XpressJobs has been recognised at Sri Lanka’s inaugural National AI Awards 2026 for its AI Recruitment Assistant, which received recognition in the Best Agentic AI Solution category. The awards ceremony was held on September 30 at Monarch Imperial in Colombo, as part of Sri Lanka AI Week 2026 – AI Amplified.

The National AI Awards are focused on recognising organisations and innovators developing practical and impactful artificial intelligence solutions in Sri Lanka. The programme is powered by the Ministry of Digital Economy and SLT-MOBITEL and brings together initiatives across various areas of AI innovation.

This year’s awards attracted 263 applications, with entries undergoing two rounds of filtering before 83 companies progressed to face-to-face judging. Four expert judging panels evaluated the shortlisted entries over two days, with assessments based on factors including innovation, measurable impact, technical excellence, responsible AI practices, scalability and execution.

For XpressJobs, the recognition highlights the company’s efforts to apply artificial intelligence to address practical challenges within the recruitment sector. Drawing on its experience in recruitment technology, the company identified that the challenge was increasingly shifting beyond simply finding and filtering candidates. Keeping candidates engaged, responding to their questions and supporting them throughout the recruitment process had become equally important.

Commenting on the recognition, Dr. Oshadie Korale, COO of XpressJobs, said the award was particularly meaningful because it represented recognition at a national AI level rather than being limited to the recruitment industry. She noted that the company had brought its recruitment expertise into AI development to address a real-world challenge and was proud to see technology developed in Sri Lanka recognised on a national platform.

The AI Recruitment Assistant was initially piloted in September 2025 and has since evolved into an agentic AI solution capable of proactively engaging with candidates. The system can initiate conversations, provide information about job roles and companies, qualify candidates and guide them through screening, applications and assessments.

The technology has already been tested by more than 40 enterprises, with applications covering areas such as internships, graduate recruitment, technology hiring, frontline positions and high-volume recruitment. Its ability to support English, Sinhala and Tamil also enables organisations to communicate with candidates across multiple languages.

The assistant operates through channels familiar to job seekers, including WhatsApp, helping organisations reduce repetitive HR and candidate interactions while providing faster and more consistent communication throughout the recruitment journey.

The AI Recruitment Assistant forms part of XpressJobs’ broader recruitment technology ecosystem, which includes applicant tracking, online assessments, CV-less applications and recruitment analytics. By integrating AI into these capabilities, the company is continuing to develop technology aimed at improving recruitment efficiency and candidate engagement.

With the latest recognition at the National AI Awards, XpressJobs is continuing its efforts to expand its AI-powered recruitment solutions in Sri Lanka and international markets, demonstrating the growing application of locally developed artificial intelligence technologies across the country’s business sector.