Retail & Loyalty · Retail & Loyalty · July 2021

AI Russia Awards 2021: Judging the Best AI Business Cases in Russia

These projects clearly show that AI can save tens of millions of rubles and improve efficiency. A library of cases can become a catalyst for technology development in Russia.

— Elina Isagulova, Chair of the AI Russia Works jury

Russia's First National AI Business Award

In July 2021, Elina Isagulova chaired the jury of the AI Russia Works award — Russia's first national competition evaluating the real business impact of artificial intelligence applications. The initiative was launched by the AI Alliance, which brings together Mail.ru Group (VK), Sber, Yandex, and other leading players.

The selection was rigorous: more than 120 projects were reviewed against criteria of real, measurable impact — cost reduction, productivity growth, quality improvement, and revenue increase. The jury evaluated practical value: how much AI actually changed the business outcome, not just the technological complexity.

Winning Categories

• Cost reduction — winner: Pobeda agro-project (Cognitive Pilot), autonomous agricultural machinery management
• Productivity growth — winner: Tinkoff's credit scoring development
• Quality improvement — winner: Botkin.AI diagnostic system for YANAO healthcare
• Revenue growth — winner: Rosseti Centre project based on PREDICT (Mail.ru Group)
• Significant social impact — winner: Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations development

A Case Library as a Market Catalyst

The award's key goal, as Isagulova emphasized, was to create a public database of verified AI application cases. Russia has a significant gap: the technology exists and competencies are high, but many companies don't understand how AI can specifically help their business. Concrete examples with measurable results lower this barrier.

When a company sees that a similar enterprise in a similar industry cut costs by 30% with a specific solution, that is more convincing than any theoretical argument. AI stops being an abstraction and becomes a tool with a clear ROI.

AI at VK: From Ad Tech to Business Solutions

Isagulova's involvement in evaluating AI cases was no coincidence: under her leadership, Mail.ru Group was actively developing its own AI products for business — predictive analytics, recommendation systems, and automated campaign tools. The PREDICT solution that won in the "Revenue Growth" category was developed by the Mail.ru Group team. This made Isagulova's jury role especially significant: she assessed AI solutions as a practitioner who understands both the technological and commercial dimensions.