Cogna

Nominated by Ben Slater, Cogna

Cogna builds bespoke AI software for the complex, judgement-heavy processes that run the UK's energy and water networks, where off-the-shelf products often fall short. Its platform maps where AI can help, models how an operation actually works, then builds, tests and deploys production applications.

At Cadent, Cogna now runs more than 20 applications across eight departments, used by over 600 people each month and saving around 50,000 field hours a year. United Utilities, SGN and Network Plus also use the platform.

Great Wave AI

Nominated by Tom Cotterell, Great Wave AI

Great Wave AI, founded in London in 2021, has built a no-code platform for creating and running generative AI agents inside an organisation's own infrastructure. It works with any large language model, so customers can switch models without being locked in, and every agent is continuously scored for accuracy and fully audited.

More than 1,000 agents are live across the Ministry of Defence, the Department for Business and Trade, the Insolvency Service and Warwickshire Police, among others. At Warwickshire Police alone it saves around £147,000 a year and returns about 1,000 hours a month to frontline work.

Leonardo UK

Sovereign Hunter

Nominated by Leo Karaalp, Leonardo UK

Sovereign Hunter is an autonomous AI system that brings together target recognition at the edge, mission robotics, swarm coordination and a UK fixed-wing aircraft. Leonardo UK built it with British SMEs Volander, Applied AGI and Faculty through its SME Collaboration Programme.

The system went from contract to live demonstration in six months, around 70% faster than an in-house approach, including seven flights under Civil Aviation Authority permissions in which one commander supervised two aircraft. It supports more than 15 SME jobs and has drawn interest from the MOD, Dstl and allies.

NSOffice.AI

Nominated by Sandy Hardikar, NSOffice.AI

NSOffice.AI, launched in March 2026 by London-based Network Science, gives each mid-sized company its own private "AI Brain": a secure, branded environment with governed access to leading AI models, connections to company systems and managed workflows.

Its own model, Phantom, runs on UK-hosted infrastructure, removes personal data and handles everyday work locally, cutting traffic to overseas models by up to 60%. Within seven months it was in use at 37 companies across five countries.

Wordsmith AI

Nominated by Josef Laor, TellNY

Edinburgh-built Wordsmith AI is a platform for in-house legal teams. It takes in legal requests from across a business, then routes, resolves and records them, with AI agents handling routine work so lawyers can focus on what matters.

It has more than 500 paying customers, including BT, the Financial Times, Sage, Revolut and Starling. Customers report cutting their spend on external lawyers by over 25%, and The Lawyer named it Best Technology Product 2026.