Texas A&M University Named One Of The World’s Most Innovative Companies By Fast Company

Of the companies listed, Fast Company says, “As the world shifts and industries transform, the World’s Most Innovative Companies aren’t just keeping up. They’re setting the pace. Fast Company’s annual look at the most groundbreaking companies in every industry and across the globe offers a snapshot of innovation today and a playbook for the future.”

Texas A&M is the only university selected for the honor for 2025 and will be featured in the March/April 2025 issue of Fast Company magazine, on fastcompany.com and at Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies Summit and Gala in New York City in June, where Texas A&M University leaders will take the Summit stage with Fast Company executives to discuss the recognition.

“Those of us in Aggieland have known the impact this amazing university has had on the world for nearly 150 years,” said General (Ret.) Mark A. Welsh III, president of Texas A&M. “This recognition from Fast Company is a testament to our faculty, staff and students, whose efforts are what keep us at the leading edge of innovation across disciplines, from agriculture to veterinary medicine, the arts, engineering, business, human health and visualization.”

Fast Company is a world-leading business media brand, with an editorial focus on innovation in technology, leadership, world-changing ideas, creativity and design. The magazine, launched 30 years ago by two former Harvard Business Review editors, chronicles how changing companies create and compete, highlights new business practices and showcases the teams and individuals who are inventing the future and reinventing business. The Most Innovative Companies list has, since 2008, been the definitive source for recognizing organizations that are transforming industries and shaping society.

This recognition from Fast Company is a testament to our faculty, staff and students, whose efforts are what keep us at the leading edge of innovation across disciplines, from agriculture to veterinary medicine, the arts, engineering, business, human health and visualization.

As a world-class, research-intensive public institution, Texas A&M University’s spirited scholars, innovators, students and graduates are a force for good and find energy, strength and unity from a shared duty: to lead, to serve and to solve society’s greatest challenges together. More than 4,300 faculty members and researchers, spanning colleges, schools and disciplines, are discovering solutions for the good of Texas, the nation and the world, from the ocean floor, the factories and the fields, to outer space.

Texas A&M University was honored in the Augmented and Virtual Reality sector for its contributions to creating the future of tech-powered immersive experiences. Fast Company notes that these “innovative organizations are finding ways to make augmented and virtual reality a more efficient, and even more practical, way to interact with technologies and tools, including letting people learn complex skills through virtual training.” Other companies listed in this area include Xreal, Varjo and FundamentalVR.

“It’s a real honor for Texas A&M University to be named as one of Fast Company’s most innovative companies of 2025,” said Stephanie Mehta, chief executive officer and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures, publisher of Fast Company. “Being on the list is a real sign that an institution not only is interested in innovation, is not only committed to innovation, but has demonstrable innovation that they can show. So, it’s a real badge of honor for Texas A&M University to be able to say that they are a most innovative company, right alongside some of the world’s most innovative institutions, tech companies, health care companies, … startups that are really transforming business and society.”

Texas A&M’s use of visualization reaches far and wide across the university and illustrates how Aggies are shaping the future:

• It is a top 10 Public University for Animation, Visual Effects (VFX), Game Design, Augmented Reality (AR)/Virtual Reality (VR).
• A new study from the Texas A&M University School of Public Health provides additional evidence that meditation using immersive virtual reality devices provides greater relief from depression and anxiety symptoms than meditation alone.
• The College of Architecture is exploring the impact of digital technology in construction; Texas A&M AgriLife Research is using digital twin technology to simulate real world crop production scenarios to better feed the world.
• The Virtual Production Institute (VPI), the nation’s first of its kind, is Texas A&M’s groundbreaking foray into the world of extended reality (XR), an umbrella term that refers to the combination of virtual and real environments using computer technology, including AR, VR and mixed reality (MR).

VPI’s purpose is to train a skilled workforce in areas ranging from health care to film and video production and fulfill virtual production demands across industries; XR is projected to be an $865 billion market by 2030. Multiple virtual production stages are in use, including the latest constructed at Starlab on the Texas A&M-RELLIS campus (which will eventually be moved to main campus in Bryan-College Station), and two at Texas A&M-Fort Worth, a burgeoning new campus set to anchor a technology and innovation district in downtown. The VPI was recognized in February 2025 with the Advanced Imaging Society’s Governor’s Award for Education, Technology and Innovation. Texas A&M was the only university among this year’s award winners, which included the makers of “Dune: Part Two,” “Wicked” and “The Wild Robot.”

“There’s currently a workforce gap impeding a more rapid and broader adoption of virtual production. Our plan includes addressing that gap and exploring new ways to use the technology,” said Tim McLaughlin, dean of the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts. “We have the breadth of expertise to cover a wide range of applications. We have strong support from our industry and civic partners. And we have clever, creative and motivated students. The alignment of need, technology development and support make this the right time and right place for the institute.”

Texas A&M is ranked by the Wall Street Journal as the best university in Texas and No. 1 in the SEC. The university was recently recognized for having the highest return on investment for bachelor’s degrees among public universities in Texas, according to The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity. Views of Texas A&M University video content on YouTube grew from 311,000 in 2023 to over 30 million in 2024 (+9,360%), propelling Texas A&M to be named the most recognized university in the state of Texas and No. 6 among all U.S. public universities in the latest Global University Visibility (GUV) rankings compiled by higher education research and consulting firm American Caldwell. U.S. News and World Report recognized the university’s biological and agricultural engineering program as No. 1 in the nation, and for leading the nation in engineering research expenditures.