In the age of AI, trusted tech brands are becoming harder to identify. With so many brands bolting AI features onto their offerings, it can be hard to tell when it’s simply a gimmick—and when it’s not necessary at all.

These eight tech-focused Brands That Matter honorees are doing things right. Some, like ServiceNow, Atlassian, and GoDaddy are demystifying how it can help users be more efficient. Others aren’t talking about AI at all, instead focusing on the human element of their businesses—like Hinge emphasizing the importance of meeting IRL to cement an online match, or Lingokids getting at the heart of parental anxiety around children’s screen time. Read about all the tech honorees below.

Atlassian

In his ad for project management software brand Atlassian, comedian and Silicon Valley actor Zach Woods doesn’t prove to be a terribly adept spokesman. In fact, as a voice-over tells us, he doesn’t appear to have actually read the contract for the ad and doesn’t really understand what, exactly, performance marketing is. He does, however, quickly figure out how to work the brand’s software platform Jira, which he deploys for a project called “F You Money” to plan how to make as much money from projects like, say, SaaS commercials. It was a clever way to frame the ease of use for its flagship product using a face from a show Atlassian users have likely seen. Over four quarters, the ad brought in 28 million impressions and was a finalist for a Webby award. It was just one of the notable ways Atlassian got in front of potential users in 2025. It launched campaigns alongside the film F1 to spotlight its partnership with Atlassian Williams Racing, as well as at the Austin and Las Vegas US Grand Prix events.

Chime

Pro wrestling might not scream “financial planning,” but that didn’t stop digital bank Chime from showing up at WrestleMania in April 2025 as part of its campaign for what it called “Financial Progress Month” during what is otherwise called Financial Literacy Month. The campaign, titled “You’re Making It,” included an ad starring Deion Sanders and WWE star Becky Lynch. That gave the brand a springboard to sponsor WWE’s WrestleMania event, giving Chime members a VIP entrance line at the event, as well as exclusive perks. The brand’s message of financial empowerment got more ambitious this year, too. In May, the brand launched a YouTube series called Mama, I Made It, in which people like rapper Big Sean talk to their moms about their financial growth. It was the first effort from In the Green Studios, Chime’s branded entertainment arm, which officially launched in September.

Etsy

Etsy closed out 2024 with a solid showing for the holidays, bringing a pop-up shop to New York City that brought in more than 3,500 shoppers to buy from Etsy sellers and garnered more than 4 million social media impressions from content about the event. In 2025, the brand reinforced its focus on handcrafted products—and kicked off its 20th anniversary—with a TV ad emphasizing the amount of work that goes into products from three featured Etsy sellers. Beyond touting sellers in their ads, Etsy has continued to foster IRL community for them, with meetups in major cities like Lisbon, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. The brand’s Etsy Up virtual seller event brought in 18,500 sellers at once in 2025, a 20% year-over-year increase.

Firefox

The web browser from Mozilla made marketing waves at the tail end of 2024 by kicking off its 20th anniversary year with a citywide campaign and activations in Chicago that emphasized its commitment to user privacy while courting Gen Z users. “Missing” posters placed around Chicago directed people to one of two activations—a plant popup that gave out houseplants and a photo op with “Bigfoot” that gave away woods-scented candles. Both shared the ways Firefox keeps users’ search data private, whether people are searching for how to keep plants alive or Googling Bigfoot documentaries. The campaign drove a 9% increase in new profiles among iPhone users and a 7-point lift in desktop installs. Content on YouTube helped increase brand consideration 2.2%, and Twitch content helped create a three-point boost in positive attitude toward the brand. It also included a partnership with Her Campus Media that enlisted 11 brand ambassadors at Chicago universities and a series of videos with up-and-coming actor Owen Thiele. This year, Firefox continued its focus on bringing in younger users and the combination of a growing creator network and social media content that positions it outside the world of big tech.

GoDaddy

For fans of character actor Walton Goggins, 2025 has been a banner year. In the spring, as he played a principal role in season three of The White Lotus, he reprised his role as aging televangelist Baby Billy Freeman in The Righteous Gemstones. That character and his biblical TV game show, the tongue-twisting Baby Billy’s Bible Bonkers, was inspiration for the role that got the most eyes of any of his projects this year—his partnership with GoDaddy. The domain registry touted its Airo site-builder for small businesses by working with Goggins to launch cheekily named eyewear brand Walton Goggins Goggle Glasses, showcasing Airo’s ease of use in a Goggins-starring Super Bowl spot. The immediate aftermath of the ad saw GoDaddy Airo double between February 5 and February 10 (the day after Super Bowl LIX), and glasses sales more than quadrupled, lifted on the tide of 15 billion media impressions from earned media about the ad. The brand also had legs—Goggins wore them during his Saturday Night Live hosting duties in May, and the GoDaddy spot earned the brand a Cannes Lion Grand Prix in the Creative B2B category.

Hinge

In a dating app ecosystem in which few are growing, Hinge is among the outliers, and that’s due in large part to the brand’s marketing. Under president and CMO Jackie Jantos (a 2025 CMOs of the Year honoree), Hinge’s marketing has emphasized real-life love stories of people who may have met on the app but for whom taking their flirtation into the real world sealed the deal. The brand’s “No Ordinary Love” anthology was a prime example of Hinge’s focus on real, potentially messy, love stories. First launched in 2024 and reprised in May 2025, the campaign enlisted literary writers including Jen Winston and William Rayget Hunter to write stories based on real couples’ love stories from Hinge. The stories were collected in a Substack and a physical anthology, as well as incorporated into subway ads in major cities. The campaign, like the app, bridged the digital and physical to tell Hinge success stories. It’s part of what has made Hinge into parent company Match Group’s top performer, growing paid subscribers by 17% year over year in Q3 of 2025, with revenue up 27% as Match’s other flagship app, Tinder, saw a 3% decline in the same period.

Lingokids

As one of the leading interactive apps for children between the ages of 2 and 8, Lingokids hears a lot from parents about how screen time for their children makes them feel. For its short film The Trial, Lingokids built its concept around the statistic that 74% of millennial parents feel guilty about their child’s screen time, even if kids are engaging with educational content. It then enlisted 11 real parents to talk to a fictional judge about their feelings toward screen time for the six-minute film. As a brand built on engagement with children, it was a way to be part of a conversation parents have all the time, while emphasizing that screen time can be engaging for kids and offer some respite for parents in the right circumstances. It was a smart move—within two weeks, the video reached 11 million views, with a completion rate of 29%, and it has now been viewed more than 27 million times.

ServiceNow

Marketing a business-to-business solution isn’t always easy. But having Idris Elba on board can certainly help. That’s been the case for cloud-based software company ServiceNow, which has enlisted Elba to help get business leaders to embrace the brand’s AI-powered enterprise management workflow solutions. The Luther star has featured in multiple ServiceNow spots since 2024 as part of its “Put AI to Work for People” campaign, the most recent installment of which debuted in September. Initial campaign results helped ServiceNow stand out, driving a nearly 9% jump in aided brand awareness and an 11.5% boost in people associating the brand with the phrase “puts AI to work in every corner of the business.”

This story is part of Fast Company’s 2025 Brands That Matter. Explore the full list of honorees that have demonstrated a commitment to their brand’s purpose and cultural relevance to their audience. Read more about the methodology behind the selection process.