Judging · Edition 01 · 2027 · Draft
Judged by people who run stores. Feedback for everyone.
The Ecom Awards are judged by people who build and run online stores. Here is how scoring works, how we handle conflicts, and how to apply to join the panel.
The 2027 panel
JUDGE 01 · EDITION 01 Judge · Dubai
Karl Lillrud
Fractional Chief AI Officer, keynote speaker and author
“I look for ecommerce work that solves a real customer or business problem, shows clear strategic choices and can prove that the result works beyond the presentation.”
Worked with Volvo Cars · Spotify · Klarna · H&M · AstraZeneca · SEB
Karl Lillrud is an international AI and ecommerce strategist, keynote speaker and author with three decades of experience in digital commerce, customer behaviour, innovation and enterprise transformation. A two time TEDx speaker and author of nine books, he has worked across retail, finance and other industries, including past consulting work for Volvo Cars. He ranked No. 16 among Global Gurus Motivational Speakers in 2026 and No. 48 in Thinkers360's annual AI ranking for 2026. He evaluates commerce through measurable customer and business outcomes, not presentation alone.
JUDGE 02 · EDITION 01 Judge
Tanisha Kulkarni
Senior Product Manager, Credit Risk at PayPal
“A great store makes the user journey effortless for every customer, including those using assistive technology, and earns their trust at every step through to checkout and payment. I look for conversion gains measured honestly and built on sound economics, not just a beautiful front end.”
Worked with PayPal · JPMorgan Chase · Barclays
Tanisha Kulkarni is a Senior Product Manager, Credit Risk at PayPal, with 7+ years of experience across product strategy, data analytics and technology at PayPal, JPMorgan Chase and Barclays. She holds an MBA from Cornell and specializes in data-driven product management, credit risk and launching 0-1 digital products. Tanisha is passionate about responsible innovation in fintech and about mentoring aspiring product managers.
JUDGE 03 · EDITION 01 Judge · New York
Connor Rose
Founding Head of Growth & Marketing at Orchid (YC P25)
“A great store gives you a reason to care before it asks you to buy. Clear story, real personality, and a checkout so smooth you barely notice it.”
Worked with Orchid · IRLY · Rendify · WhatBytes
Connor Rose is Founding Head of Growth & Marketing at Orchid (YC P25). Orchid's $300 launch video hit 25M+ views in 24 hours and 28M+ total, with coverage from Bloomberg, Fox News, WIRED, Mashable and Gizmodo. Before Orchid, he co-founded the dating app IRLY (IRLY's IP was acquired by DUA AG) and was Head of Growth at Rendify and WhatBytes. He started out building meme pages with 5M+ followers as a teenager.
More judges to be announced. Every judge declares conflicts and steps out of entries they’re connected to.
How judging works
- 01
Judges score on their own
Each judge scores entries independently, without seeing anyone else’s scores first.
- 02
Scored against a published rubric
The same four criteria for every category, weighted the same way. You can read them below before you enter.
- 03
Written feedback for every entrant
Every entry gets written feedback from its judges, whether it wins or not. It’s included in the entry fee.
- 04
The panel agrees the results
Scores are combined and the panel agrees the shortlist and winners. If no entry is good enough, a category can have no winner.
SCORING RUBRIC · EVERY CATEGORY
What changed, with evidence.
Design, build quality, speed and accessibility.
Why the work was the right answer to the brief.
How well the entry shows its working.
Conflicts of interest
- Judges declare any connection to an entry before scoring: clients, employers, investors, friends and family, or competitors.
- A judge with a conflict skips that entry. Another judge scores it instead.
- Businesses connected to the organisers can be featured in the Showcase, but they can’t win an award.
- Sponsors have no say. A category partner puts its name on a category, but never judges it and never sees scores before results.
- Nobody can buy a result, a shortlist place or a better score.
What we look for in judges
- You run, or have run, an online store, or you lead ecommerce work at an agency or in-house team.
- You’ve shipped work you can point to, and you know what good looks like in your area.
- You can write short, fair, useful feedback, including to people whose work didn’t win.
- You’re happy to declare conflicts and step out of entries you’re connected to.
- You can be based anywhere. The awards are open worldwide and judging is done online.
We’ll share the timetable and time commitment before you say yes. Applying doesn’t commit you to anything.
THE 2027 PANEL
More soon3 confirmed so farWe won’t list anyone until they’ve agreed to judge.
Apply to judge
Tell us who you are and what you know best. We read every application and reply by email.