Ciberts AI wins IIIT Hyderabad and Hexaware Agentic AI Life Sciences Challenge, 13 finalists from 130 entries

Agentic AI takes center stage at IIIT Hyderabad and Hexaware's Life Sciences Challenge

The Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE) at IIIT Hyderabad, in collaboration with Hexaware Technologies, hosted the AI for Life Sciences Challenge Finale on September 18. The program focused on practical Agentic AI use cases for clinical trials and operations. It drew strong participation from the startup ecosystem and leaders across pharma and digital health.

The challenge received 130 applications. Thirty startups were shortlisted, 17 advanced to Round 2, and 13 reached the finale. The full-day event featured pitches, mentor immersion, jury evaluations, and an industry panel on "Building Agentic AI in Healthcare - Science & Commercialization."

What healthcare leaders saw

• CSR automation with co-drafting agents, including schema-bound generation and auditability
• Clinical site management and data process automation to reduce manual reconciliation
• Agentic AI lifecycle platforms for development, testing, and governance
• Data harmonization with knowledge insights for trial design and operations

Finalists and winner

The top five finalists were Astra AI, Ciberts AI, Pentacure, Optimum Data, and Microgrid. Ciberts AI won the challenge and received a Rs 8 Lakh PoC grant along with productisation support from Hexaware.

How the challenge worked

Founders engaged in structured mentorship across webinars, workshops, and a Mentor Café with senior leaders from biotech, pharma, and digital health. Teams received one-on-one guidance on regulatory alignment, market readiness, and product strategy. A distinguished jury from pharma GCCs and IIIT Hyderabad evaluated each solution on clear criteria.

What mattered to the jury

• Problem relevance and measurable impact on trial timelines, quality, and cost
• Team strength and ability to execute in regulated environments
• Differentiation versus existing tooling and processes
• Depth and appropriateness of AI use, including guardrails, audit trails, and validation

Why this matters for your organization

Agentic AI can remove friction across clinical documentation, site operations, and data workflows. Think protocol authoring support, CSR co-drafting with schema checks, automated site follow-ups, and cross-system data reconciliation. Done right, this means fewer manual cycles, cleaner audit trails, and faster decisions without sacrificing compliance.

Practical next steps for clinical, quality, and data leaders

• Pick high-friction, high-volume tasks (CSR drafting, query management, monitoring reports) for initial pilots.
• Design for auditability from day one: versioning, prompts, outputs, reviewer sign-off, and change logs.
• Integrate with standards and systems: CDISC, HL7 FHIR, TMF, EDC, CTMS, and QMS.
• Build a lean governance layer: data privacy, PHI handling, human-in-the-loop review, and model update policy.
• Set clear success metrics: cycle time, error rate, rework, inspection readiness findings.
• Plan validation and documentation aligned to GxP expectations and 21 CFR Part 11 where applicable.
• Run controlled pilots in one therapeutic area before scaling across programs.

A growing hub for AI and life sciences

The finale gathered leaders who highlighted Hyderabad's position as a global hub for life sciences and AI. The month-long program gave founders continuous access to mentorship, technical reviews, and industry feedback, helping convert research-driven work into deployable solutions for healthcare and trials.

Learn more about the ecosystem at IIIT Hyderabad's CIE.

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