Willow Named “Autonomous Decision-Making Platform of the Year” in 2026 AI Breakthrough Awards
Ninth Annual Program Honors the Top Innovators Shaping the Future of Artificial Intelligence
LOS ANGELES, June 30, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AI Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global Artificial Intelligence market, today announced that Willow, the global leader in Operational AI for the built world, has been selected as the “Autonomous Decision-Making Platform of the Year” award winner of in the 9th annual AI Breakthrough Awards program.
Willow is the leader in Operational AI for the built environment, a category that targets one of the largest remaining gaps in enterprise automation. Despite years of investment in monitoring and analytics, the underlying operating model in facilities has remained largely manual, with technicians dispatched in response to events rather than processes running autonomously based on predicted conditions. The Willow Platform addresses that gap by unifying operational data across building management, maintenance and IoT systems and applying agentic AI to predict failures, generate prioritized actions and execute autonomously within defined parameters.
Underpinning the platform is the Willow Knowledge Graph, the most comprehensive ontology of buildings ever developed. It unifies information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) systems into a single view by integrating data from more than 100 source systems across building controls, maintenance, IoT and energy infrastructure. The agentic layer that runs on top operates in two coordinated capacities: a natural-language interface that supports operators with real-time troubleshooting, condition assessment and capital planning, and a set of autonomous agents that execute control loops, manage work orders and surface failure scenarios before they cause disruption.
Enterprise deployments span the Fortune 100 and some of the world’s largest universities, health systems, and complex infrastructure. A Walmart deployment surfaced 842 potential failures across 20 stores in six months, avoiding an estimated $1.4 million in downtime costs and cutting critical system downtime by 20%. Georgia Southern University reported $1 million in operational savings across more than 100 buildings in nine months. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport has unified more than 171,000 assets across five building management systems and three maintenance management systems, targeting a 25% reduction in maintenance costs by 2030.
“Enterprises have invested heavily in monitoring and visualization across the built environment over the past decade, but the operating loop between insight and action has resisted automation,” said Bert Van Hoof, CEO of Willow. “The Willow Platform closes that loop with agentic AI that operators can trust to act autonomously inside complex physical environments, with the unified data and governance enterprises require at scale. Recognition from AI Breakthrough for a second consecutive year reinforces the direction the team has been pursuing.”
For nearly a decade, the AI Breakthrough Awards have researched, analyzed and recognized the most important advances in artificial intelligence, and this year’s field is the strongest yet. Thousands of nominations from over 20 countries poured in across categories including Agentic AI, Generative AI, Computer Vision, AIOps, Robotics, Natural Language Processing and industry-specific AI applications – underscoring the explosive global growth of AI and its importance as the defining technology of our time.
“Autonomous decision-making has become one of the most consequential AI categories for enterprises that run physical infrastructure, particularly as skilled-labor shortages and rising downtime costs have narrowed the margin for error,” said Steve Johansson, managing director, AI Breakthrough. “Willow stood out in this year’s evaluation for moving Operational AI into deterministic autonomous control, with the auditability and operational discipline that high-consequence facilities require. We are proud to recognize Willow as our 2026 Autonomous Decision-Making Platform of the Year winner.”
As enterprises confront aging infrastructure, contracting skilled trades and growing energy-consumption pressure across building portfolios, Willow continues to extend its platform across new asset classes, system integrations and autonomous control loops, helping more organizations operationalize AI inside their physical environments.
About AI Breakthrough
Part of Tech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for global technology innovation and leadership, the AI Breakthrough Awards program is devoted to honoring excellence in Artificial Intelligence technologies, services, companies and products. The AI Breakthrough Awards provide public recognition for the achievements of AI companies and products in categories including AI Platforms, Deep Learning, Smart Robotics, Business Intelligence, Natural Language Processing and industry-specific AI applications. For more information visit AIBreakthroughAwards.com.
Tech Breakthrough LLC does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in our recognition programs, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with award designations. Tech Breakthrough LLC recognition consists of the opinions of the Tech Breakthrough LLC organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Tech Breakthrough LLC disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this recognition program, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
About Willow
Willow is the global leader in Operational AI for the built world. The Willow Platform combines digital twin technology, the world’s largest ontology for the built environment and agentic AI to unify data, predict failures and take autonomous action across buildings, campuses and critical infrastructure. Deployed across 38 countries on six continents, customers report millions in operational savings, from avoided equipment failures and reduced energy costs to compliance, security, and extended asset life. Named AI Startup of the Year by AI Breakthrough and a Microsoft Partner of the Year finalist, Willow serves Fortune 500 enterprises, leading global organizations, and major airports, health systems, and universities. To learn more, visit www.willowinc.com.
Media Contact: Steve Johansson 213.255.3658 steve@aibreakthroughawards.com
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