WASHINGTON— The U.S. Army xTech Program, in partnership with Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare & Sensors and Project Linchpin, has announced six winners of the xTech Artificial Intelligence Grand Challenge. The winners delivered cutting-edge data preparation solutions for AI applications focused on automated data verification and validation and data augmentation and feature engineering.
Led by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisitions, Logistics and Technology, this competition supports the Army’s AI Implementation Plan—a strategic initiative to formalize AI processes and policies that enhance performance, reduce lifecycle costs, and scale impact across the force. By automating and streamlining data preparation, these solutions enable organizations to save time, reduce costs, and improve the accuracy and performance of AI applications.
With $2 million in prizes, the xTech AI Grand Challenge offered one of the program’s largest prize pools to date. At earlier stages in the competition, finalists received $35,000 each to support prototype development and technical refinement of their solution.
xTech AI Grand Challenge Winners:
1st Place, $500,000: Ozni AI, COMbINE: Common-Mission Integration and Normalization Engine
2nd Place, $300,000: PeopleTec, Data Augmentation and Feature Engineering
3rd Place, $150,000: Snorkel AI, Optimizing Army Data Pipelines for AI Readiness: Programmatic Approaches to Automated Validation, Augmentation, and Feature Engineering
4th Place, $75,000: Latent AI, AI Agent for Automated Data Engineering
5th Place, $50,000: Exia Labs, Soraka Verification and Validation
6th Place, $25,000: R-DEX Systems, Angler – Information Theoretic Data Profiling
As a pivotal next phase, all six winners will join an accelerator program led by Plug and Play, where they’ll receive customized mentorship, connect with a broad network of industry and government stakeholders, and gain access to resources that support the swift integration of their technologies into Army programs—boosting the potential for rapid and meaningful deployment.
“The xTech AI Grand Challenge reflects our enduring commitment to partnering with innovators across industry and academia to build the Army of the future,” said Dr. Matt Willis, director of Army Innovation Programs. “By sourcing breakthrough technologies from outside traditional defense channels, we’re accelerating secure, scalable AI solutions that can integrate quickly and adapt to mission needs. This competition isn’t just about funding—it’s about shaping the foundation for how the Army adopts and governs AI enterprise-wide.”
Competition Advances Army’s AI Modernization Strategy
Designed to incentivize participation from both industry and academia, xTech AI Grand Challenge fueled engagement and surfaced transformative AI capabilities that will shape the future force. xTech collaborated closely with Army experts to evaluate solutions, providing participants with targeted feedback and awarding cash prizes at every stage of the competition.
"Innovation born from competition, powered by partnership. This is how we transform the Army for tomorrow, today. Competitions like this not only accelerate technology development, they also give the government deeper insight into the industry landscape,” said Bharat Patel, product lead for Project Linchpin. “Together, we learn, adapt, and advance solutions that matter to support the Army Transformation Initiative and set conditions for Next Generation Command & Control."
By accelerating development cycles, surfacing cutting-edge capabilities, and addressing critical gaps in military AI, the effort not only accelerates innovation across the Army and Department of Defense but also fosters cross collaboration among, industry, academia, and operational leaders to ensure emerging AI innovations are aligned with mission requirements.
The selected winner’s solutions will shape next-generation, enterprise-level AI risk management tools and frameworks that will accelerate the Army-wide deployment of secure, scalable AI capabilities.
About the Army xTech Program
The Army xTech Program is the Army’s premier tool for scouting and accelerating dual-use technologies that directly enhance Soldier readiness and mission success. Through dynamic prize competitions like xTechSearch, xTech identifies breakthrough solutions and opens doors for nontraditional companies to engage with and deliver capabilities to the Army. Since its launch in 2018, xTech has awarded over $30 million in non-dilutive cash prizes across 45 competitions—fueling innovation pipelines and delivering transformative technologies that matter on the battlefield.
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