MLDS 2027 · Awards since 2019

AIM 40 Under 40 AI Builders Awards

Honouring India’s engineers shipping AI into production. Earlier called the 40 Under 40 Data Scientists Awards, it is presented on stage at MLDS 2027.

Editions
8
2019–2026
Builders honoured
305
Named on this page
Source and footnoteAbout this numberNamed honorees, 2019–26. The awards page says 300+; a few names may repeat across years.
Age cap
40
Under 40
40 Under 40 honorees holding their trophies on the MLDS stage

Eligibility

For the builders shipping AI into production

Who can apply

India-linked, hands-on AI builders under 40 who shipped meaningful production impact in the past 18 months — across startups, enterprises and GCCs.

How we choose

A weighted rubric scoring production impact, technical depth, scale and reliability, open source signal, business outcomes and peer endorsements.

The 2026 40 Under 40 honorees on stage at MLDS 2026

Judging

How the jury scores every nomination

The weighted rubric, in three parts.

  1. Production impact

    Systems shipped and running in the real world — not prototypes, not pilots, not slideware.

  2. Technical depth

    Rigour of the engineering behind the work: scale, reliability, and open source signal.

  3. Business outcomes

    Measurable results for users and the organisation, backed by peer endorsements.

Hall of Honour

8 editions of honorees

The practitioners who have shaped how India builds with AI, recognised year after year. Pick a year to see every name.

Honorees per year. Pick a year to see the names.. 2019: 36, 2020: 39, 2021: 40, 2022: 40, 2023: 39, 2024: 38, 2025: 35, 2026: 38305 names since 2019

2026 · 40 Under 40 AI Builders · 38 honorees

2026 · 40 Under 40 AI Builders

38 honorees

  • Charchit Bahl receiving the 40 Under 40 award at MLDS 2026
  • Aaditya RaghavendranVertical Head & Associate Director – Retail & Marketplaces, LatentView Analytics
  • Ajith K PVP – Principal Applied Scientist, Kotak 811
  • Amit R ShahDelivery Unit Head, MathCo
  • Arijit MallickSenior Manager – AI and Emerging Technologies, Merkle Inc
  • Arindam RoyVice President – Client Partner, Gramener (A Straive Company)
  • Arti MishraSenior Manager – Decision Scientist, Enterprise Analytics, Tesco Business Solutions
  • Arpit KapoorSenior Staff Data Scientist, ServiceNow
  • Ankush ChopraSenior Director – AI Center of Excellence, Tredence Analytics Solutions
  • Ayushman GuptaSenior Manager, Genpact
  • Charchit BahlVice President, EXL Services
  • Chiranjeev PatidarPrincipal Data Scientist, Franklin Templeton Investments Management
  • Deep SrivastavaData Science Expert, SAP Labs India
  • Dhairya BadiyaniDirector – Technology Enablement (AI), Riveron
  • Divyanshu ShekharAI Practice Head, Bajaj Auto Credit Limited
  • Dr. Daisy DasManager Data Scientist, State Bank of India
  • Gaurav NagarCo-Founder and Senior Director – Engineering, Acceldata
  • Hema DurairajSenior Data Scientist, Publicis Sapient
  • Karan SindwaniSenior Applied Scientist, Amazon Web Services
  • Lakshmi Devi PrakashVice President – Applied AI ML Lead, JP Morgan Chase & Co
  • Murari RamukaSenior AI Technologist, Microsoft
  • Nikhil GundawarDirector of Analytics and Insights, Slice
  • Pragati ChopadeData Scientist Lead, Johnson Controls
  • Prerit KhandelwalDirector – Product Analytics, Razorpay
  • Ranjani SubramaniamData Analytics & System Manager, Shell Engineering
  • Shital PatilAI Expert, Robert Bosch Middle East Dubai
  • Shrutorsi NundyVice President – Global Data Science & GenAI for Citi Wealth, Citi
  • SiddheshTechnical Product Manager, Mastercard
  • Soumitra ChatterjeeSenior Manager – Applied AI POD, Dentsu Global Services
  • Sunny ManchandaDirector, DRDO Young Scientist Laboratory – Artificial Intelligence, Bengaluru
  • Suvro Shankar GhoshHead- AI Solution (MFCWL), Mahindra Group
  • Sweta SinghSenior Manager- Data Science & AI, Commonwealth Bank of Australia
  • Swati UpadhyayaPrincipal – Consulting, IQVIA
  • Swarnendu BhattacharyaSenior Manager, Unilever
  • Taniya GhoshSenior Engineering Manager – AI, Salesforce India
  • Vidya LakshmyManager – Data Science, Optum (UHG)
  • Vinay KumarDirector DS, Tiger Analytics India Consulting
  • Vishal NagpalDirector of AI and Data, Best Buy
  • Vivek PariharHead of Engineering & CISO, Purplle.com
Show all 38 namesShow fewer

Winner voices

What the honorees say

  • “Truly honored to be recognized as one of the top 40 under 40 data scientists from AIM. This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication that I have put into my craft.”

    Jitendra GuptaBaker Hughes
  • “Honoured to have received the #40under40 Data Scientists award. Got a chance to meet a lot of folks in the industry and connect with them.”

    Sudalai Rajkumar — SRKGrowfin.ai
  • “It was a great experience to connect and learn from experts in data science. Really enjoyed talking about 'Solving business problems with computer vision' in the midst of a fantastic audience.”

    Praveen JesudhasTiger Analytics