The Digital Shaper title is an award called a “digital Oscar” in the technology community. It is awarded to people with exceptional courage, vision and determination who set directions for technological development, promote future competences and create solutions that compete on international markets. The selection of the winners was decided by an independent jury – Digital Academy – which this year has over 260 members.
This year, awards were granted in six key categories: digital education, digital transformation, innovation and technology, investments, visionary and cooperation.
— The ideal Digital Shaper, in my opinion, is much more than just an innovator, creator or enthusiast of new technologies. Above all, he is a leader, a practitioner, even a man of action ready for change. A person who can turn a digital vision into real, measurable results. In the context of the 8th edition of the competition, which I have the honor to chair, we were looking for personalities who not only follow trends, but actively shape them. A Digital Shaper is someone who understands that technology is a tool for solving specific business and social problems – comments Robert Pławiak, chairman of the Digital Academy of the 8th edition of the Digital Shapers list, chief digital & IT officer at Zakłady Farmaceutyczne Polpharma.
The trends of this year's edition were commented by Dr. Michał Boni, president of the Digital Poland Foundation: – This year's edition of Digital Shapers clearly shows that the Polish technology sector is entering a phase of deep maturity. On the one hand, we see a huge, practical boom in artificial intelligence – this year's winners are the creators of global unicorns developing AI models and advanced assistants, but also educators fighting disinformation and deepfakes. On the other hand, deep tech and bio-tech companies shine on the list, solving fundamental problems of humanity. The ranking for 2025 proves that Polish intellectual capital can phenomenally combine breakthrough science with hard business and measurable social impact.
Full list of Digital Shapers 2025 winners in individual categories
Education
- Sylwia Czubkowskajournalist – awarded for her outstanding contribution to media education, demythologizing big technologies, publishing the book “God Techy” and co-hosting the Techstorie podcast.
- Patryk Zakrzewskiboard member, Demagogue Association – recognized for the strategic development of the Fact-checking Academy, in particular education in the field of recognizing deepfakes and manipulations generated by AI.
- Tomasz Karwatkaco-founder, Catch The Tornado – awarded for educational activities for Polish technology entrepreneurs and systematic sharing of unique knowledge about business scaling. In 2025, Tomasz Karwatka became a mentor for thousands of founders, publishing the groundbreaking book “The 5. The first five years of running a company”, which rejects startup “icing” in favor of brutally honest, practical knowledge about building an organization that will stand the test of time.
- Katarzyna StarosławskaBielik.ai – awarded for the creation of the Bielik Squadron initiative, under which over 1,300 developers across Poland learned how to build AI agents in practice.
Digital Shapers 2025 in the “Education” category
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Digital Poland Foundation / own archive
Innovations and Technologies
- Andrzej AntonCEO and co-founder of AutoPay – CEO and co-founder of Autopay, awarded for building a European recurring payments infrastructure and implementing biometric HandGo terminals.
- prof. Agnieszka Dobrzyńdirector, Institute of Experimental Biology M. Nencki PAN – appreciated for creating the breakthrough PreT2D sensor enabling early diagnosis of type 2 diabetes from a single drop of blood.
- Piotr Garsteckipresident, Scope Fluidics – awarded for the company and the Bacteromic diagnostic system, supporting the fight against antibiotic resistance.
Digital Shapers 2025 in the “Innovation and Technologies” category
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Digital Poland Foundation / own archive
Investments
- Mati Staniszewski and Piotr Dąbkowskifounders of ElevenLabs – creators of the global leader in the field of AI voice generation, awarded for finalizing a financing round that valued the company at USD 11 billion.
- Rafał Modrzewskipresident, ICEYE — recognized for obtaining nearly EUR 200 million of new funds at a valuation of approximately EUR 2.4 billion.
- Kacper Nowickipresident, Nomagic — honored for raising USD 44 million in financing for a Warsaw startup creating artificial intelligence-controlled warehouse robots.
Digital Shapers 2025 in the “Investments” category
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Digital Poland Foundation / own archive
Digital transformation
- Jaromir Pelczarskivice-president of the management board, chief transformation officer, Diagnostyka SA – awarded for transforming the largest network of laboratories into an integrated health management platform and implementing an innovative application with an AI assistant.
- Adam Sawickigroup senior vice president – digital, TVN Warner Bros. Discovery – recognized for its “Shoppable TV” project, which shortens the shopping path by connecting broadcast content with matching products using QR codes.
- Paweł Orlofpresident, Veolia Energia Warszawa – awarded for implementing the Intelligent District Heating Network 2.0 project and creating a “digital twin” of the network, which allows for proactive optimization of energy consumption.
Digital Shapers 2025 in the “Digital Transformation” category
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Digital Poland Foundation / own archive
Visionary
- prof. Piotr Sankowskidirector, IDEAS Research Institute – honored for connecting the worlds of science, technology and economy for years and showing how AI is the foundation for competitiveness.
- prof. Włodzisław DuchNicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń – awarded for decades of pioneering work on the integration of neurocognitive science with AI, which led to the construction of highly interpretable and “empathetic” systems.
- Marianna Sidoroffdirector, Ministry of Development and Technology – appreciated for creating policies supporting the digital transformation of the economy and systemic impact on the functioning of the national digital market.
Digital Shapers 2025 in the “Visionary” category
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Digital Poland Foundation / own archive
Cooperation
- Piotr Nowosielskipresident, Aula Polska — awarded for reactivating the Polish startup ecosystem by restoring the substantive character and space for inclusive networking to the Aula Polska format.
- Włodzimierz Marcińskileader, Broad Alliance for Digital Skills (SPRUC) – recognized for creating a cross-sectoral platform connecting business, administration and education for digital competences in Poland.
- Paulina Muszyńskamanager of Startup Wroclaw, co-founder of Wrocław Tech Business Angels Club, CEO & co-founder of TechSHEroes, chairwoman of the board of the Startup Poland Foundation – awarded for building one of the most active startup ecosystems in Wrocław and for activities promoting the presence of women in new technologies.
Organizer and partners of the Digital Shapers 2025 List
The partners of the 8th edition of the Digital Shapers List are: Baker McKenzie, Fujitsu, Polpharma, Ringier Axel Springer Polska, Symfonia, T-Mobile Polska, TVN Warner Bros. Discovery, Visa. Patronage: Baker McKenzie.
The Digital Poland Foundation was established to increase the competitiveness of the Polish economy, with particular emphasis on the area of high technologies and spreading economic awareness in society, as well as promoting the idea of innovation, entrepreneurship and responsible development. He promotes knowledge about the role of innovation and digitalization in the country's economic development. It brings together companies and organizations from various industries, encouraging them to cooperate on specific projects. The mission of the Foundation is to position Poland as a leading center of digital innovation in the world.
Honorary Awards of the TIME Economic Forum
During the 18th edition of the TIME Economic Forum, honorary awards were also presented, organized by the National Chamber of Commerce for Electronics and Telecommunications. The first distinction went to the Office of Electronic Communications, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The institution was honored for: “a key contribution to the development of a modern, secure and competitive electronic communications market in Poland.” The second Honorary Award was awarded to the Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Microelectronics and Photonics on the occasion of its 60th anniversary. The Institute was recognized for six decades of research and development in the areas of microelectronics and photonics – fields that constitute the foundation of modern technologies used, among others, in telecommunications, energy, medicine, industry and space technologies.
