H2O.ai Opens Nominations for 2025 AI 100 Awards, Honoring the Most Influential Leaders in AI

The award will recognize global innovators shaping the future of AI across enterprise, the public sector, and AI for good

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--H2O.ai, the world’s leading Agentic AI company and a pioneer in Sovereign AI with secure, on-premise and air-gapped deployments, today opened nominations for its second annual AI 100 awards, recognizing 100 individuals who are shaping the future of artificial intelligence through innovation, impact, leadership, and real-world application.

“AI has moved beyond prototypes – it’s now in the hands of people solving real problems in the real world,” said Sri Ambati, CEO of H2O.ai. “The AI 100 celebrates those turning bold ideas into reality: business leaders deploying AI that’s aligned, trusted, and sovereign, engineers building at scale, and public leaders advancing policy. These are the architects of the future.”

Now in its second year, the AI 100 highlights a global and diverse community of AI leaders, from Fortune 100 executives and government officials to researchers and open-source builders. Last year’s honorees included Teresa Heitsenrether (JPMorgan Chase), Gassia Fox (BlackRock), and Chintan Mehta (Wells Fargo).

The 2025 AI 100 will continue to spotlight both visionary leaders and hands-on AI practitioners across five key categories:

• Global Visionaries: Iconic public figures, founders, and AI leaders shaping the future of technology and society at scale.
• Enterprise Leaders: Senior executives and other decision-makers driving enterprise-wide AI adoption.
• AI Makers – Builders, Founders & Operators: Hands-on innovators building and deploying AI in the real world, from engineers and researchers to founders and product leaders.
• AI for Good: Individuals using AI to advance the public good, spanning education, research, healthcare, climate, public sector, and nonprofit initiatives.
• Community Innovators: Champions from the data science and open-source ecosystem—including Kaggle Grandmasters, community builders, and startups leveraging H2O.ai tools to create novel AI solutions.

The ideal nominee has demonstrated meaningful impact through AI, whether by improving business performance, increasing efficiency, or enhancing quality of life. Candidates will also be evaluated on their leadership, creativity, and commitment to the responsible use of AI.

"Recognizing innovators in the AI for Good category is essential because it highlights stories that inspire new possibilities, “ said Tess Gilman Posner, a judge for this year’s AI 100 and CEO at AI4All. “As AI continues to shape our world, we must elevate the voices and solutions that are building a more just, inclusive, and compassionate future. I'm honored to serve as a judge for this program and look forward to recognizing those making significant and positive impacts on AI today and into the future," said Posner.

Nominees will be evaluated through a combined process of public submissions, LLM-powered review, and scoring by an expert panel of judges. Winners will be announced this fall and celebrated at a dedicated AI 100 event, bringing together some of the most influential voices in AI.

Nominations are now open and will be accepted on a rolling basis. To nominate a candidate, visit the H2O.ai AI 100 Awards portal at this link.

About H2O.ai

Founded in 2012, H2O.ai is on a mission to democratize AI. As the world’s leading agentic AI company, H2O.ai converges Generative and Predictive AI to help enterprises and public sector agencies develop purpose-built GenAI applications on their private data. Trusted by 20,000+ global organizations, and over half of the Fortune 500, H2O.ai powers AI transformation for companies like AT&T, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Singtel, Chipotle, Workday, Progressive Insurance, and NIH.

H2O.ai partners include Dell Technologies, Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), NVIDIA, Snowflake, AWS, Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Microsoft Azure. H2O.ai’s AI for Good program supports nonprofit groups, foundations, and communities in advancing education, healthcare, and environmental conservation. With a vibrant community of 2 million data scientists worldwide, H2O.ai aims to co-create valuable AI applications for all users.

H2O.ai has raised $256 million from investors, including Commonwealth Bank, NVIDIA, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Capital One, Nexus Ventures and New York Life.