Open Summit AI Awards

Through our Open Summit AI Awards, we recognise labs, teams and businesses putting AI to work. The focus is the work itself: what was built, what changed and the evidence supporting the result.

There are four categories covering frontier research, business impact, organisational transformation and production use. You can enter your own work or nominate another person or organisation through the awards submission form.

Choose the category that matches the work

Frontier Lab of the Year recognises a lab whose shipped work changed what others could build. The category focuses on contributions that extend the possibilities available to other builders.

AI Business Impact of the Year recognises a measurable business result created through AI. The emphasis is the outcome and the evidence behind it. A submission should explain how the work connects to the result it claims.

AI Transformation of the Year concerns an organisation whose operating model changed through AI. The relevant story is the before and after: how work was organised, what changed and how that change can be demonstrated.

AI in Production Award recognises AI operating with real users, either inside a business or through a customer-facing product. It focuses attention on use in practice rather than an idea alone.

The categories address different kinds of achievement. Select the one that best reflects your evidence, and contact us if the work could fit more than one or its eligibility is unclear.

Dates and the route to the global final

Our national winners progress through regional finals towards our global final. We split the scoring into five points from the room and five points from the judging panel. Event programmes will provide the relevant ceremony timing and attendance details.

Awards information last updated 22 September 2026. We'll share any changes here.

Prepare a clear evidence-led submission

Tell us what you built, what changed and how you know. A useful way to organise your answer is to describe the original problem, the AI work introduced and the resulting change. Then identify the evidence that supports the account.

For example, a business-impact entry could explain the baseline and the measured result using the same time period and definition. A transformation entry could describe a changed operating process and show how the organisation now works. A production entry could explain who uses the system and the role it performs. These are drafting suggestions, not additional eligibility rules or an unpublished judging rubric.

Keep the distinction between a demonstrated result and an expected future benefit clear. Where a result depends on a particular team, customer group or period, include that context. It helps the reader understand what the work achieved.

Entries and nominations

Our form lets you choose between entering your own work and nominating someone else. We ask for a category, your name and email, an optional organisation and location, and the account of the work and its result.

If you nominate someone, we'll contact them before publishing anything. A nomination is therefore the beginning of a review process, rather than an immediate public announcement.

Use information you are authorised to share. If the supporting evidence needs a confidential discussion, ask us how to handle it before including it in an open submission.

Take the next step

Enter or nominate through the awards page. Eligibility questions can be sent to team@opensummit.ai.

To plan attendance around the award announcements, explore Brisbane on 11 November 2026 or New York on 18 February 2027. Ticket purchases, award entries and nominations have separate processes.

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