Red Hat is named to Fast Company's annual list of the World's Most Innovative Companies for 2025

Last week, Red Hat was named to Fast Company's prestigious list of the World's Most Innovative Companies of 2025. This year's roster recognizes 609 organizations across 58 sectors that are shaping industry and culture through innovations that set new standards and achieve remarkable milestones across all areas of the economy. For Brendan Vaughan, the publication's editor-in-chief, the guide helps consumers understand the current technological landscape. 

“Our list of the World's Most Innovative Companies provides both a comprehensive snapshot of current innovation and a guide to the future. This year, we recognize companies that are leveraging AI in deep and meaningful ways, brands that are turning customers into superfans by exceeding their expectations, and emerging challenger business models that are introducing bold ideas and vital competition to their industries. At a time when the world is changing rapidly, these companies are charting the way forward.”

It all started with the promotion of Linux, which became the foundation and engine of innovation in datacenters, followed by leadership in open source technologies for cloud computing—from cloud-native applications and Kubernetes to open source virtualization alternatives and developer tools. Now, the company's focus is directed toward the next area of open innovation: AI.

A Fast Company recognized Red Hat for its efforts to make AI more accessible to a broader user base, primarily through the InstructLabproject. This initiative breaks down barriers to entry by allowing contributions of skills and knowledge to AI models, extending this access not only to data scientists but also to developers, IT operations teams, and other domain experts.

The community behind InstructLab is also a major component of the success of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI (RHEL AI) and Red Hat OpenShift AIproducts. The ongoing collaboration of developers and contributors provides a supported, enterprise-ready version within the project, easing the path for organizations looking to explore and implement AI strategies in secure, productive hybrid cloud environments, while using the Linux and Kubernetes tools they are already familiar with.

Red Hat is honored that this journey has led to its recognition as one of the World's Most Innovative Companies of 2025. In the organization's view, AI cannot succeed without open source and the hybrid cloud, and it is committed to delivering innovations that enable its customers not only to succeed with their AI strategies but to thrive.

The full list of Fast Company's World's Most Innovative Companies can be found at fastcompany.com