Saiwa Wins the Inaugural OCI Artificial Intelligence Award for Agri-Food Powered by AWS

Tue May 26 2026

Saiwa Inc. is proud to announce that, on May 26, 2026, we have been selected as the recipient of the inaugural OCI Artificial Intelligence Award for Agri-Food powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Presented through the Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI) Critical Industrial Technologies (CIT) initiative, this prestigious award recognizes Ontario-based SMEs that are leveraging artificial intelligence to create transformative impact within the agri-food sector.

The award includes a prize package of $ $5, 000 U S D i n c a s h, a l o n g w i t h$ 5,000, along with $5,000 in AWS Cloud Credits, enabling us to further accelerate our AI-driven innovations in agriculture and food technology.

This recognition reflects Saiwa’s ongoing commitment to advancing AI-powered technologies for agriculture, environmental monitoring, and plant health analysis. Through the Sairone platform, Saiwa has developed innovative computer vision and artificial intelligence solutions capable of detecting crop stress, monitoring plant health, identifying diseases and pests, estimating yield, and generating actionable insights from aerial imagery and other data sources. The award highlights our efforts in delivering scalable and commercially viable AI solutions that help improve efficiency, sustainability, and decision-making across the agri-food industry.

The award specifically recognizes Saiwa’s achievements in innovation, economic growth, disruptive impact, and commercialization outcomes. OCI acknowledged Saiwa’s ability to introduce advanced AI technologies that address critical needs in agriculture while contributing to the growth of Ontario’s innovation ecosystem. The recognition also highlights the commercialization potential of Saiwa’s AI-driven solutions and their ability to transform how agricultural data is collected, analyzed, and utilized in real-world operations.

One of the projects contributing to this achievement was Saiwa’s work in aerial monitoring of plant stress in greenhouse-grown seedlings and high-wire sweet pepper crops. This initiative focused on using AI and computer vision technologies to identify plant stress and disease indicators at early stages using imagery data collected in greenhouse environments. Through advanced analysis of aerial imagery, the project demonstrated the potential for faster and more accurate crop monitoring, enabling growers to make more informed and timely decisions. Learn more about the project here:
Aerial Monitoring of Plant Stress Project

Saiwa would like to sincerely thank the Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI), Amazon Web Services (AWS), and the Critical Industrial Technologies (CIT) initiative team, including Robert McMillan, Igor Cunha, PhD, and Laura Clark, for their support and recognition. We would also like to extend our appreciation to Dr. Kate Withers Hess and the team at Vineland Research and Innovation Centre for their collaboration and contribution to the greenhouse crop and imagery data acquisition efforts that helped make this commercialization work possible. Special thanks to Daniel Bath, Evan Pilkington, Brandon Hurr, Andrew C. Wylie, Brian Lynch, Nicole De Long, and Rose Buitenhuis for their valuable contributions throughout the project.

Finally, we would like to thank everyone who supported Saiwa throughout this journey — including our partners, collaborators, clients, and everyone who voted for us. This achievement motivates us to continue pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence in agriculture and to further develop innovative technologies that support a more sustainable and data-driven future for the agri-food industry.