AI is entering the boardroom, warehouse, and checkout. Are businesses ready?

The AI Business Transformation Masterclass & Awards 2026 at IIM Bangalore will focus on integrating AI into businesses on 19 November. The program features sessions on enterprise AI frameworks, real-world use cases, and discussions on Agentic AI in finance, physical AI applications, and contextual commerce, culminating in the ET Most Innovative AI Product Awards.

Businesses have spent the past few years exploring how artificial intelligence can improve their operations. Many have introduced AI tools into individual functions, from customer service and financial analysis to logistics and marketing. The next challenge is bringing these applications into the wider business, where technology decisions have to account for existing systems, employee adoption and measurable returns.

At IIM Bangalore, the AI Business Transformation Masterclass & Awards 2026, presented by The Economic Times in association with the institute, will bring this challenge into focus on 19 November 2026. The programme combines IIM Bangalore faculty sessions on enterprise AI frameworks, strategy and leadership with industry use cases, ROI discussions and live demonstrations. For CXOs and business leaders, the emphasis is on understanding how AI works inside organisations, what it takes to deploy it and where the business value lies.

The agenda moves well beyond familiar conversations about generative AI. One of its central discussions examines Agentic AI in Financial Services & Lending, bringing legacy enterprises and new-age disruptors into the same conversation. AI agents are beginning to take on more complex roles in financial workflows. Their ability to act autonomously brings questions of compliance, accountability and human oversight into sharper focus. Financial institutions will have to decide how much authority these systems can be given, and where human judgement must remain central.

The same shift is visible in the physical world. Computer vision, spatial systems and edge automation are giving AI applications a presence in environments where decisions depend on real-time information. The session on Physical AI will examine this development through applications ranging from surgical robots to autonomous drones, alongside the infrastructure needed to support deployment.

For supply chain leaders, the implications are closer to daily operations. AI is being explored across procurement, warehousing and last-mile logistics, with established enterprises and newer businesses approaching deployment from different starting points. The programme will examine these approaches and what traditional supply chains can learn from the speed of newer operators.

Commerce introduces another change in how businesses interact with customers. The sessions on

Contextual Commerce, covering Indian and global developments, will look at how AI can make purchasing experiences more responsive to customer intent. The discussion titled The AI Agent Can Now Pay takes the idea further, examining a world in which AI agents may participate in the transaction itself.

The programme also addresses questions that sit behind successful adoption. An AI Maturity Assessment will address organisational readiness, while live demonstrations will give participants a closer look at enterprise AI applications, including voice agents and robotics. A session on Owned Intelligence: After the AI Gold Rush, What the World, India and Its Enterprises Do Next will turn attention to the longer-term question of how businesses build and retain control over their AI capabilities. The agenda also includes a fireside chat and a session on AI for kids.

The day will conclude with the ET Most Innovative AI Product Awards 2026, recognising products advancing the application of AI in business. The awards add another dimension to the programme by bringing attention to the solutions being developed alongside the strategies discussed during the Masterclass.

The AI Business Transformation Masterclass & Awards 2026 takes place on 19 November at IIM Bangalore.