“>Artificial intelligence has evolved from an emerging technology to the core of business and innovation. AI increases efficiency, automates repetitive processes, and runs highly personalized campaigns, giving successful AI adopters a competitive advantage. As organizations accelerate their AI adoption efforts, industry awards such as: ET AI Award has emerged and become the most important platform for recognizing excellence, innovation, and measurable business impact. The AI Awards not only celebrate achievements, but also provide objective criteria for organizations and individuals seeking to lead in the era of intelligent transformation. Related articles: ET Enterprise AI Awards winners: where are they now?
Here are the top AI award categories every business should know about in 2026.
1. Awards by field
This category recognizes organizations that have successfully deployed AI solutions at scale to solve business challenges across sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, and education.
Below are some important awards by field.
i) Utilization of AI in industry and manufacturing
The award recognizes manufacturers that are implementing AI in areas such as predictive maintenance, quality assurance, production optimization and overall efficiency. With the advent of Industry 4.0, AI in manufacturing will become a major competitive advantage.
ii) Making the most of AI in FinTech
The award recognizes FinTech companies that use AI technology to perform a variety of functions in the financial industry, including fraud detection, credit ratings, automated customer service, and risk management.
iii) Making the most of AI in healthcare
Healthcare providers and health technology companies are using AI for diagnosis, patient care, treatment planning, and operational efficiency. This award highlights organizations that have made measurable improvements in healthcare outcomes and accessibility.
iv) Making the most of AI in education
Edtech companies are deploying AI and automation to form hyper-personalized learning paths, along with other developments to improve learning for all students. The award recognizes valuable innovations that improve student learning, teacher outcomes, or the accessibility of education.
v) Optimal use of AI in retail/commerce
E-commerce companies are leveraging AI to improve the shopping experience through recommendations, demand forecasting, and in-app customer experiences. This category represents retail outcomes that can be measured through AI.
Don’t miss: Why it’s more important than ever to recognize excellence in AI
2. Individual Excellence Category
This category recognizes young individuals and leaders who have made significant contributions to the development of AI to take full advantage of it.
Important individual excellence awards include:
i) Young Indian AI Achievers (under 30 years)
We recognize young individuals who have made valuable contributions to the field of AI through their work, research, and innovation.
ii) India’s AI Researcher of the Year
This award recognizes researchers who have made significant contributions to AI through groundbreaking research papers and innovations.
iii) Indian individuals who have contributed to AI innovation
The award is given to individuals who have successfully bridged the gap between theoretical research and implementation of AI, creating an impact on business.
iv) Indian CEO driving AI innovation
We recognize visionary CEOs who are driving enterprise-wide AI transformation and making a measurable impact on their organizations.
v) AI Policy Leader of the Year
We recognize policymakers and public sector leaders who promote responsible AI governance and enable the widespread adoption of AI.
3. AI makers (builders and inventors)
This category recognizes the most impactful innovative breakthroughs, applications, and products developed through the innovative implementation of AI.
Here are some important AI Maker Awards.
i) Best Generated AI Product of the Year
One of 2026’s most coveted awards, recognizing novel AI-generated products that deliver notable business value and adoption.
ii) Best Agent AI Application
Given the growing popularity of autonomous AI agents, this award recognizes applications that can perform complex, multiple processes and demonstrate measurable productivity gains.
iii) Best AI development platform
We recognize platforms that make it easier for organizations and developers to develop and train AI models through AI.
iv) Best Conversation and Voice AI Company
We celebrate companies developing cutting-edge chatbots, virtual assistants, voice recognition solutions, and AI systems in multiple languages.
v) Best data label/annotation platform
Data quality remains the foundation of AI success. This award recognizes solutions that help prepare high-quality data for AI applications.
vi) Best LLM Innovations in India
We recognize organizations that are developing or fine-tuning language models at scale for Indian languages, business requirements, and regional use cases.
vii) Breakthroughs in computer vision
Recognizes advances in image recognition, video analytics, visual inspection, and computer vision applications that have demonstrated industry impact.
Also read: What will enterprise AI look like in 2035?
Why AI Awards will matter in 2026
AI Award India It has become more than just a recognition program. These serve as indicators of an organization’s maturity, innovation capabilities, and leadership in the growing AI era. Being named a winner or finalist can enhance your brand reputation, attract talent, strengthen stakeholder trust, and demonstrate the success of your AI initiative to the broader business community. In the current era of AI transformation, corporate strategies need to be adaptive. Recognizing top award categories helps companies measure their success, generate innovation, and gain industry recognition for innovative breakthroughs.
Therefore, the companies that will grow in 2026 will be those that combine technology innovation, implementation, results, and future goals.
