Unique Identifiers That Don't Change?

Hello there!

I'm having a real tough time figuring out how to create a unique identifier for content in a table (hours spent watching YouTube and browsing articles for an answer...) Basically, I'm looking for the output in column C to be CB-YEAR-0000 (so CB-2021-0001 for the first project of 2021).

• The number could be random, or it could increase by 1 with each new entry, doesn't matter as long as we can guarantee there are no duplicates
• As this will be a living table that constantly has new additions, the formula used must also create a unique ID when a new row is inserted
• I will need to refer back to these unique identifiers months or years down the line, so they cannot change (ie: no RANDBETWEEN)

I thought about using the CODE and LEFT functions to base the numeric component off the Project Name in column A, but this causes trouble when two projects start with the same word.

Almost every effort I've made has ended up with a circular formula. The sad workaround is to have each project number be one higher than the row above, or match its own row number, but this means I can't insert rows without changing every one of the Unique IDs – and I don't trust my colleagues to follow my instructions if I tell them "only add rows at the bottom!!"

Any suggestions would be very welcome - thanks in advance for trying this one out!