Emma O’Brien, CEO and Founder of technology-enabled business transformation consultancy, Embridge Consulting, has been shortlisted as a finalist in the Business Woman of the Year category for the 2026 Enterprise Vision Awards (EVAS).
This latest achievement stands testament to her leadership, innovation, and commitment to creating meaningful change through people-first transformation.
Celebrating women in business across the UK, the Enterprise Vision Awards recognise entrepreneurs who demonstrate commercial success, uniqueness, resilience, and positive impact across both their industries and communities.
The Business Woman of the Year category recognises female leaders who are driving business growth while creating lasting value through their influence and vision.
Having founded Embridge Consulting with a belief that technology should work for people – not the other way around – the consultancy has successfully helped 350+ public and private organisations unlock greater value from digital transformation through its emotionally intelligent, elastic approach to change that adapts, sticks and scales.
EVAS judges were particularly impressed by Emma’s commitment to innovation and her ability to challenge traditional models with solutions designed to make transformation more sustainable and human.
Among these innovations is Embridge’s Business Transformation as a Service (BTaaS) model – an expandable service which moves organisations away from viewing change as a one-off project and drives continuous evolution - together with LEO, the consultancy’s proprietary integrations management platform.
Reflecting on this latest recognition, Emma said:
Being selected as a finalist is a huge honour. I’m incredibly proud of the work, dedication, and passion that goes into everything we do at Embridge. We’ve always believed that change succeeds when people do, so every solution we build starts with understanding. This recognition reflects not just my journey but the incredible team around me – and everyone who has trusted them to help create meaningful, lasting change.
Emma’s leadership journey has not been without challenge. Having navigated the pressures of building and growing a consultancy through the disruption of Covid-19, she also experienced the devastating loss of her son, Leo, to SUDEP in 2023.
Channelling her energy into purpose-led impact, E mma founded Leo’s Angels – a charity focussed on accelerating access to epilepsy care and improving outcomes for other families through the power of technology.
Finalist interviews for the EVAS will take place in early June, with winners announced at the Awards ceremony on 2nd October 2026, at The Winter Gardens, Blackpool.
If selected, Emma will join yet another community of women recognised for redefining leadership and shaping the future of British business and follows her success in winning the Tide Everywoman Entrepreneur Tech Innovator award in 2025.
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