Recognizing AI Ambassadors of the Year - AI Awards 2023

Introduction

The pivotal role of artificial intelligence (AI) in automation is widely recognized. Its transformative impact on diverse industries like healthcare, finance, and education, has the potential to revolutionize every facet of our existence. UiPath Community acknowledges the tremendous value of this dynamic fusion and its capacity to augment team productivity, accelerate business transformation, and empower individuals to engage in more purposeful endeavors.

Here we are, part of UiPath AI Summit 2023, launching the first-ever UiPath AI Awards to celebrate our AI community and their contribution to the world of AI-powered automations. We thought of two award categories, one for "AI Ambassador of the Year" among our MVPs, and another for "Best AI Use Cases". Submissions are open to the world's largest automation community.

A special thank you to AI ambassadors of the year. The main idea behind UiPath AI Awards was to recognize AI product ambassadors, to reward the efforts of those who do not proficiently use AI capabilities in their automations, but also raising awareness on the value of AI. On the other hand, we aim to educate peers on using AI as an innovative way to transform business processes. Luke Palamara, VP of AI Product Management at UiPath, who announced the winners at the UiPath AI Summit, said that “Recognizing and celebrating AI ambassadors through awards is a meaningful way to honor their contributions in the field of AI-powered automation. Reshaping the future of work, they are a true inspiration to the entire industry.

At the same time, the best reward for AI ambassadors is the impact they have on the world, through the power of AI. The criteria for the AI Ambassador of the Year award included:

• Speaking about AI in automation at online and offline events, podcasts, and more

• Publishing about AI, including blogs, white papers, and e-books

• Creating educational videos, including demo videos, tutorials

• Demonstrating proficiency in using UiPath AI products such as AI Center, AI Computer Vision, Communications Mining, Document Understanding, and Task Mining

• Sharing AI success stories, and other relevant contributions

Only UiPath MVPs were eligible for this nomination, and our jury selected two winners per region, for a total of six. Let's meet them.

AI Ambassador of the Year category winners

Congratulations to the winners, automation experts who are masters in combining AI, RPA and automation and truly inspire and educate others on AI-powered automations.

We would like to thank each winner for their tremendous contribution to the automation industry and to share more about their achievements. Therefore, we have prepared a brief description of each of the winners.

Russel Alfeche, Technology Leader, RPA at qBotica

Meet Russel Alfeche, an automation and digital technology expert with a wealth of experience in automation. As a leading practitioner in the industry, Russel has gained recognition for his expertise in Document Understanding, AI Center, and other UiPath products. He has trained numerous customers, led the local UiPath chapter, and hosted webinars for the global RPA community. He has coached and guided individuals and teams in developing robust automation, handling both simple and complex RPA projects. With extensive experience in process discovery workshops and UiPath product deep dives, Russel is always looking for new ways to infuse cognitive capabilities and pragmatic AI into the next generation of automation.

Lahiru Fernando, Country Director (Sri Lanka) / RPA Lead (Asia Pacific) at Boundaryless Group

Meet Lahiru Fernando, a seasoned developer turned mentor, lecturer, and international speaker with ‌extensive experience in enterprise process automation and various programming languages and technologies. As the first UiPath MVP from Sri Lanka and an RPA Solution Architect, he is passionate about AI, robotics, and continuous learning. Lahiru is committed to sharing his expertise and inspiring the community through blogging, YouTube, and currently getting to publish his upcoming book, "Intelligent Document Processing - A Guide for Building RPA Solutions." He takes pride in mentoring and motivating others to achieve their goals and realize their full potential.

Jacqui Muller, Application Architect, Lecturer at Dimension Data/North-West University

Meet Jacqui Muller, a versatile and ambitious individual with a broad range of interests. Her skills in software development, automation, IoT, data engineering, and business intelligence reflect her diverse expertise. Currently, she is focused on understanding how businesses are created and sustained in the long term. Jacquie is passionate about automation and utilizing it to support clients in their digitization journey, while also mentoring youth entering the industry. As part of her PhD research, she presented her work on using RPA and AI to develop an "Automation for Good" framework at the IEEE Fourth African Winter School on Information Theory and Communications. She has also been a featured speaker at numerous conferences and events on the subject of AI and automation.

Sharon Palawandram, Machine Learning Consultant at Ashling Partners

Meet Sharon Palawandram, a seasoned machine learning consultant with more than six years of experience at Ashling Partners. She is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of intelligent automation, machine learning, and AI to drive innovation. As a thought leader, Sharon has been invited to speak at various events, including the Intelligent Automation in Accounting and Finance with IMA Queens College. She has also shared her expertise on document understanding at multiple forums, including sharing use cases and hosting and speaking at several events. Sharon is committed to empowering businesses with the latest AI solutions to enhance their operations and achieve their goals.

Leon Petrou, Lead UiPath Instructor at Complete RPA Bootcamp

Meet Leon Petrou, a highly accomplished Industrial Engineer and the brain behind FutureRPA.com, an RPA consultancy. He is an expert in UiPath and has trained over 50,000 students globally as a lead instructor at CompleteRPABootcamp.com. Leon's teaching style is focused on making learning fun and easy, with a track record of helping his students achieve certification as RPA Developers. He is also a prolific writer with several ebooks, and his YouTube and Udemy courses have gained widespread popularity, making him a trusted trend-setter in automation.

Nisarg Prakash Kadam, Senior Technology Manager at WonderBotz

Meet Nisarg Kadam, an accomplished RPA expert with a diverse skillset that encompasses machine learning and chatbots. With an impressive track record, Nisarg has won the UiPath Global Hackathon twice, served as chapter lead for Mumbai and Pune, and is now head of the Singapore community chapter. He has also built a popular YouTube channel focusing on UiPath and ML technology topics. Nisarg is a sought-after speaker, having delivered talks at various UiPath meetups, webinars, and other industry events.

Conclusion

UiPath encourages community members to effectively utilize UiPath AI products for problem-solving across different automation scenarios. We appreciate your innovative ideas and look forward to reviewing your AI-powered automation success stories and celebrating your achievements with next year’s UiPath AI Awards. Meanwhile, you can continue to build on innovative AI use case ideas and submit them on the UiPath Forum. Keep an eye on the product updates on UiPath Documentation Portal, participate in the upcoming UiPath Community events, and shape your journey with UiPath Academy.