SPIN Chennai Marks 30th Anniversary with 16th Edition of Watts Humphrey Awards 2025
Chennai: SPIN Chennai, affiliated with the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, celebrated its Pearl Jubilee year with the 16th edition of the prestigious Watts Humphrey Awards. The event, held at the Cognizant Auditorium, MEPZ, Tambaram, Chennai, recognized exemplary case studies that demonstrated measurable business impact through “Trikonas”—a framework representing Methods of Excellence, Innovation, and Digital Transformation.
The 2025 edition of the awards drew participation from over 250 delegates across India, including leaders from large enterprises, MSMEs, startups, academia, and government. Themed “Business Impact through Trikonas,” the event featured a live jury round, awards ceremony, and the launch of a new industry-focused book.
Honouring Software Excellence and Innovation
Instituted in 2010 in memory of Watts Humphrey—renowned globally as the “Father of Software Quality”—the awards celebrate organizations that deliver customer value through advanced practices such as Agile, DevOps, AI-ML, CMMI 2.0, Lean, Six Sigma, and more. SPIN Chennai, a not-for-profit knowledge network and one of over 100 SPINs worldwide, has been at the forefront of process excellence for three decades.
This year’s winners were recognized in two categories:
Finalists also included Wipro, HCLTech, Cognizant, LTMindtree, Persistent Systems, Impiger Technologies, and Neurealm.
Distinguished Guests and Thought Leadership
P.R. Krishnan, Board Member, TVS Next and former EVP at TCS, and Gulshan Rai, former Cybersecurity Advisor to the Prime Minister of India, graced the event as Chief Guest and Guest of Honour respectively. Both leaders emphasized the importance of uncovering impactful case studies and nurturing innovation ecosystems that elevate India’s global software profile.
Rajaram Venkataraman, President of SPIN Chennai and architect of the awards, underscored the synergy of Trikonas in driving scalable and sustainable business outcomes. He cited healthcare as a prime example where process excellence, innovation, and digital transformation converge to deliver transformative impact.
L.N. Rajaram, SPIN Chennai’s Chief Mentor and founding member, reflected on the legacy of Watts Humphrey and announced the launch of SPIN Chennai’s DeepTech Forum—an initiative aimed at positioning India among the top three DeepTech nations globally.
Rigorous Judging and Knowledge Exchange
The awards followed a stringent evaluation process, with 13 finalists shortlisted from 39 entries. The jury panel included Rajamanickam (Pro XL Consulting), Anant Krishnan, Chandrashekar Kupperi (ANOVA), Sankaran (KPMG), and Chandramouli (Pi-One Consulting). The International Journal IJITCE served as the official journal partner.
Book Launch: Managing Innovative AI Projects
The event also saw the release of the book “Managing Innovative AI Projects” by K.R. Jayakumar and Alain Abran. The book addresses the high failure rate of AI initiatives and introduces a process-driven framework tailored for AI project success.
As SPIN Chennai celebrates its 30-year journey, the 2025 edition of the Watts Humphrey Awards reaffirmed its commitment to fostering excellence, innovation, and transformation in the software industry.
