After 8 intensive and competitive Preliminary Rounds, an international line up prepared to do battle in the Enginuity 2026 Final. The two largest sponsors, and previous sponsor champions, Jacobs and Stantec, are well represented in the Final with 4 and 6 teams respectively, with Mott Macdonald and the University of Manchester having one team each, and hoping to become first-time winners.

During the early years (periods 5 to 12) the teams pitted their management skills in competition against computer-simulated rivals, but in the final, known as the later years, they were in direct competition for work against each other, with just one additional simulated rival. Only the team able to cope the best under the increased pressure, and with the most effective and robust strategy for competing in this challenging global environment, would eventually emerge as the 2026, and 17th Enginuity Champions. Who would it be ?

And so to the action in the first round of the Final, and period 13 saw the immediate impact of the increased competition, as growth rates and procurement margins were significantly down across the board. However, encouragingly every team was able to secure some new work apart from "OneWorld Vertex" (Jacobs, India), who slipped back to 11th after failing to secure a number of key bids, and their management team are sure to realign their bidding strategy in the face of such aggressive bidding from their rivals.

Carrying on where they left off at the end of the Preliminary Rounds, the "Spreadsheet Contractors" (Stantec, United States) continue to lead the Competition after modest 2% growth moved them onto 2,538 pts. However, their lead has been drastically cut by their nearest rivals "Spodsy Quebec" (Stantec, Canada), whose 5% growth saw them close to within 56 points. Also enjoying good rounds were "Decision Makers for 'OneWorld'" (Jacobs, India / Qatar / UAE) and "The Unbillables" (Jacobs, India) with 5-place gains and growth rates of 6 and 7% growth respectively, with the latter being the best posted in the period. It is early days in the final, and there will be lots more twists and turns in the 5 remaining rounds before we know the identity of the 2026 Champions.