Birdeye names 60 winners in inaugural Agentic Marketing Visionary Awards

By AI, Created 5:06 PM UTC, May 18, 2026, /AGP/ – Birdeye announced the first class of its Agentic Marketing Visionary Awards on May 14, 2026, honoring 60 marketing leaders chosen from 750 nominees. The winners come from major multi-location brands and were selected for using AI to improve local visibility, engagement, insights, and execution at scale.

Why it matters: - The awards spotlight how large, multi-location brands are moving AI from pilot projects into day-to-day marketing operations. - The program is aimed at leaders trying to scale local growth without fragmenting customer experience across hundreds or thousands of locations. - Birdeye is using the program to build a category around agentic marketing leadership, not just software adoption.

What happened: - Birdeye announced the inaugural winners of the Agentic Marketing Visionary Awards on May 14, 2026. - The first class includes 60 senior marketing leaders selected from 750 nominees. - The winners represent some of the most recognized multi-location brands in North America. - The awards are presented by The Agentic CMO Program.

The details: - Winners were evaluated independently across five areas: AI strategy maturity, operational integration, speed of adoption, measurable impact, and industry influence. - The program recognizes executives using AI to solve real business problems across visibility, engagement, customer experience, insights, and local execution. - Birdeye said the Agentic CMO Program was created to recognize, connect, and amplify forward-thinking marketing leaders in multi-location businesses. - Deepak Bahree, Birdeye chief marketing officer, said the program focuses on leaders who are turning AI into everyday execution across complex organizations. - The winners span six industry clusters: restaurants and fast food; retail; finance and insurance; healthcare, hospitality and services; automotive, transportation and technology; and specialty retail, apparel and consumer brand groups. - The represented brands include QSR, fast-casual and full-service restaurant chains; big-box, specialty, home-improvement, beauty and pharmacy retailers; banks, financial services firms and insurers; healthcare systems, hotel brands, logistics companies, fitness brands, environmental services and early childhood education providers; auto manufacturers, telecom carriers, IT services firms, mobility brands and entertainment companies; and home and outdoor retail, apparel, water treatment and multi-brand QSR holding companies. - Full winner profiles are available at birdeye.com/visionary-awards/winners. - More information on the program and future cohorts is available at birdeye.com/visionary-awards.

Between the lines: - The award list doubles as a proof point for Birdeye’s positioning as an AI-led marketing platform for enterprise brands. - By focusing on measurable impact and operational integration, the program signals that AI adoption is being judged on execution, not novelty. - The emphasis on multi-location brands reflects a broader shift: local marketing is becoming a systems problem, not just a channel problem.

What’s next: - Birdeye says brands can apply for future cohorts through the Agentic CMO Program. - The company will likely use the inaugural winners to expand awareness of its platform and its definition of agentic marketing. - Future cohorts will show whether the program becomes an ongoing industry benchmark for AI-driven marketing leadership.

The bottom line: - Birdeye is formalizing a new marketing leadership standard around AI execution at scale, and the inaugural 60 winners are its first public example.