India AI Impact Summit 2026 Showcases Youth-Led AI Innovation for Public Good
India AI Impact Summit 2026 Showcases Youth-Led AI Innovation for Public Good
The India AI Impact Summit 2026 today witnessed the announcement of winners of the YUVAi Global Youth Challenge, marking the culmination of a landmark global initiative under the IndiaAI Mission to nurture responsible, youth-led artificial intelligence innovation. The Challenge received over 2,500 applications from 38 countries, reflecting strong global momentum among young innovators committed to developing AI solutions aligned with societal and developmental priorities.
Conceived as a platform to identify, mentor and empower young AI leaders aged 13 to 21 years, the YUVAi Global Youth Challenge provided participants with structured learning resources, technical mentorship and ecosystem support. Anchored in the vision of People, Planet and Progress, the initiative encouraged the development of scalable AI solutions across critical domains including public health, agriculture, climate resilience, accessibility, smart mobility and digital trust.
The top 70 teams across the three YUVAi challenge tracks showcased their solutions at the Summit, engaging with policymakers, industry leaders, investors and academia. The platform enabled young innovators to demonstrate working prototypes, exchange ideas and explore pathways for collaboration, pilot implementation and scale.
Jury for the YUVAi Challenge Presentations (Left to Right: Dr Anish John Paul, Program Lead at AIM, NITI Aayog, Government of India, Kirthiga Reddy, CEO, OptimizeGEO.ai, Deepak Bagla, Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, Government of India, Ranjita Ghosh, CMO, Wipro and Jeet Wagh, Founder of Ideabaaz)
Following a rigorous evaluation process, the winners were selected from among the Top 20 finalists whose projects demonstrated strong technical depth, innovation, scalability and measurable social impact. The First Prize, carrying a cheque of INR 15 lakhs each, was awarded to Paraspeak led by Mr. Pranet Khetan; AgniSena represented by Mr. Samaraho Mukherjee and Mr. Maghnad Debnath; and Z-TRACS represented by Mr. Gaurav Yadav and Mr. Nitesh Kapildev Yadav. The Second Prize, with a cheque of INR 10 lakhs each, was conferred upon CytoScanZ represented by Mr. Carl Tidtijumreonpon and Mr. Pongkun Fucheun; WAYV represented by Aditya Bhandari and Manya Chaturvedi; and VOX-AID represented by Ms. Chirashree Pan and Ms. Debasmita Pal. Special Recognition Prizes of INR 5 lakhs each were awarded to MalariaX represented by Ms. Thida Jopanya and Mr. Poomjai Pongsriwat, and KedovoAI represented by Mr. Akshaj Gupta.
The recognised solutions addressed diverse real-world challenges and included AI-driven malaria detection systems, cervical cancer screening platforms, clinical language models for contextual medical reasoning, telemedicine solutions for rural healthcare delivery, intelligent crop monitoring and livestock analytics platforms, forest fire and flood early warning systems, deepfake detection tools, assistive technologies for speech and visual accessibility, and AI-enabled smart traffic management systems. Collectively, these innovations demonstrate the transformative potential of youth-led AI in advancing inclusive, scalable and socially relevant outcomes.
The YuvAI Presentations session featured immersive five-minute demonstrations by young AI entrepreneurs aged 15–25 from across the world, showcasing innovative solutions across healthcare, environment, tourism, data privacy, road safety and inclusivity. The presentations were evaluated by a distinguished jury comprising Dr Anish John Paul, Program Lead, AIM, NITI Aayog; Ms Kirthiga Reddy, CEO, OptimizeGEO.ai; Mr Deepak Bagla, Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog; Ms Ranjita Ghosh, CMO, Wipro; and Mr Jeet Wagh, Founder, Ideabaaz. Each presentation was followed by a Q&A session focusing on data integrity, validation frameworks, technical robustness, deployment readiness and scalability potential.
Participating teams presented a wide range of solutions including Paraspeak for speech clarity, WAYV for accessible Braille learning, Arogya AI for rural clinical support, MediCare for telehealth delivery, CytoScanZ for cervical cancer screening, Circadian AI for cardiac abnormality detection, MalariaX for malaria risk prediction, Vox-AID for dysarthria detection, indeX for Alzheimer’s screening, SafePath AI for road safety, Z-TRACS for smart traffic management, TrustTrace for deepfake detection, WildTrack 360 AI for wildlife and forest protection, AgniSena for forest fire detection, ClimaMaTech for flood forecasting, Agnitech Pro for crop intelligence, MOOAPPS for sustainable livestock management, an AI-powered Heritage Platform for tourism promotion, KedovoAI for contextual AI learning, and Third Eye for assistive navigation.
The winning teams will receive national recognition along with structured ecosystem support, including mentorship, industry connect, incubation opportunities and pathways for pilot implementation. This continued engagement aims to accelerate the deployment and scaling of promising AI solutions both nationally and globally, further strengthening India’s position as a trusted hub for responsible and inclusive AI innovation.
With the successful culmination of the YUVAi Global Youth Challenge at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, the IndiaAI Mission reaffirms its commitment to empowering young innovators and building a future-ready AI ecosystem driven by ethics, inclusivity and global collaboration.