NXT officially shortlisted for 'Best Innovation with AI' at the Umbraco Awards 2026

NXT Digital Solutions has been officially shortlisted in the Best Innovation with AI category at the Umbraco Awards 2026, recognising our enterprise digital transformation of Exclusive Networks, a global cybersecurity specialist operating across 50 countries and 28 languages.

We're proud to share that Umbraco HQ has recognised the Exclusive Networks project as one of the standout examples of AI-powered Umbraco CMS development in 2025-26. For a digital agency committed to building platforms that genuinely move businesses forward, this shortlisting is a meaningful validation of our team's development skills and approach.

What are the Umbraco Awards?

The Umbraco Awards are an annual competition run by Umbraco — the open-source .NET CMS trusted by over 750,000+ websites worldwide. The awards celebrate the best work delivered by Umbraco agencies, developers, and partners across categories including innovation, accessibility, and best use of AI. Winners are selected by the Umbraco community judging panel and announced live at Codegarden, Umbraco's annual flagship conference held in Copenhagen, Denmark in June 2026. 

The Best Innovation with AI category recognises Umbraco projects that have meaningfully integrated AI tooling, not as a feature, but as a core part of delivering measurable outcomes for clients. Find NXT's nomination published today (7th April 2026) on the Umbraco Blog. 

Enterprise AI-Powered Digital Transformation

What did NXT develop for Exclusive Networks?

Exclusive Networks are a global cybersecurity distribution specialist, operating across more than 50 countries with teams managing content in 28 languages. When they approached NXT Digital Solutions, their legacy WordPress platform had become a business liability, flagging critical risks across security, SEO, and operational capability.

NXT delivered a complete enterprise digital transformation, migrating over 20,000 pages onto a purpose-built Umbraco CMS platform and one of the most complex Umbraco implementations from NXT experience due to the levels of editing management and controls. 

Key deliverables included:

• Enterprise Umbraco CMS with global-down content management across 50 websites and 26 multilingual installations
• AI automation tools integrated throughout content operations and publishing workflows
• Azure cloud infrastructure with hardened security, MFA, disaster recovery, and GDPR compliance across all domains
• HubSpot CRM integration enabling sophisticated marketing automation and lead nurturing
• AI Workday HR integration for automated job advertisement management
• Technical SEO and GEO foundations — resolving indexing failures across 1,300+ pages and establishing structured content architecture for sustained organic and AI-driven search visibility
• Modular design system supporting scalable, brand-consistent development across global markets

Why was AI central to this project?

AI automation tools were embedded at multiple layers of the platform — supporting content operations, editorial workflows, translations and translation dictionary as well as the technical SEO and GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) architecture designed to ensure Exclusive Networks' content surfaces accurately in all search experiences. 

"The combination of efficient communication, experience and knowledge made the collaboration seamless and the final product has been excellent." 
Exclusive Networks Global Marketing Team

Read the full Exclusive Networks case study → nxtds.com/work/exclusive-networks

What Is Codegarden?

Codegarden is Umbraco's annual conference — the largest gathering of the global Umbraco community. Held each summer in Copenhagen Denmark, it brings together Umbraco developers, digital agencies, content editors, and Umbraco HQ for talks, deep-dive workshops, and community connection.

This year, the Umbraco Awards 2026 winners will be announced live on the Codegarden stage on Wednesday, 10th June 2026 — in front of the entire global Umbraco community. It's one of the most visible moments in the Umbraco calendar, and being shortlisted means the Exclusive Networks project will be in the running for that recognition.

Who are NXT Digital Solutions

NXT Digital Solutions is a Guildford-based Umbraco web development agency and Microsoft Partner. We build enterprise digital platforms for complex, global organisations — from strategy and discovery through to long-term support and we've been building Umbraco projects for over 15 years.