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8th Edition · Applications open now

The Tech Next Challenge returns for its 8th edition. This year the spotlight will be on startups using autonomous intelligence to shape the next era of work.

Start your application Explore the seven tracks
Applications close July 17, 2026 | Grand Finale August 12, 2026 | Accenture Innovation Hub, Bangalore
The 2026 theme

Enterprise reinvention through Autonomous Technologies

Autonomous AI
Agents, agentic workflows, multi-agent orchestration.
Autonomous physical systems
Supply Chain and Engineering, Robotics, Physical AI
Autonomous infrastructure
Self-healing IT, intelligent cloud, edge autonomy.
Autonomous operations
Autonomous supply chain, finance, and service agents.
The seven tracks

Find your track
to impact

Choose from seven challenge tracks, each anchored to one of Accenture's Reinvention Partners — the business units that take solutions directly to our enterprise clients. Choose the track that best fits where your solution creates value, then accelerate co-innovation with the team most equipped to scale it.
Why this matters for founders

For the first time, our challenge tracks map directly to how Accenture goes to market. That means every finalist gets a direct path to the Reinvention Partner that is best positioned to bring their solution into live client conversations, pilots and scaled deployments.

T01
Reinvention Partner · Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity
Autonomous cyber defense
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Who we're looking for
We’re looking for startups building security systems that detect, decide and respond without a human in the loop — so enterprises can trust the autonomous agents, infrastructure and operations they deploy.
Focus areas
Autonomous security agents

AI agents that detect, decide, and respond to threats autonomously across the enterprise attack surface.

Agentic identity and access management & zero-trust

Identity and access management built for a world where both humans and autonomous agents are first-class actors on the network.

Open source software-based security in an agent frame

Open-source security tooling reimagined for agent-native enterprise environments and the new threat surfaces they create.

AI security & autonomous red-teaming

Securing AI and GenAI workloads, plus continuous autonomous adversarial testing of enterprise defenses.

T02
Reinvention Partner · Digital Core
Digital Core
Autonomous cloud & data
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Who we're looking for
We’re looking for startups reinventing the foundational layer — cloud, data, applications — so it becomes self-optimizing, AI-native and ready to run autonomous workloads at enterprise scale.
Focus areas
Autonomous cloud & compute

Self-optimizing cloud operations, financial operations, observability, and intelligent compute orchestration.

Self-optimizing data platforms

Data cleaning, unification, governance, virtualization, knowledge graphs, and synthetic data — infrastructure that runs itself and feeds autonomous systems.

AI-native app modernization & model operations (ModelOps)

Modernizing legacy estates into AI-native architectures, plus large language model operations (LLMops) and ModelOps backbone for production AI.

AgentOps & autonomous AMS

Foundation model infrastructure, inference optimization, graphics processing unit (GPU) and AI chip innovation, and workload orchestration.

Tokenomics

Tokenized infrastructure, decentralized compute markets, and economic primitives for AI-native enterprise systems.

T03
Reinvention Partner · Finance
Finance
Autonomous finance operations
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Who we're looking for
We’re looking for startups building agents and platforms that reinvent the CFO's organization — closing books, forecasting, assuring controls and driving decisions with minimal manual effort.
Focus areas
Autonomous finance operations

Agentic systems for record-to-report, procure-to-pay, order-to-cash, continuous close, and treasury.

Predictive spend & performance

AI for financial planning & analysis, scenario planning, working capital optimization, and real-time performance intelligence.

Compliance & audit automation

Autonomous controls testing, continuous audit, and tax and regulatory reporting.

Agentic decision intelligence

Platforms that help the CFO move from reporting the past to autonomously deciding the future.

T04
Reinvention Partner · Industry and Enterprise
Industry and Enterprise
Autonomous vertical AI
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Who we're looking for
We’re looking for startups building vertical AI — purpose-built agents, workflows and platforms that understand the language, data and processes of a specific industry and reinvent its core value chain.
Focus areas
Vertical AI for core industry value chains

Domain-specific AI for Banking, Insurance, Healthcare, Life Sciences, Manufacturing, Retail & Consumer Packaged Goods, Telecom, Media, Energy, and Public Services.

Autonomous cross-functional workflows

Agents that stitch across traditionally siloed enterprise functions to run end-to-end business processes.

AI-enabled enterprise

Enterprise-grade AI platforms and orchestration layers that make the entire organization agent-ready.

T05
Reinvention Partner · Song
Song
Autonomous growth agents
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Who we're looking for
We’re looking for startups reinventing how enterprises acquire, serve and grow customers — through agents that personalize, decide and act across the full marketing, commerce and service stack.
Focus areas
Autonomous customer engagement

AI-led customer experience, contact-center agents, voice AI, and next-best-action systems that handle customer journeys end-to-end.

AI-led marketing & growth

Generative and agentic systems for creative production, campaign orchestration, audience intelligence, and growth experimentation.

Agentic sales & service

AI agents for B2B and B2C sales productivity, pipeline management, service resolution, and customer success.

Agentic commerce experiences

Agent-led storefronts, conversational commerce, dynamic pricing, and autonomous personalization engines.

T06
Reinvention Partner · Supply Chain and Engineering
Supply Chain and Engineering
Autonomous operations & physical AI
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Who we're looking for
We’re looking for startups fusing AI with the physical world — robotics, engineering and supply networks that sense, decide and act across factories, warehouses, fleets, assets and product lifecycles
Focus areas
Physical AI & autonomous physical operations

Physical AI, robotics, smart assets and self-operating industrial environments.

Self-optimizing supply networks

AI-driven, resilient and adaptive end-to-end supply chains.

Software-defined and intelligent products

Connected, continuously evolving and AI-embedded products.

Autonomous engineering and industrialization

AI-native design and engineering.

Sustainable and rapid capital build and sustenance

Simulation, digital twin–driven.

T07
Reinvention Partner · Talent
Talent
Workforce autonomy
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Who we're looking for
We’re looking for startups reinventing work itself — how humans and agents collaborate, how skills are built and how the workforce is architected for an autonomous enterprise.
Focus areas
Agentic HR & talent operations

Agentic systems for talent acquisition, onboarding, performance, rewards, and employee service.

Autonomous learning & capability building

AI-led upskilling, personalized learning paths, and continuous capability development at enterprise scale.

Human-agent workforce orchestration

Platforms defining how humans and autonomous agents collaborate — supervision, handoff, trust, and accountability.

AI-native change & workforce experience

Tools to reimagine roles, drive AI-native change, and design the employee experience for an agent-augmented workforce.

Who should apply

Built for enterprise-ready deep-tech founders.

The Challenge is designed for founders who have moved past validation and are ready to scale into global enterprise deployments. To apply, one must meet all of the following criteria.

Deep-tech focus

You are an early or growth-stage startup building defensible, technology-led innovation.

B2B and enterprise

You solve enterprise-grade problems, not consumer or prosumer use cases.

Autonomous technologies

You build solutions for autonomous AI, physical systems, infrastructure or operations.

India presence

You are headquartered in India, or have an Indian co-founder or established India operations/engineering in India

Enterprise traction

You have paid engagements — pilots or deployments — already delivered to enterprise clients.

What winners unlock

Scale with one of the world's leading technology partners.

Winners will access a curated ecosystem designed to accelerate co-innovation with enterprise clients, strategic capital and deep-tech infrastructure — the ingredients that translate promising technology into full deployment.
Flagship benefit

The Tech Next advantage.

Accel
  • 1:1 meeting with an Investment Partner for potential inclusion in the investment pipeline.
  • Access to the Accel Atoms program.
AWS
  • Up to $25,000 in non – dilutive cloud credits for winners .
  • Access to invite-only AWS events and startup programs.
FSID IISc
  • All finalists get priority access for Incubation at Foundation for Science, Innovation and Development, IISc.
  • Access to industry and network connections, investor network and technology support.
  • Deep-tech collaboration across domains including AI, cybersecurity, and robotics hubs.
  • Office space and infrastructure, subject to availability.
NVIDIA
  • Inclusion in NVIDIA Inception program for startups.
  • Additional benefits include cloud credits, cutting-edge developer tools, preferred pricing and exposure to NVIDIA's global venture capital (VC) network.
  • GTM acceleration across NVIDIA's partner ecosystem.
Timeline

From application to Grand Finale.

Applications are evaluated across two rounds led by senior Accenture Leaders and Reinvention Partner subject-matter experts. Finalists pitch at the Grand Finale to a jury of CXOs and leading investors, with one winner selected for each of the seven tracks.
Phase 01
Jun 22
Applications open. Submission window begins.
Phase 02
Jul 17
Applications close. Jury curation begins.
Phase 03
Aug 3
Shortlist announced.
Grand Finale
Aug 12
Finale at Accenture Innovation Hub, Bangalore. Winners selected for the seven tracks.
Our partners

The ecosystem behind the Challenge.

The Tech Next Challenge is powered by leading venture capital firms, technology providers, cloud platforms, and research institutions — all committed to helping India's deep-tech founders reach global scale.
Cloud partner
AWS
Ecosystem partner
IVC Association
Knowledge partner
IISc Bangalore
Technology partner
NVIDIA
VC partner
Accel
Testimonial
"

The Challenge unlocked enterprise conversations that would have taken years to open on our own.

Hear from past winners of the Tech Next Challenge:
Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know before applying.

This is your quick reference on eligibility, the evaluation process and how the new Reinvention Partner–aligned tracks work. For anything not covered here, please reach out to the team — contact details are in the footer.
I'm building an AI agent. Which track should I apply under?
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Choose the track that best matches where your solution creates business value. A finance-ops agent fits Finance. A sales agent fits Song. A cross-industry horizontal agent platform fits Digital Core or Industry & Enterprise. If in doubt, pick one — our evaluation team will route your application to the most relevant Reinvention Partner during shortlisting.
Can I apply to more than one track?
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Please pick a single track where you have the strongest enterprise use case and traction. If there is strong fitment to any other track, mention the same via Q#C3 in the application form.
My solution spans hardware and software — for example, robotics. Which track should I choose?
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Supply Chain & Engineering is the natural home for Physical AI, robotics, autonomous vehicles, drones, and embodied AI systems.
What stage of startup are you looking for?
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The challenge is open to early to growth-stage deep-tech companies with paid enterprise engagements already on the ground. This is not a seed-stage or ideation program.
Do I need to be based in India?
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You must be either headquartered in India, or have an Indian co-founder or established operations in India. The program is designed to accelerate India's deep-tech ecosystem and connect it with global enterprise opportunities.
Is there an application fee?
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No. Applications are free, and there is no equity commitment required to apply.
What is the selection process?
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Entries will go through two rounds of evaluation led by senior Accenture Leaders and Reinvention Partner subject-matter experts. Shortlisted finalists will pitch at the Grand Finale to a jury of CXOs and leading investors, with one winner selected for each of the seven tracks.
What happens after the Grand Finale?
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Winners will be fast-tracked into Accenture, connected to client pipelines and given access to partner benefits, including AWS credits, NVIDIA Inception support, VC meetings and academia (IISc Bangalore) incubation. Finalists — not only winners — will also be welcomed into the IISc Bangalore incubation program and Accenture's innovation network.

Join the 8th edition of the Accenture Tech Next Challenge

and take your solution into the heart of enterprise transformation.


Start your application
No application fee · No equity required to apply
Applications are open until July 17, 2026