All Smiles for 2026 QLD Pearcey Award Recipient Dr Padma Gadiyar

The Pearcey Foundation today announced Dr Padma Gadiyar, founder and CEO of Smilo.ai, as the recipient of the 2026 Queensland Pearcey ICT Entrepreneur Award. The award was presented to Dr Gadiyar by the Hon. Steve Minnikin MP, Queensland's Minister for Customer Service and Open Data and Minister for Small and Family Business at a gala dinner held in Brisbane.

Dr Gadiyar is a dentist and entrepreneur with over 20 years of clinical and business experience. Her work is driven by real-world clinical gaps in access, cost, and fragmented care, leading her to develop scalable AI and telehealth solutions validated through research and large-scale pilots.

In 2019, Dr Gadiyar founded Smilo.ai, an AI-powered digital oral health platform. Using AI and a smartphone, Smilo.ai enables early detection, continuous monitoring, and real-time engagement - making oral health more accessible and connected to overall health. The platform is TGA-approved, clinically validated, patented, and designed to integrate across healthcare systems.

Smilo.ai also offers virtual consultations in Australia to provide easy access to dental care anytime and anywhere. The platform supports preventive remote monitoring to identify and address problems at the earliest stage and drives personalized product recommendations to seek care in a timely manner. Additionally, it ensures integration with healthcare systems for comprehensive screening and connected care delivery.

"To be recognised alongside founders and entrepreneurs who have built, scaled and contributed so much to Queensland's technology ecosystem is an incredible privilege. It also made me reflect on what this year has meant for Smilo.ai. 2026 has been a year of growth, expansion and recognition, far beyond awards," said Dr Gadiyar in a post on LinkedIn.

"We have grown the business, expanded into new healthcare settings and continued our fundraising journey as we prepare for the next stage of growth. Our research has also been strengthened through NHMRC and MRFF funding, helping us validate and expand our work into real-world healthcare."

Dr Gadiyar was selected as the award recipient following an exceptionally close judging process. Judges recognised her compelling journey from clinician to technology founder, together with the platform's strong innovation and potential for health-system impact, underpinned by regulatory approval, patent protection, clinical validation and demonstrated commercial traction at scale.

"This year, we received nominations from a diverse field of entrepreneurs working across a wide range of technology and industry sectors. Padma exemplifies the entrepreneurial spirit the Pearcey Awards celebrate. She has combined deep clinical insight with technological innovation to address a genuine healthcare challenge and build a platform with the potential for significant social impact. Her originality, determination and ability to translate an ambitious idea into a scalable solution make her an outstanding recipient of the 2026 Queensland Pearcey Entrepreneur Award," said Rebecca McDonald, Queensland chair, Pearcey Foundation.

2026 CICTA Pearcey Rising Star Award

Dr Ming Jin, assistant professor at the School of Information and Communication Technology at Griffith University, received the 2026 CICTA Pearcey Rising Star Award, also presented on the night by the Hon. Steve Minnikin MP.

The award is administered, judged, and funded by CICTA, and Dr Jin was the standout recipient in a highly competitive field, with the judging panel reaching a clear and consistent decision across all five selection criteria. Judges praised his field-defining time-series AI research, including Time-LLM and Time-MoE, alongside its extraordinary global adoption and open-source availability. They were equally impressed by the translation of his research into live systems - from battery-safety technology in e-bike swap networks to CSIRO AquaWatch water-quality and seagrass flood-plume projects with clear Queensland public benefit.

With his PhD completed in 2024, Dr Jin exemplifies the Rising Star Award's focus on exceptional early-career talent: an innovator whose research, open-source leadership and real-world applications are already shaping the future of AI in Queensland and internationally.

Dr Jin stood out for the rare combination of field-defining research, global open-source adoption and technologies already delivering real-world benefit - from battery safety in micromobility networks to environmental monitoring for Queensland. His achievement, so early in his career, made him an exceptionally compelling Rising Star.

National Pearcey Awards

As the QLD Pearcey Award recipient, Dr Gadiyar will represent the State in the Pearcey National Awards to be held on 2 December.

For more information about previous QLD Pearcey Entrepreneur Award winners, go to https://pearcey.org.au/qld.

Other State Awards

ACT Awards: Rachel Gately and Michael Gately, co-founders of Trellis Data, were chosen as joint recipients of the 2026 ACT Chief Minister's Pearcey Entrepreneur Award. More details on PRWire here.

NSW Awards: the awards will be presented on Thursday, 22 October 2026 at Macquarie Technology Theatre in Sydney. Register now for this free event at https://www.pearcey.org.au/event-rsvp/2026-pearcey-nsw-awards.

South Australian Awards: nominations can be submitted at https://www.pearcey.org.au/awards/nominations/state-nomination-form. 

Tasmanian Awards: Nominations can be submitted at https://www.pearcey.org.au/awards/nominations/state-nomination-form.

Victorian Awards: the award was presented to Aconex and Firmable co-founder Leigh Jasper. More details on PRWire here.

Western Australian Awards: Professor Girish Dwivedi, cardiologist, academic leader and health technology entrepreneur, was the recipient of the 2026 Western Australian Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The award was presented as part of the 35th annual WAITTA INCITE Awards, Western Australia's longest running tech awards program. More details on PRWire here.

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About the Pearcey Foundation
The Pearcey Foundation Inc. is a non-profit organisation established in 1998 to raise the profile of the Australian Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry and profession. It was created in the memory of one of the greatest pioneers of the Australian ICT industry, Dr Trevor Pearcey. By celebrating the heroes in our industry, past present and future, the Foundation is looking to attract and encourage young Australians into this most exciting of global high technology sectors of our nation.

Web: www.pearcey.org.au

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