ETIH Innovation Awards: Best Career and Skills Development Platform shortlist job-ready skills

15 Apr

Platforms supporting career pathways and skills development show how learning is aligning more closely with workforce needs.

As part of our ETIH Innovation Awards 2026 category spotlight series, we are taking a closer look at the categories shaping this year’s inaugural awards. With over 140 entries submitted, the breadth and quality of innovation across the EdTech sector has been clear.

This category highlights platforms connecting education and industry, with winners set to be announced on May 11.

Where skills development meets career pathways

Best Career and Skills Development Platform recognizes tools that help students or adult learners build job-ready skills, earn credentials, or explore career pathways.

Judges are looking for alignment with workforce needs, alongside clear evidence of user adoption and measurable outcomes in employability or progression. The category reflects increasing demand for learning that connects directly to careers, skills gaps, and workforce readiness.

Finalists

Attensi (Dawn Foods)

Dawn Foods transformed training by working with Attensi to introduce game-based SKILLS solutions. As well as achieving more engaging and impactful training modules, they maximised efficiency – critically important as a time poor team. They successfully adopted Attensi’s AI CREATOR co-pilot to produce superior learning content delivered within hours as opposed to the weeks it took prior to the technology partnership. Attensi AI Co-pilot generates gamified content and simulations including voice-overs. Furthermore, the AI assistant acts as a mentor colleague – helping employees upskill and become exceptional creators. Simply adopting AI is not enough to make true transformations. Dawn Foods showcases how strategic AI adoption transforms workplaces into a new era of hybrid working – true human/AI collaboration.

Find Your Grind

Find Your Grind is the first lifestyle-first career exploration platform built for K-12 education. Rather than matching students to careers based on test scores or salary data, Find Your Grind's Future Ready Students platform helps young people discover who they want to be — aligning 400+ career paths to their interests, values, and strengths through a multi-year, standards-aligned curriculum. Featuring mentorship videos from icons like Tony Hawk and Will.I.AM, an AI-powered Reflective Coach, and ESSA Tier 2 validated outcomes, Find Your Grind has reached over 500,000 students — with 100,000+ active licensed users across 250+ school districts in all 50 U.S. states.

Raiffeisen Bank International (Innovation School)

The Raiffeisen Bank International’s Innovation School is a 7-day, hands-on training program designed to build practical innovation skills directly transferrable to daily work. The program combines 4 days of in-person learning hosted in one of RBI’s network countries followed by 3 days of online sessions. Over four cohorts, Innovation School reached more than 300 participants from 14 countries. Participants work on business challenges while developing skills in Design Thinking, agile methods, and AI-supported innovation. The program creates immediate impact through strong learning transfer, cross-border collaboration, and a growing network of employees driving innovation within their own business areas.

SkillsVR

SkillsVR delivers immersive VR and MobileVR training that transforms how businesses, governments, and educational institutions develop skills and build confidence. Our platform centralises training creation, delivery, and analytics, empowering teams to design realistic, scenario-based learning that drives measurable results. One example of our success is our collaboration with the Ministry of Social Development (MSD), where SkillsVR supports nationwide workforce development through accessible, culturally responsive learning. Mobile access ensures training reaches every learner, anywhere, while outcomes such as faster job readiness and a 34% employment transition rate demonstrate how our platform delivers real-world impact across industries including construction, logistics, horticulture, hospitality, and beyond.