Over 30 professionals and businesses leading the way in artificial intelligence innovation in Australia have been recognised at the Australian AI Awards 2026.
Pioneers of artificial intelligence (AI) innovation in Australia were celebrated in Sydney on Friday evening (30 October) at a black-tie gala at The Hyatt, Sydney.
Launched by Momentum Media, the third annual Australian AI Awards program reflects the extraordinary rise of AI innovation and utilisation across every corner of the economy, while recognising the professionals, organisations, and solutions transforming the Australian economy.
The awards span a broad range of industries, from banking, law, accounting, and wealth management to defence, aerospace, cyber, and beyond.
The 2026 black-tie gala brought together business leaders from across Australia to honour the achievements of the brightest minds in AI.
A total of 36 winners – including the recipient of the coveted Excellence Award – were selected from 305 finalists for the prestigious awards program.
Among the winners from the mortgage and finance sectors were major brokerage Mortgage Choice, which took home the trophy for AI Innovator – Mortgage Broking, while AI financial adviser Otivo was awarded the AI Innovator – Financial Services accolade.
Leading AI consultants, rising stars, and academics were also rewarded this year alongside cyber security companies, financial services firms, real estate agencies, healthcare companies, information technology professionals, and defence and aerospace organisations.
Click here to view the full list of winners.
What are the AI awards?
AI adoption has surged in recent years, particularly with the availability of generative AI tools like ChatGPT.
Indeed, Australian Bureau of Statistics research has found that almost half of businesses reported embracing new technologies like AI to boost efficiency.
AI adoption was the highest for businesses in information, media and telecommunications (38 per cent), professional, scientific and technical services, and financial and insurance services (both 24 per cent) in 2024–25.
In this environment, where businesses are pioneering innovative uses of AI, the Australian AI Awards program recognises professionals, organisations, and solutions that have transformed the Australian economy across the accounting profession, as well as banking, law, defence, aerospace, mortgage broking, and cyber.
How winners are chosen
To determine the winners, the finalist submissions were reviewed by an esteemed judging panel of senior leaders, academics, business executives, entrepreneurs, and innovators.
Each submission was reviewed independently by at least three judges with relevant domain expertise, who scored entries against the published criteria for each category. Drawn from industry, academia, and government, no sitting judge was permitted to assess a category where a conflict of interest existed.
Following independent scoring, the full judging panel convened for deliberation and consensus to review scores, discuss leading submissions, and determine finalists and winners across every category.
Where scores were tied, the panel chair facilitated discussion to reach a final determination.
To learn more about the awards program, click here.
[Related: Record number of finalists revealed for Australian AI Awards]
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