130,000 unauthorized AI-generated pieces of content, delisted harmful sites from search engines and launched 4C Verified, a free NIL protection service designed to return power to creators.
Among the finalists in the Most Innovative Use of AI by a Publisher category is Time. The 102-year-old global media brand, which reaches more than 120 million people worldwide, debuted Time AI, an interactive generative AI experience, in December 2024. Developed in partnership with Scale AI, and other strategic partners such as OpenAI and ElevenLabs, Time AI allows users to ask questions, explore historical context and receive accurate, in-depth information based on verified Time articles and archives. The platform is designed for focused, meaningful conversations, with robust guardrails to ensure accuracy, safety and alignment with Time’s editorial standards.
And Critical Mass is one of the nominees in the Best AI-Driven Campaign category. The agency worked with Lipton to revitalize the ready-to-drink category in Latin America with a campaign targeting Gen Z consumers in Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala and Chile. The brand localized its global identity to reflect the diverse, expressive lifestyles of Latin American youth while reinforcing its refreshing flavor profile. The campaign achieved remarkable impact across digital, sampling and OOH channels. Lipton surpassed reach and engagement goals on Meta, YouTube and TikTok while executing a standout sampling program with Rappi and Ze Delivery.
Altogether, the work the judges nominated in 2025 demonstrates how publishers and marketers continue to pioneer approaches to AI.
See the complete list of finalists below.
AI Leader of the Year
- Wesley ter Haar
- Alon Yamin, CEO, Copyleaks
- Digital Culture Group’s AI-Powered Audience Resonance Index™
- Brandtech’s Rebecca Sykes
- Acxiom & Graham Wilkinson – Building the Industry’s AI OS
- Dr. Aaron Andalman, The Neuroscientist Evolving Ad Tech
Best AI Tool
- Akkio + Horizon Media – Co-Development of AI Platform
- Attentive for OLLY – Email & SMS AI-Driven Marketing Success
- Canva
- Coactive AI – Multimodal Application Platform
- CommerceIQ Launches Ally – Your AI teammate for commerce
- Spreetail – SmartShelf: AI-Powered Digital Shelf Agility
Best AI-Driven Campaign
- 270B & Avocados From Mexico – Call Gronk on the Guacline
- Critical Mass & Lipton: Shadows Campaign
- DDB, Critical Mass & Starburst: Different Every Time
- How AI outperformed industry benchmarks for Califia Farms
- McDonald’s dominates breakfast using an AI Agent
- St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital: The Art of Hope
Best Internal Use of AI
- AI Creator Residency: Scaling Innovation Across 7,000 Staff
- Beeby Clark + Meyler — Ventas AI for Advertising
- Digital Culture Group’s AI-Powered Audience Resonance Index™
- Illumio – Best Internal Use of AI to Transform Marketing Ops
- Lemonlight’s Hero, AI-Powered Video Platform
- MMA Global & Monks’ A3 Initiative: Dave.com & Choice Hotels
Best Use of AI in Marketing Analytics
- Amperity’s Identity Resolution Agent
- Fandom’s FanDNA Helix
- Inmar Intelligence’s Fitscore for Smarter Creator Campaigns
- MMA Global, AT&T & GM: Consortium for AI Personalization
- Radiant Digital – Scoring Intent
- Vidmob’s AI Analytics Predicts Kellanova’s Ad Performance
Most Innovative Use of AI by a Brand
- Wistia’s AI Translation Feature
- Live Bright by Thai Life Insurance and VML Group/Mirum
- Marketeam.ai – Autonomous AI Agents Seeking Work Go Viral
- Let’s Story! by Applaydu: Innovative AI eBook Platform
- 106.3 The Fizz FM – Powered by Slice Healthy Soda
- MMA Global & AT&T: Consortium for AI Personalization
Most Innovative Use of AI by a Publisher
- Only In Your State – Launch of Editorially-Curated AI Tools
- BCG & Bloomberg Media Studios – The CEO Radar
- TIME – Launch of TIME AI
- Future x Who What Wear – ISA: Intelligent Shopping Assistant
- Newsquest’s AI-Assisted Reporter Initiative
- Spectrum Reach & Waymark Partnership
Most Innovative Use of AI by an Agency
- Monks’ AI Recruitment Chatbot “WesleyBot”
- Jellyfish – AI-powered transformation
- Smarter AI, Stronger Brands: Crealytics’ 2025 Impact
- 106.3 The Fizz FM – powered by Slice Healthy Soda
- Viral Nation
Most Responsible Use of AI
- Brandtech’s Bias Breaker: mitigating bias in AI assets
- SeeMe Index
- Let’s Story! by Applaydu: Innovative AI eBook Platform
- Vermillio: Building the Guardrails for the Generative AI Era
- Bria’s Visual Generative AI Platform-as-a-Service
- Democratizing Intelligence: Horizon Media’s Responsible AI
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