TrendAI Names 2026 Cybersecurity Excellence Award Winners Across Five Categories
TrendAI, the enterprise business unit of Trend Micro Incorporated, has announced the recipients of its 2026 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards, honoring customer organizations worldwide in five categories. Winners include Dole Food Company, SoftBank, Pegasystems and Cape Cod Healthcare.
- TrendAI announced the 2026 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards on Oct. 29, covering five categories.
- Categories are Innovator, Visionary, Cyber Defender, Ambassador and AI Trailblazer.
- Winners include Dole Food Company, SoftBank, Pegasystems, Cape Cod Healthcare and Taiwan Mobile.
- CEO Rachel Jin called cyber resilience "a competitive advantage" rather than a compliance checkbox.
- Dole's Florian Zeeb said security needs a seat at the table when AI is adopted.
Five categories, organizations from around the world
According to TrendAI, the annual awards celebrate organizations for their leadership, innovation and excellence in cybersecurity. The company announced the 2026 recipients on Oct. 29 from Dallas.
The winners are grouped into five categories:
- Innovator, for organizations introducing new ideas, technologies or approaches that meaningfully advance cybersecurity: Sun Chemical; Taiwan Mobile; MITSUI SUMITOMO INSURANCE Agency Service; Qassim University.
- Visionary, for organizations transforming a bold cybersecurity vision into measurable progress: Pegasystems; SoftBank.
- Cyber Defender, for an exceptional commitment to protecting people, operations and digital environments: Keller ISD; Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture (MEWA); Servico de Salud de las Baleras (IBSalut).
- Ambassador, for leaders championing stronger cybersecurity practices across their industries and communities: Cape Cod Healthcare; Anglicare Victoria; Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board.
- AI Trailblazer, which highlights an individual advancing the responsible and effective use of AI in cybersecurity: Dole Food Company; Pets at Home; International SOS Assistance UK Limited; Rural Servicios Informáticos.
The list spans industries such as chemicals, telecoms, insurance, education, healthcare, retail and government, and organizations from several regions.
TrendAI's framing: resilience as a business advantage
TrendAI said cybersecurity is no longer only about preventing compromise. In its words, organizations that manage it well strengthen customer trust, enable digital transformation and gain a competitive edge, and the 2026 recipients show what that looks like in practice.
Rachel Jin, CEO of TrendAI, described the winners as "the next generation of security-first leaders who understand that cyber resilience is not a compliance checkbox, but a competitive advantage." She added that these customers have turned threat intelligence into innovation and woven security into business strategy.
What the winners say
Florian Zeeb, Director of Global Information Security at Dole Food Group, focused on AI adoption. "Security needs a seat at the table when AI is adopted, not a review at the end," he said, adding that this is how the company makes sure AI is used securely and ethically. He credited support from management and teams, and said the recognition belongs to them as much as to him.
Takashi Hara, Manager at SoftBank, said the company is committed to advancing cybersecurity as a foundation for social and industrial transformation through technologies including AI. He said SoftBank will keep tackling emerging security risks tied to growing AI adoption, strengthen its governance frameworks, and advance AI-driven threat detection and analysis as well as the sophistication of its security operations.
Liviu Groza, Director Information Security at Cape Cod Healthcare, linked the award to the value his organization places on cybersecurity and to TrendAI's ability to operate in a diverse and sensitive field like healthcare. He pointed to organizational backing at all levels and TrendAI's "feature rich product suite."
About TrendAI and what the awards signal
TrendAI describes itself as the global AI security leader and the enterprise business unit of Trend Micro, which is listed in Tokyo under the code 4704. According to the company, it is trusted by large enterprises and governments across 185 countries, and Global Fortune 500 companies rely on it to stop threats up to 115 days earlier. It also cites ecosystem partnerships with NVIDIA, Anthropic, AWS, Google and Microsoft.
The awards are a customer recognition program run by the vendor, so they mainly show how TrendAI wants to present its customers' work: security tied to business outcomes and to the safe use of AI. Several of the statements, notably those from Dole and SoftBank, reflect how security teams are positioning themselves in AI adoption, as early participants in decisions rather than reviewers at the end. The source does not give judging criteria or selection details.
