Asiacell wins five Stevie awards for AI innovation

Asiacell won five 2026 Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence, including two golds, for AI work spanning customer service, network quality and a broader telecom AI ecosystem. The Baghdad-based telecom says the awards recognize locally built tools that are competing with global technology firms and set the stage for its planned 5G rollout.

Why it matters: - Asiacell’s five Stevie wins put Iraqi-built AI tools in the same conversation as global telecom technology contenders. - The awards recognize AI systems that are already affecting customer service, network performance and service quality for more than 20 million subscribers. - The company’s results point to a broader shift: Iraq is no longer only consuming digital tools, but also building them.

What happened: - Asiacell won five Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence 2026. - The haul included two gold awards, two silver awards and one bronze award. - The awards were announced in Baghdad on July 28, 2026. - The company was recognized for AI-driven customer service, customer experience intelligence, network optimization and an integrated telecom AI ecosystem. - The awards ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 28, 2026, in Paris.

The details: - Asiacell won gold in the “Technology Achievement of the Year – Artificial Intelligence – Consumer Services” category for its AI assistant LAILA. - LAILA launched in November 2024 as Iraq’s first AI customer assistant. - LAILA has handled millions of interactions in Arabic, Kurdish and English. - The assistant fully resolves 76% of inquiries automatically. - Judges called the LAILA entry “exceptional” and cited “world-class performance under highly challenging operating conditions.” - Asiacell also won gold in the “Technical Innovation of the Year – Artificial Intelligence – Consumer Services” category for CEI. - CEI measures the real network experience of each Asiacell subscriber every day. - CEI is used across Asiacell’s base of more than 20 million subscribers. - The CEI-driven improvements raised the company’s overall service quality index and reduced daily user complaints. - Judges called the CEI submission one of the strongest in the AI category and praised its combination of technical depth, measurable operational impact and enterprise-scale deployment. - LAILA also won two silver awards. - One silver recognized LAILA as Iraq’s first AI assistant serving customers in three languages through a unified conversation interface. - The second silver recognized LAILA’s technical architecture, which connects directly to Asiacell’s operational systems. - Judges described LAILA as a “world-class achievement” that goes well beyond typical chatbot deployments. - One judge said other telecom operators should study the results closely. - Asiacell won bronze in the “Company of the Year – Artificial Intelligence” category. - That award recognized what the company describes as the first integrated AI ecosystem in Iraq’s telecom sector, spanning customer service, network operations and predictive analytics. - Judges said the ecosystem “sets an exceptional global standard for innovation in the telecom sector.”

Between the lines: - The mix of awards suggests Asiacell’s AI work is being judged not just on novelty, but on measurable business results. - The company is using AI to connect network data with customer experience, which is a harder problem than building a simple chatbot. - Winning in a global field that included companies from more than 30 countries strengthens Asiacell’s positioning as a regional technology player, not just a local carrier. - The CEO framed the awards as proof that Iraqi talent can build AI solutions that meet or exceed global standards in difficult operating environments.

What's next: - Asiacell says it will continue expanding investment in AI platforms and digital infrastructure. - The company is also preparing for full 5G readiness, pending regulatory approvals from the Iraqi government. - The broader goal is to support a stronger digital future for Iraq and the region.

The bottom line: - Asiacell’s Stevie sweep signals that Iraq’s telecom sector is producing AI products with global credibility, not just local utility.