Earlybird is proud to be sponsoring the Introducing AI Award at the ERSA Employability Awards 2026. Entries close at 5pm on Friday 18 September 2026, and the winner is announced at the awards dinner following the ERSA Annual Conference on Wednesday 25 November at the Leonardo Royal London St Paul's.

What is the ERSA Introducing AI Award?

The Introducing AI Award is ERSA's category for employment support providers who have brought AI into their organisation, either to make the working day easier for frontline advisers or to improve the experience for participants. It sits alongside ERSA's other categories for frontline advisers, managers, employer partnerships and participants, and it is judged by ERSA's independent panel of sector experts.

Why Earlybird is sponsoring the Introducing AI Award

Earlybird builds AI for frontline casework in citizen services. Employment advisers, housing officers and social workers use it to get case notes, summaries and follow-ups done in minutes rather than hours. They also use it to hold an appointment in the participant's own language when English is not their first, so an ESOL participant gets the same conversation as everyone else rather than a rearranged appointment and a wait for an interpreter. Either way, more of the working day goes to the people in front of them. The work this award recognises, AI making a practical difference to advisers and participants, is the work Earlybird exists for.

Earlybird knows the category from the inside. It won Digital Solution of the Year in 2024, and in 2025 it won the Introducing AI Award jointly with Seetec, whose advisers were the people using the technology every day. Sponsoring the award in 2026 is the next step: putting Earlybird's name behind the category so that more provider teams enter, more of the sector sees what AI adoption looks like in practice, and the organisations doing this work well get recognised for it.

Here is what Earlybird is doing as sponsor. Earlybird is funding the Introducing AI category at the ERSA Employability Awards 2026. Claudine Adeyemi-Adams, Earlybird's co-founder and CEO, presents the award at the dinner on 25 November. The Earlybird team will be at the ERSA Annual Conference during the day, and after the awards Earlybird will share the winning team's story with its own network so that it reaches beyond the room.

Claudine's story: why this award is close to us

Claudine Adeyemi-Adams left home at 16. As a young person she relied on citizen support services, the same kind of provision that fills the room at an ERSA conference.

She went on to spend over 15 years designing and delivering those services through local and Central Government contracts. Before Earlybird she founded CareerEar, a digital careers platform that supported thousands of career-seekers from overlooked communities. She is now co-founder and CEO of Earlybird.

"The girl who grew up watching public systems shape her family's opportunities would never have imagined one day being asked to help shape them back."
Claudine Adeyemi-Adams, co-founder and CEO, Earlybird

That is why an award for AI on the frontline sits close to Earlybird. The advisers this category celebrates are doing the job Claudine once did, for people in the position she was once in. Handing the award to one of their teams on 25 November is the most direct way Earlybird can say that the work matters.

Who can enter the Introducing AI category

Any employment support provider using AI in frontline delivery can enter. That includes prime contractors, subcontractors, local authority employment teams, charities and social enterprises. The category is about the organisation and the team that put AI to work, and the difference it made to advisers and participants.

Entries are welcome whether the work was led by an in-house team or delivered with a technology partner. ERSA has also noted in past years that a good share of winners were nominated by another organisation, so a partner or commissioner can put a provider forward.

How to enter and what ERSA asks for

Entries go through ERSA's awards page. ERSA's guidance on evidence is consistent across every category: examples, case studies or delivery statistics that show the work as an exemplar. For the Introducing AI category, that means describing what advisers or participants were dealing with before, what was introduced, what changed afterwards, and how the organisation knows.

Supporting material such as data, adviser feedback or a short video can be submitted alongside the written entry. Check the entry form on ERSA's awards page for the current format and word limits before you write.

Entries close at 5pm on Friday 18 September 2026. Finalists are announced on Monday 5 October. The winner is announced on 25 November.

Key dates for the ERSA Employability Awards 2026

• Entries close: 5pm, Friday 18 September 2026
• Finalists announced: Monday 5 October 2026
• ERSA Annual Conference and awards dinner: Wednesday 25 November 2026, Leonardo Royal London St Paul's

Enter the Introducing AI Award

If your organisation has put AI to work for frontline advisers or participants, enter the Introducing AI category before 5pm on Friday 18 September. Entry details and the form are on ERSA's awards page. Tickets for the ERSA Annual Conference and awards dinner on 25 November are also available through ERSA, and Earlybird will see you there.