DigiOps Nominated for the Gartner Power of the Profession Award

We’re proud to share that DigiOps, the gamified capability-building program delivered by Paragon in partnership with Unilever, has been nominated for the Gartner Power of the Profession Award. The program combined Unilever-designed content with Paragon’s experience-led approach, platform orchestration, and delivery model to create a scalable, engaging learning experience. This nomination is especially meaningful because it recognises more than innovation for innovation’s sake. It highlights programs that demonstrate measurable impact, strong professional practice, and a clear contribution to how organisations build capability at scale.

For us, it’s an affirmation of a belief we’ve held for a long time: learning works best when it’s experienced, applied, and shared—not just delivered.

What the Power of the Profession Award Represents

The Gartner Power of the Profession Award celebrates initiatives that elevate the learning and development profession through impact, credibility, and forward-thinking design. It recognises programs that move beyond activity and participation metrics to deliver real business and capability outcomes.

In that context, DigiOps being nominated is not about gamification alone, technology alone, or content alone. It’s about a holistic approach to learning that connects behaviour, motivation, and application in a way that scales across large, complex organisations.

The Thinking Behind DigiOps

DigiOps was never conceived as a “training program” in the traditional sense.

The starting point was a simple question:
How do you help people build real capability in areas like AI, analytics, systems thinking, and digital ways of working—without overwhelming them or pulling them out of their day jobs?

The answer wasn’t more courses. It was designing an experience.

DigiOps was built as a game-based journey that unfolded over time, blending short learning moments, practical challenges, social interaction, and friendly competition. Participants weren’t passive learners. They were players, contributors, and collaborators.

Learning happened in motion—through doing, sharing, experimenting, and reflecting.

Why DigiOps Resonated

One of the most powerful outcomes of DigiOps was sustained engagement.

Participants didn’t just complete tasks; they returned week after week. They discussed challenges with peers. They showcased creative submissions. Teams developed a shared language around digital capability that extended well beyond the formal learning moments.

This wasn’t driven by novelty. It was driven by design.

The program respected people’s time, acknowledged their existing expertise, and created space for experimentation without fear of failure. Gamification provided structure and momentum, but the real driver was relevance—participants could see how what they were learning connected to their roles and decisions.

A Shift From Skill Building to Capability Building

What DigiOps demonstrated—and what we believe the Gartner nomination recognises—is a shift in focus.

Rather than concentrating solely on individual skills, DigiOps was designed to build capability: the ability to apply knowledge in context, make better decisions, and adapt to change.

That meant:

• Encouraging application, not just completion

• Making learning social and visible

• Reinforcing behaviours over time

• Creating feedback loops rather than one-off assessments

This approach aligns closely with how modern organisations need to develop their people—especially in fast-evolving areas like digital, analytics, and AI.

Why This Nomination Matters to Us

Awards are never the objective. Impact is.

But being nominated for the Gartner Power of the Profession Award is meaningful because it reflects a shared belief between client, partner, and industry: that learning can—and should—be designed differently.

It validates the idea that:

• Gamification can be serious and purposeful

• Engagement is a means to capability, not a distraction from it

• Well-designed learning experiences can scale without losing depth

It also reinforces our conviction that the future of learning lies in experiences people want to participate in, not programs they feel obliged to complete.

Looking Ahead

DigiOps continues to influence how we design learning experiences across organisations and industries. The principles behind it—experience-led design, application-first learning, and social engagement—are now foundational to how we think about capability building.

The Gartner nomination is a milestone, but it’s also a marker of direction. It tells us we’re on the right path—and that there’s more to explore, refine, and build.

Thank You

We’re grateful to the teams who made DigiOps possible, and proud to see the program recognised at this level. Most of all, we’re encouraged by what this nomination represents: a growing appetite for learning that is meaningful, human, and designed for real work.

If you’re interested in exploring how similar approaches could work in your organisation, we’d be delighted to continue the conversation.

Learning doesn’t have to feel like training—and DigiOps is proof of what’s possible when it doesn’t