DevOps Dozen, an annual recognition program, has announced the opening of nominations. The awards acknowledge contributions and innovations in the DevOps community, focusing this year on AI, platform engineering, and secure software supply chains. The awards are divided into two categories: Community and Tools & Services, with a total of 24 awards.

What’s New and Important

Community nominations are open and free of charge. For Tools & Services, a fee of $300 is required to prevent spam and ensure serious submissions. If a submission does not make it to the finalist stage, the fee is refunded. Each commercial category is limited to 10 finalists. Final selection combines public voting (40%) and judges’ evaluation (60%).

Award Categories

Community Awards (9)

• Top DevOps Community Evangelist
• Most Innovative DevOps Open Source Project
• DevOps Enterprise Leader of the Year
• Best DevOps.com Article of the Year
• Best DevOps-Related Video or Audio Podcast
• Best DevOps Survey/ Research/Report
• Best DevOps Event of the Year
• Best DevOps Book of the Year
• Best Application of AI in Enterprise DevOps Practices

Tools & Services Awards (15)

• Best application of Agentic AI in a DevOps Tool/Platform
• Best New DevOps Service Provider
• Best New DevOps Tool
• Best DevOps for DataOps/Database Solution
• Best DevOps for Mainframe Solution
• Best Testing Service/Tool
• Best Platform Engineering Solution
• Best DevSecOps Solution
• Best Observability Solution
• Best Supply Chain Security Solution
• Top DevOps Vendor Evangelist
• Best application of Generative AI in a DevOps Tool/Platform
• Best End-to-End DevOps Platform
• DevOps Industry Leader of the Year
• Best DevOps Industry Implementation

Process Overview

• Nominations: Open to the public. A $300 fee applies for Tools & Services nominations, while Community nominations are free.
• Finalists: Limited to 10 per commercial category. If not selected as a finalist, the fee is refunded.
• Winners: Determined by a 40/60 blend of public votes and judges’ scores.

Judging Panel

The judging panel includes:

• Alan Shimel — CEO, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Techstrong Group, Inc.
• Mitchell Ashley — VP & Practice Lead, Software Lifecycle Engineering, Futurum
• Tracy Ragan — OpenSSF and CDF Board Member
• Garima Bajpai — Senior DevOps Leader and Advisor
• Ketan Jani — Staff Site Reliability Engineer, Apple Inc

Key Dates

• Nominations: Open now and run through mid-October.
• Finalists: Announced soon after; voting begins immediately thereafter.
• Winners: Announced at Predict 2026, the annual tech kickoff event.

Importance of the Awards

The DevOps Dozen awards are designed to recognize outstanding contributions that drive efficiency, security, and innovation within the DevOps ecosystem.

Call to Action

Nominations are open through mid-October. Submit your nominations to recognize standout DevOps talent and innovations.