The Industry First Program
When your company is first with a new AI technology, product or feature, IT Brand Pulse analysts validate the claim against the record and memorialize it with the Industry First Award. You can't buy a place in the record. You can ask us to validate one.
Why it matters
Proof, not a claim. Every vendor says first. An Industry First Award means an independent analyst team checked the timeline, the competitive field and the technical claim, and published the result.
A place in the record. Validated firsts enter the all-time tracker alongside ChatGPT, DGX-1 and AlphaFold, ranked by impact and read by IT professionals deciding what is real.
Assets your buyers will read. A published article, the silver badge for your collateral, and a brief you can hand to a customer, an analyst or an investor.
How it works
1
Nominate
Tell us the technology, product or feature, the date it shipped, and the evidence.
2
Research
Over 30 days our analysts search for competing offerings and their availability dates, verify the technical claim, and where needed survey vendors and IT professionals.
3
Validate
If the claim holds, we publish an article documenting the category, its history and the validated first, and the first enters the record.
4
Award
You receive the Industry First Award: the silver badge and logo kit with your company, the first and the year, plus a short video and usage rights.
If our research finds an earlier offering, we tell you what we found and why. There is no fee for a first that does not validate.
Tiers
| Industry First Award | Award + Brief | Industry First Launch | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-day validation research | Included | Included | Included |
| Published article on itbrandpulse.com | Included | Included | Included |
| Silver Industry First badge and logo kit | Included | Included | Included |
| Entry in the record with the award marker | Included | Included | Included |
| Short video | Included | Included | Included |
| Industry First Brief (PDF) | Not included | Included | Included |
| Timeline infographic | Not included | Included | Included |
| Dedicated newsletter + weekly email to 100,000 IT pros x4 | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Social package (LinkedIn article, 50 groups x4, X x4, Instagram and TikTok x4) | Not included | Not included | Included |
Pricing. We quote each engagement once we have confirmed the scope of the claim and the number of firsts in the announcement. Companies pre-Series B or under 50 employees qualify for a startup rate.
Add-ons: additional firsts in the same announcement, a Category Origin Report, and an AI Leadership Forum presentation (see the Forum rate card).
Awarded firsts
Every awarded announcement with its silver badge, its validated firsts, the article and the brief.
What the award certifies, and what it does not
The award certifies that, as of the research date, IT Brand Pulse found no earlier commercially available offering matching the validated claim. It does not rank the product against competitors, and it does not change the first's position in the record, which is set by impact.
Usage: the badge may appear on your website, collateral, decks and press with the year shown; it may not be altered, recolored or applied to a different product. Full terms in the award bundle.
Questions vendors ask
Can we buy a place in the record?
No. Every entry is there because our analysts validated it. The Program adds the award, the brief and distribution to a first that validates.
What if you find we were not first?
We send you the research and there is no fee. You may re-nominate a narrower claim.
Do you cover firsts nobody paid for?
Yes, when a first needs to be covered and no vendor is involved. Those articles say validated, like all our coverage, but carry no badge or brief. The vendor can convert an editorial first to the award later.
How long does it take?
30 days from nomination to report, with publication scheduled with you.
We shipped several firsts in one launch.
Nominate them together. Additional firsts in the same announcement are added at a reduced rate, publish together and share one brief.
Nominate a first
Nomination is free and starts the conversation. We confirm scope and tier before research begins.