With over 200 entries, this year’s AIconics Awards were the most hotly contested to date. The AIconics are the world’s only independently judged awards for practical applications of AI in business. The awards recognise the achievements and advances of the firms pushing the development of these burgeoning technologies forward, offering a level playing field on which Silicon Valley giants and cutting edge start-ups alike can showcase their work during the last year. The panel of independent judges included AI experts from MIT, XPRIZE, General Electric, Bootstrap Labs, the University of Illinois, Zetta Ventures, AI Capital, Tractica, Paw Project for Awesome, and Comet Labs.

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Best AI Start-Up

Sponsored by NVIDIA, the Best AI Start-up award is focused on both the business and the technology of the entrants themselves, and is designed to raise the profile of those leading the field in terms of technology, product market fit, and scale-up potential. The finalists included:

  • Trademark Vision
  • Vcognition Technologies
  • SparkCognition
  • C3 IoT
  • Kindred

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Best Innovation in RPA (Robotic Process Automation)

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Sponsored by KPMG, the Best Innovation in RPA award is presented based on the achievements of applicants in the RPA field, which provides huge cost and efficiency savings to businesses following adoption. It transforms business processes with scalable automation techniques. The shortlist included:

  • Verint
  • UI Path
  • Arago
  • HCL Technologies
  • Kryon Systems

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Best Application Of AI For Financial Services

With investment levels predicted to exceed $4.5 billion by 2025, financial services is a sector ripe for AI adoption – to which the work of the finalists is a clear testament. They were:

  • Genpact
  • Mphasis
  • Bitvore
  • Compliance.AI
  • CI&T

Best AI Application for Sales & Marketing

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AI has the potential to comprehensively overhaul the relation between business and customer, promising bespoke customer-oriented sales & marketing operations targeted down to the individual. This year’s finalists are among those powering this transformative shift in consumer relations, and they included:

  • Sapient Razorfish
  • Kvantum
  • BD21
  • insidesales.com
  • Weave

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Best Innovation in AI Hardware

Hardware is the driver of the AI revolution, with businesses across industry lines relying on hardware innovation to power the major changes the technology promises. With processing power a prerequisite of any AI advancement, it is imperative to recognise the framework on which nearly all AI functionality is conducted. The finalists this year included:

  • InCloud AI Inc
  • Exxact Corporation
  • Pure Storage
  • Awaire Inc
  • Inspur

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Best Intelligent Assistant Innovation

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Virtual assistants and advanced text / voice recognition are among the biggest advances in AI technology, and offer one of the most practical applications of AI to businesses to date. This year’s finalists were:

  • Zendesk
  • Nuance Communications
  • CSS Corp. PvT Ltd
  • Interactions

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Best Innovation in Natural Language Processing (NLP)

Natural Language Processing sits at the heart of many great leaps forward in AI-driven technology, enabling enterprises to implement anything from chatbots to document data processing and automation. The finalists were:

    • Actionable Science
    • Zendesk
    • Inbenta
    • Genpact
    • Luminoso Technologies

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Best Application of AI in the Enterprise

Although the technology is still in its early stages, there exist myriad practical applications of AI in the enterprise across the world today. This category recognizes the industry leaders putting forward the most comprehensive and effective solutions to the market. The finalists were:

  • Digital Genius
  • Luminoso Technologies
  • PwC
  • Daisy Intelligence
  • UI Path

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Best Innovation in Deep Learning

Deep Learning is one of the key pillars of practical AI solutions and is enabling the exponential development and scaling of applications for real world businesses. The finalists included:

  • UseAIble
  • Deep Cognition Labs
  • DeepMotion
  • Kindred
  • EruditeAI

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Best AI Application in Healthcare

AI is transforming the way healthcare is delivered in every way – from diagnosis all the way down to front-line care. This year’s finalists were:

  • Xerafy Ltd
  • Lexigram
  • Awaire Inc.
  • Ayasdi
  • Jvion

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This year’s AIconics award winners were announced at The AI Summit San Francisco on 27 September 2017. For more information on AIconics, click here.