Stage time
Winners are announced in front of a full conference room, with photography and press coverage from each edition.
AINext Awards
Honouring the teams turning AI into impact
The AINext Awards recognise the organisations, products and people moving artificial intelligence out of the lab and into production. Winners are announced live on stage at every AINext edition, in front of the operators, investors and press who matter.
- 20+
- Award categories
- 3
- Global gala nights
- 100%
- Independent jury scoring
Why enter
Recognition that travels further than a trophy
Credible benchmark
Entries are scored by independent practitioners against published criteria — no pay-to-win categories.
Buyer trust
A shortlist badge is a shortcut to credibility in enterprise procurement conversations.
Team morale
Public recognition for the engineers, researchers and operators who shipped the work.
The categories
Twenty ways to be recognised
Enter as many categories as genuinely apply. Each entry is judged on its own merits by the jury panel assigned to that category.
Organisations
- AI Company of the Year
- Most Innovative AI Startup
- Enterprise AI Transformation of the Year
- Best AI Research Lab
Products & platforms
- Best Generative AI Product
- Best AI Infrastructure Platform
- Best Applied AI Solution — Healthcare
- Best Applied AI Solution — Financial Services
- Best AI Agent / Automation Platform
- Best AI-Powered Customer Experience
People
- AI Leader of the Year
- CTO of the Year
- Data Scientist of the Year
- Rising Star in AI (under 30)
- Women in AI Award
Impact
- Responsible & Ethical AI Award
- AI for Good / Sustainability Award
- Best AI Talent & Upskilling Programme
How entries are judged
Four criteria, equally weighted
Real-world impact
Documented outcomes — revenue, efficiency, accuracy, adoption or social benefit — not roadmaps or pilots.
Technical originality
How novel the approach is, and how well it stands up against readily available alternatives.
Scale & adoption
Depth of deployment: users served, workloads handled and the durability of the results.
Responsibility
Governance, transparency, data handling and bias mitigation baked into the delivery.
The process
From nomination to the gala night
- Step 1
Nominations open
Submit your entry online — self-nominations and third-party nominations both welcome.
- Step 2
Shortlisting
Entries are screened for eligibility and scored against the published criteria.
- Step 3
Nomination Confirmation
You receive a confirmation once your nomination is validated, with a summary of the categories you have entered.
- Step 4
Jury review
An independent panel of practitioners, researchers and operators scores every shortlisted entry.
- Step 5
Winners revealed
Trophies are presented live on stage at the gala night of each AINext edition.
Hall of fame
Past awardees — AINext Awards & Conference Las Vegas 2026
Leaders and companies recognised at the AINext Awards & Conference Las Vegas 2026 for turning artificial intelligence into measurable, responsible impact.
Leaders / Individuals
Aswini Atibudhi
Distinguished AI Architect , Walmart Global Tech
Excellence in AI & Technology Leadership Driving the Future of Agentic and Autonomous Systems
Sam Gobrail
EVP, Solutions & Delivery Upstage
Excellence in AI & Technology Industry – Enterprise AI Implementation & Responsible AI Leadership
Darian Nwankwo
Founder & Lead Coach , TechnicallyFit
Excellence in AI & Technology Industry – Leaders - Human Performance & Scientific Innovation Award
Samuel Amyd Caballero Ramírez
Founder, Think AI
Excellence in AI & Technology Industry – Leaders - Autonomous Systems & Cognitive Architecture Leadership
Egbert von Frankenberg und Proschlitz
Co-Founder and CEO, Knightfox App Design Ltd
Excellence in AI & Technology Industry – Leaders - Digital Transformation Leadership
Somdutt Brajaraj Patnaik
SWE Management, Google Cloud
Enterprise AI & Cloud Platform Leadership
Sandeep Uthra
CEO, SubVerse AI
Excellence in Global Artificial Intelligence & Technology Leadership
Luyuan Fang, PhD
CEO and Founder, Curative AI, Inc.
AI-Native Healthcare Leadership Award
Darren Kimura
Chief Executive Officer , AISquared
AI Infrastructure Visionary of the Year
Charles Keatts
Founder & CEO, Samadhi LLC
AI-Led Revenue Strategy & Enterprise Growth Leadership
Nick Battista
Managing Director, U.S. \| iData Global
Data & AI Transformation Leadership
Cigdem Sengul
Founder, AI Transformation Consulting - HimerAgile
AI Transformation & Responsible AI Leadership
Leanne Terrace
AI in Leadership & Organizational Transformation
Jil Tarallo
AI Business Transformation Leader
Nicole Yue
AI Governance & Responsible Innovation Leadership
Keshon Broadus
Social Impact & Humanitarian Innovation
Companies
Kalavai
Co-Founder and CEO, Kalavai.net
Excellence in AI & Technology Industry - Companies - AI Infrastructure Innovation
Fixstars Solutions
Board Member / CMO, Fixstars Solutions
AI Infrastructure & Computing Solutions
Splash Box Marketing LLC
CEO, Splash Box Marketing
AI-Driven Accessibility Solutions
TechnicallyFit
AI Innovation in Human Performance
Curative AI, Inc.
Healthcare AI Innovation Awards
Samadhi LLC
Agentic AI Innovation in Revenue Intelligence & Product Strategy
AISquared
Enterprise AI Infrastructure & Deployment Platform
Entries are open
Put your work in front of the jury
Pick the edition you want to compete in, then complete your nomination on the Next Business Media portal. Sponsors and jury applications go through the same flow.