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Oct 05 2026
38Inaugural national awards recognise innovation, leadership, and impact across sectors
The inaugural ‘National AI Awards 2026’, Sri Lanka’s first-ever national AI awards programme and a flagship event of Sri Lanka AI Week 2026, concluded with a grand ceremony on 30 September 2026 at Monarch Imperial, bringing Sri Lanka’s largest AI event to date, Sri Lanka AI Week 2026, to a close. Pioneered by the Ministry of Digital Economy and SLT-MOBITEL, the week-long initiative featured five landmark events, the AI Hackathon, AI Leaders Night, AI Conference, AI Exhibition, and National AI Awards, celebrating innovation, collaboration and advancements in artificial intelligence.
Honouring Sri Lanka’s most outstanding achievements in artificial intelligence, the National AI Awards recognised the best AI solutions, leaders, and talent, marking the culmination of a week of discovery, dialogue, and progress.
The awards event was graced by Hon. Eng. Eranga Weeraratne, Deputy Minister, Digital Economy, as the Chief Guest, Waruna Sri Dhanapala, Secretary to the Ministry of Digital Economy, Dr. Mothilal De Silva, Chairman, SLT Group, and Riyaaz Rasheed, CEO, SLT-MOBITEL. Leading policymakers, industry leaders, academics, and innovators were also in attendance.
Recognising excellence in AI, the National AI Awards showcased strength in multiple domains, such as agriculture, healthcare, banking, education, and advanced enterprise solutions. Each submission was rigorously evaluated by an independent panel of 19 judges, ensuring that the winners reflected high standards of quality, scalability, and impact.
A total of 64 awards were presented at the National AI Awards, comprising 19 Gold Awards, 14 Silver Awards, 12 Bronze Awards, and 18 Merit Awards, alongside the Sri Lanka AI Transformation Leader of the Year Award whose Gold Award was bestowed to Chamira Prasad Jayasinghe, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Arimac and the National AI Excellence Award – Best Overall AI Solution Across All Sectors, presented to Emojot (Pvt) Ltd. for its project, Emojot UXI – Unified Experience Intelligence.
Industry‑specific awards recognised leading applications in Agriculture, Banking, Finance & Insurance (BFSI), Healthcare & Life Sciences, Manufacturing (Industry 5.0), Education, and Media. Future‑focused categories celebrated the Best AI Startup/MSME Innovation, Best Agentic AI Solution, Best Sinhala/Tamil AI & Localisation Innovation, and University AI Innovation awards, Women in AI Leadership, and the AI Content Creator of the Year, recognising educational video and storytelling, social impact, future-tech, and cultural heritage, and tourism content creators.
The National AI Awards 2026 is a testament to Sri Lanka’s growing capability in artificial intelligence. Recognising innovators from multiple sectors and levels, the Awards reinforce the nation’s position as an emerging hub for AI excellence in South Asia.
The Ministry of Digital Economy and SLT‑MOBITEL extend their sincere appreciation to all applicants, judges, evaluators, sponsors, partners, media organisations, and stakeholders whose support contributed to the successful conclusion of the National AI Awards 2026.
