The Top Voices announced the fifth edition of the Tech Impact Awards, this year focused entirely on artificial intelligence. The global, fully remote and free initiative recognizes the people and companies building the AI stack, from models and infrastructure to AI-native workflows and products reaching real users.
AI is quickly moving from experimentation into everyday products, business functions, and infrastructure. At the same time, meaningful work is happening at many different layers of the ecosystem. Engineers are building the technical foundations, professionals are redesigning how entire functions operate, and companies are bringing AI products and services to market. The Tech Impact Awards for AI were created to recognize this work based on what has actually been built, adopted, and used.
Tech Impact Awards for AI run across three tracks:
1. Builders
For individuals directly responsible for building AI products, models, infrastructure, and tools, including founders, engineers, researchers, and makers shaping the technical core of the AI industry.
2. AI Natives
For professionals who have rebuilt their function around AI and can demonstrate measurable results. This includes product managers, marketers, designers, communications leads, transformation leaders, educators, and other specialists using AI as a core part of how they work.
3. Business
For companies and teams delivering AI products and services at scale, including AI product companies, infrastructure and developer tooling providers, consultancies, agencies, and implementation partners.
The Awards are open globally. Individual nominees must demonstrate public and verifiable work, while companies can apply at any stage as long as they have a live AI product, infrastructure, tooling, or implementation work with real users or customers.
Applications can include an AI product or model that has reached meaningful adoption, technical work behind an AI platform, an AI-native workflow with measurable outcomes, AI adoption inside an organization, infrastructure or developer tools used by AI teams, or an original framework or approach adopted by others in the field.
The judging panel brings together AI, engineering, product, and innovation leaders from global technology companies and organizations. The current jury includes Jun Qian, Vice President of Generative AI Services at Oracle; Mario Truss, AI Creative Technologist at Adobe Firefly Foundry; Julia Diament, Principal AI Architect in the Office of the CTO at Microsoft; Maarten Voorneveld, Sales Director for Digital Transformation & AI Partnerships at Microsoft; Arkalyk Akash, Full Stack Engineer at ElevenLabs; Alan Ross, President of the International Association of AI-agent Developers and World AI Academies Association; and Patrick Lanners, Innovation and AI Lead at BMW Group.
Selected nominees will be featured on The Top Voices, a global community-driven media platform for founders, product leaders, operators, and investors. Each nomination provides a verifiable recognition of the nominee’s contribution that can be shared on a website, CV, LinkedIn profile, or pitch deck.
“We’re at a point where AI is becoming part of how products are built and how entire teams work. At the same time, a lot of the most interesting work is happening outside the usual headlines and big brands. With this edition, we want to look at the full AI stack and recognize the people building the technology, the professionals finding genuinely better ways to work with it, and the companies turning it into products and infrastructure people actually use — Anna Lebedeva, co-founder of The Top Voices.
Applications are open until 24 August 2026. Evaluation will take place from 25 to 31 August, with the results announced on 1 September 2026.
The Awards are fully remote and free to enter. Individuals and companies can apply directly or nominate relevant work.
For more information and to apply, visit Tech Impact Awards for AI 2026.
About The Top Voices:
The Top Voices is a community-driven international media platform dedicated to giving a voice to early-stage startups, founders, and tech talent. Backed by over 3,000 entrepreneurs and tech enthusiasts worldwide, The Top Voices values practical expertise and highlights the stories of people making a real impact.