See the winners
INNOVATE AWARDS
About the Awards
To meet the needs of farmers, ranchers, homeowners and pet owners across more than 2,300 stores—each with up to 30,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space—Tractor Supply faced a challenge: how to deliver connected, personalized service across vast rural markets where coverage is often limited.
The solution was the “Hey GURA” app, giving team members instant access to product details and customer insights through a single mobile device. It helps associates personalize every experience while improving efficiency at checkout and in the field.
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An intense focus on customer service, powered by data and connectivity, has transformed how Tractor Supply serves rural America.
How transformative thinkers are using connectivity to reshape industries and drive
a more innovative future.
02
Innovation in Employee Enablement
Axis Energy Services
03
Innovation in Industry
Cisco
04
Innovation in Community
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
05
The Malcolm Gladwell Tipping Point Award
South Walton Mosquito Control District
01
Innovation in Customer Experience
Tractor Supply
The Winners
THE
2025
Tractor Supply:
Redefining Rural Retail
Making it work required strong, reliable connectivity in and around stores. “T-Mobile for Business not only brought the right infrastructure but also the focus on rural connectivity that helps us add value for every customer,” says Rob Mills, executive vice president and chief technology, digital, and corporate strategy officer at Tractor Supply.
That foundation now supports even more innovation. “Computer Vision” AI alerts team members when browsing customers need assistance or additional help is needed at checkout lines, while mobile tools enable field reps to transact off-site and power community events like farmers markets.
The results are clear: faster transactions, higher customer satisfaction and empowered employees. “We’ve built our brand on customer service,” Mills says. “These solutions, through our partnership with T-Mobile, ensure our teams can deliver on that promise every day.”
Axis Energy Services: Making Employees Safer on the Job
Smarter networks and real-time data are helping Axis Energy Services improve safety in one of America’s most demanding industries.
For decades, oil well service rigs have looked and operated much the same. “If you could run one in 1975, you can run one today,” says Ryan Phillips, chief executive officer at Axis Energy, the nation’s largest well service company. “We wanted to take a proven, well-designed machine and make it better.”
That challenge led Axis to partner with T-Mobile for Business, combining the reach of T-Mobile’s 5G network with its T-Satellite technology—part of the company’s SuperMobile business plan—to connect remote crews working all over the country, from Texas to North Dakota and from Wyoming to Pennsylvania. The result is a safer, data-driven approach to predictive maintenance, hazard prevention and cybersecurity that’s setting a new standard across the energy sector.
Building on that foundation, Axis developed the CORE platform, a system of sensors that continuously monitors equipment performance, anticipates irregularities and identifies maintenance needs before downtime occurs. Alongside it, the company introduced the nation’s first fully electric well service rig—the EPIC RIG—replacing dozens of mechanical parts with a single, digitally controlled AC motor. Operators using both systems have reported significant efficiency gains and, more importantly, major improvements in worker safety.
Connectivity powers every piece of this progress. Wearables and environmental sensors track gas exposure and worker biometrics, generating real-time alerts that can prevent injury or save lives. Axis relies on a hybrid network of cellular service and T-Satellite coverage to keep that data flowing, even from remote well sites. “The system doesn’t just react to problems,” Phillips says. “It anticipates and optimizes around them and scales across hundreds of field assets.”
Cisco: Reshaping Digital Procurement
Transforming purchasing to deliver greater predictability and cost savings.
Recently, there has been a spotlight on the role of procurement in effective business operations. To bring predictability to this critical function, Cisco has built a transformative platform that integrates AI and automation into key processes. As a result, procurement teams can better forecast, optimize spend to invest in innovation and company growth, and mitigate risk to help predict potential disruptions in the supply chain.
Cisco has enabled mechanisms for companies to improve collaboration with suppliers through the analysis of performance and market data, leading to greater accountability and lowering the likelihood of significant disruption. Additionally, this insight into suppliers allows companies to further drive initiatives around other business priorities.
Users can securely access the platform from anywhere. Cisco combines 5G connectivity and AI in ways that help speed decisions, increase precision, reduce thousands of touchpoints, and allow for optimized spending and risk mitigation.
UNLV: Where Innovation Meets Hospitality
A living lab in Las Vegas is using 5G, AI and robotics to reimagine the guest experience.
In an industry built on connection, hospitality leaders have long sought new ways to deliver more personalized service while improving efficiency behind the scenes. At Black Fire Innovation, a partnership between the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Hard Rock, that pursuit has become a hands-on experiment.
Inside the Advanced Technology Kitchen Lab, researchers, operators and technology partners are testing how data, robotics and artificial intelligence can transform every detail of the dining and service experience, from kitchen prep to customer interaction.
Every test in the lab depends on T-Mobile’s 5G network, which keeps people, devices and data linked in real time. That level of responsiveness allows robotic bartenders to react instantly, digital twins to optimize inventory and energy use, and AI models to anticipate guest preferences before an order is placed.
The early results are promising: energy consumption down 19% and guest satisfaction scores up 25%. Perhaps most notably, students working in the lab are earning credentials in “5G food tech,” preparing for a new generation of hospitality careers.
“In Las Vegas, you can use an entire resort as a test bed,” says Zachary Miles, executive director of the UNLV Research Foundation. “T-Mobile for Business frees up more time for human interactions informed by data. It transforms them.”
South Walton Mosquito Control District: Protecting Public Health From the Sky
How drones and 5G connectivity are transforming mosquito control and environmental safety in Florida.
In the Florida Panhandle, where mosquito-borne diseases like West Nile virus and eastern equine encephalitis pose ongoing risks, controlling mosquito populations is critical to public health. Reaching every area that requires treatment has traditionally been time-consuming and costly, often involving manned aircraft and ground crews navigating wetlands and remote terrain.
To modernize those efforts, the South Walton Mosquito Control District (SWMCD) launched a drone program, becoming the first in its region to use unmanned aerial systems for targeted treatment and environmental mapping. “It’s a lot more efficient and safer as well,” says Darrin Dunwald, director of SWMCD. The drones can cover areas in minutes that once took crews half a day to reach, significantly reducing fuel use, labor and exposure to hazardous conditions.
Each flight relies on T-Mobile’s 5G network, which keeps operators connected and enables real-time communication across the district’s 123 square miles. The network’s reliability allows the team to coordinate operations, upload mapping data, and make fast, data-driven decisions even in remote field environments.
The results have been remarkable: Treatment efficiency has increased by up to 75% in previously hard-to-reach zones, while mapping drones now help planners understand how development and weather patterns affect mosquito breeding areas. Together, technology and connectivity are helping South Walton set a new standard for smart, sustainable mosquito control.
Innovation rarely starts in a lab. It begins when someone sees a better way to work, connect or care for others and decides to make it real. Across the country, visionary leaders are pairing ingenuity with advanced connectivity to make that possible. The Innovate Awards from T-Mobile for Business recognize those change-makers who are proving what happens when technology serves people, driving progress across industries, workplaces and communities.
“It is inspiring to watch how our customers use technology to make meaningful change,” says Mo Katibeh, chief marketing officer at T-Mobile for Business. “Their creativity and determination show how 5G connectivity can turn bold ideas into lasting impact across every industry we touch.”
Read on to learn more about this year’s winners.
Honoring the Innovators
01
Innovation in Customer Experience
Tractor Supply
02
Innovation in Employee Enablement
Axis Energy Services
03
Innovation in Industry
Cisco
04
Innovation in Community
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
05
The Malcolm Gladwell Tipping Point Award
South Walton Mosquito Control District
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