NEW DELHI (India CSR): While the recently concluded India AI Impact Summit 2026 brought together policymakers, practitioners, and thought leaders to explore how AI can effectively serve people, planet, and progress, several successful AI use cases emerged from The Koita Foundation Tech Awards, held on 6 February in New Delhi. Seven social purpose organisations (SPOs) were announced as winners, recognising SPOs from across India that are using artificial intelligence to address real-world challenges and deliver significant impact across education, healthcare, livelihoods, gender, and inclusion.
At the heart of the awards is a grounded philosophy of digital transformation, one that moves away from extreme narratives that frame AI either as a magical solution to every challenge or as a force of disruption and risk. Instead, the initiative emphasises a “ground reality” that sits somewhere in the middle of AI adoption, where technology is understood and deployed ethically as a practical tool to create tangible, measurable outcomes for communities.
This approach reflects a shift in how the social sector is engaging with digital transformation: not as a theoretical aspiration, but as a practice already underway. The Tech Awards spotlighted organisations and leaders who are actively using AI to drive sustained and meaningful change, demonstrating what it takes to translate innovation into real impact on the ground. More than 60 social purpose organisations across India applied, of which 12 organisations were shortlisted as finalists. Six winners were selected by an expert jury, while one organisation was chosen through a public audience poll, taking the total number of awardees to seven.
The Koita Foundation Tech Awards aim to identify solutions that are working at scale, encourage the practical use of technology in the social sector, and recognise organisations that are creating measurable outcomes through sustainable innovation. Rekha Koita, Director, Koita Foundation, explained, “The awards were created to recognise organisations that are using technology, including AI, to deliver real impact. It is important to identify and support solutions that are working on the ground and have the potential to scale and benefit more communities.”
The Tech Awards were hosted by the Koita Centre for Digital Transformation (KCDT), an initiative launched in February 2025 by India Leaders for Social Sector (ILSS) in partnership with the Koita Foundation. KCDT works with social purpose organisations across India to help them adopt digital technologies, improve operational efficiency, and scale their impact in a rapidly evolving ecosystem. Anu Prasad, Founder-CEO, India Leaders for Social Sector (ILSS), emphasised, “Technology is no longer optional for the social sector. Through the Koita Centre for Digital Transformation, we set out to help organisations use digital tools in a practical and responsible manner. These awards show what is possible when purpose-driven organisations apply technology to solve problems at scale.”
Beyond recognition, the awards enabled sector-wide learning. A key component of the initiative is the democratisation of innovation: the insights, tools, and use cases emerging from these efforts are being made accessible through the DT4SI platform, built by KCDT, allowing other organisations to learn from and adopt proven digital approaches. Anirban Chaudhury, Head of KCDT, said, “We wanted to ensure that technology-led progress is not confined to a few early adopters but contributes to collective capacity-building across the ecosystem. The awards provided both recognition and financial support to help nonprofits strengthen and scale their digital & AI innovation”
(India CSR)
