The ET Most Innovative AI Product Awards 2026 arrive at a moment when artificial intelligence has stopped being a promise and started being a deliverable. Across industries and geographies, enterprises are no longer asking whether AI works; they are asking who can make it work for them reliably, at scale, and with measurable results. That question sits at the heart of the ITES & Technology Services category.
Spanning 11 categories, the awards recognise AI innovation that is reshaping industries and redefining business models worldwide. Among them, this category carries a particular significance: it is where India's technology services sector, long defined by execution strength and global delivery, is being asked to demonstrate something newer and harder, the ability to build.
What the category is actually measuring
Traditional measures of success in India's IT industry, such as cost efficiency, delivery at scale, and execution reliability, remain relevant. But they are no longer sufficient. The ITES & Technology Services category recognises organisations that have added a new capability to that foundation: the ability to create AI products that generate consistent, repeatable value across multiple clients and industries, without starting from scratch each time.
For IT services companies, consulting firms, system integrators, and enterprise software providers, this is the defining test. Not whether you can deploy AI for one client under favourable conditions, but whether you have built something that travels across geographies, sectors, and enterprise sizes and continues to perform.
Three pillars of evaluation
Evaluation in this category rests on three pillars. The first is innovation in design, the originality, architecture, and technical sophistication of the AI product, assessed on its own terms. The second is tangible client impact, measurable improvements in productivity, efficiency, revenue, or decision-making, demonstrated through live deployments, not projections. The third is scalability, whether the solution can be reliably replicated across geographies, industries, and enterprise sizes without degradation in performance or outcomes.
Eligibility criteria reinforce this focus. AI must be central to the product or service offering, and companies are required to submit evidence of live deployments backed by documented results. Recognition here is reserved for solutions that are not only innovative in design but validated in real-world enterprise environments.
Who should be entering and why
The category is open to startups, SMEs, and enterprises across IT services, SaaS, system integration, and technology consulting. Separate evaluation tracks ensure entries are judged within their own scale and context; a growing SaaS company is not assessed against a multinational IT major. What is being assessed, regardless of company size, is evidence grounded in measurable outcomes. The evaluation is expert-led, focusing on real-world impact, scalability, and the depth of innovation rather than narrative claims or intent alone.
For organisations that have already done the hard work of taking AI from concept to production, the case for entering is straightforward. Recognition here is not ceremonial. In a market where enterprise buyers are making careful, high-stakes decisions about which technology partners to trust, third-party validation changes the nature of a commercial conversation.
A broader shift, made visible
Taken together, the 11 categories of the ET Most Innovative AI Product Awards 2026 reflect India’s growing ambitions in AI. Within this, the ITES & Technology Services category highlights an important shift from India being a hub for global technology operations to becoming a creator of the core intellectual property that powers those systems.
The organisations in this category are not just competing for recognition. They are also showing where India’s technology industry is heading, and backing it up with real work and results.
Spanning 11 categories, the awards recognise AI innovation that is reshaping industries and redefining business models worldwide. Among them, this category carries a particular significance: it is where India's technology services sector, long defined by execution strength and global delivery, is being asked to demonstrate something newer and harder, the ability to build.
What the category is actually measuring
Traditional measures of success in India's IT industry, such as cost efficiency, delivery at scale, and execution reliability, remain relevant. But they are no longer sufficient. The ITES & Technology Services category recognises organisations that have added a new capability to that foundation: the ability to create AI products that generate consistent, repeatable value across multiple clients and industries, without starting from scratch each time.
For IT services companies, consulting firms, system integrators, and enterprise software providers, this is the defining test. Not whether you can deploy AI for one client under favourable conditions, but whether you have built something that travels across geographies, sectors, and enterprise sizes and continues to perform.
Three pillars of evaluation
Evaluation in this category rests on three pillars. The first is innovation in design, the originality, architecture, and technical sophistication of the AI product, assessed on its own terms. The second is tangible client impact, measurable improvements in productivity, efficiency, revenue, or decision-making, demonstrated through live deployments, not projections. The third is scalability, whether the solution can be reliably replicated across geographies, industries, and enterprise sizes without degradation in performance or outcomes.
Eligibility criteria reinforce this focus. AI must be central to the product or service offering, and companies are required to submit evidence of live deployments backed by documented results. Recognition here is reserved for solutions that are not only innovative in design but validated in real-world enterprise environments.
Who should be entering and why
The category is open to startups, SMEs, and enterprises across IT services, SaaS, system integration, and technology consulting. Separate evaluation tracks ensure entries are judged within their own scale and context; a growing SaaS company is not assessed against a multinational IT major. What is being assessed, regardless of company size, is evidence grounded in measurable outcomes. The evaluation is expert-led, focusing on real-world impact, scalability, and the depth of innovation rather than narrative claims or intent alone.
For organisations that have already done the hard work of taking AI from concept to production, the case for entering is straightforward. Recognition here is not ceremonial. In a market where enterprise buyers are making careful, high-stakes decisions about which technology partners to trust, third-party validation changes the nature of a commercial conversation.
A broader shift, made visible
Taken together, the 11 categories of the ET Most Innovative AI Product Awards 2026 reflect India’s growing ambitions in AI. Within this, the ITES & Technology Services category highlights an important shift from India being a hub for global technology operations to becoming a creator of the core intellectual property that powers those systems.
The organisations in this category are not just competing for recognition. They are also showing where India’s technology industry is heading, and backing it up with real work and results.
(This article is generated and published by ET Spotlight team. You can get in touch with them on etspotlight@timesinternet.in)
