The first edition of the Tomilli Summit will be celebrated in Dubai (UAE), a city that embodies the festival’s innovative spirit. 

Dubai has evolved from a regional shopping hub to one of the world’s most dynamic innovation ecosystems, where governments, companies, startups and investors work together to transform ideas into solutions with global impact. The city has even made innovation a state policy.

Through initiatives like the Dubai Future Foundation and Dubai Future District, acceleration programs for startups and the D33 Economic Agenda, the UAE seeks to double the size of its economy by 2033, consolidating its position among the world’s top three cities, and contributing more than AED 100,000 million (approximately USD $27 billion) each year to the digital economy. This commitment to the future and innovation has made Dubai a global benchmark for those developing technologies, business models and solutions that transform industries.

Dubai is not only investing in resources; the city is also building the ideal environment for innovation to happen. The city has regulatory laboratories, technology hubs, investment funds, incubators and accelerators that allow to experiment, scale and connect projects with international reach. In addition, its strategic location between Europe, Asia and Africa makes it a natural meeting point for talent and ideas from all over the world.

In regards to selecting Dubai as the headquarters for the 2026 Tomilli Summit, Mauricio Rodríguez Vargas, Tomilli CMO, commented that “Dubai is a magnet for great opportunities and capital, which merge into an unbeatable fiscal environment. If you combine this with the fact that it is a universal city, where you find people from all over the planet on every corner, investors, a strategic location between the East and the West, its solid business-oriented infrastructure and great tourist attractions, this makes [Dubai] inevitably attractive as a venue for our first edition.”

Tomilli’s mission is to recognize those who challenge the established norms and create the future. Therefore, there is no better place to launch this initiative than a city that has proven that innovation is not a concept, but a permanent decision. Celebrating our first edition in Dubai means starting where the future is already happening.

This is How the Tomilli Summit Selection Process Works

Determining the innovation of the year involves much more than a review of a presentation or business results.

Behind each recognition is a research, analysis and curatorship process that seeks to identify initiatives capable of transforming industries, solving real problems, or generating a sustainable impact.

Under this premise, the Tomilli Summit officially presented the evaluation model that it will use to select the most innovative initiatives of its first edition. This process will take five months in total and will analyze more than 3,000 projects from around the world in the following categories: business, marketing, advertising, artificial intelligence, health, wellness, design, fashion, products and better world.

Selection Process

The Tomilli Summit methodology is divided into four consecutive phases that combine research, curatorship and evaluations by international experts, all with the goal of identifying the proposals with the greatest capacity for innovation, impact and transformation potential. 

Phase 1. Pre-selection of Nominees

An internal academic team monitors traditional and specialized media, artificial intelligence tools, recommendations from experts, business communities, associations, chambers of commerce and other relevant sources to identify possible nominees. As a result of this search, approximately 3,000 initiatives from around the world have been identified.

Phase 2. Curation 

At this stage, a curator analyzes the shortlisted initiatives to determine whether they meet the criteria set by the festival. This process reduces the initial list of approximately 3,000 projects to a shortlist of 300 initiatives, made up of the proposals with the greatest potential to advance to the next phase.

Phase 3. The Golden List

Subsequently, the 300 initiatives selected for the Golden List are evaluated, featuring the 150 best initiatives of the year (12 per category). 

Phase 4. Final Evaluation

The year’s top 150 initiatives will be evaluated by an international jury made up of 45 leaders in innovation, among them: Ananya Pareek (Google United States), Emma Lax (Havas Creative Network), Tor Rueda (Google Latam), Dina Abdelazim (The Coca-Cola Company), Tiago Santos (Accenture), Carolina Larach (Falabella Inmobiliario), Glen Hagemann (Mediclinic Middle East), Magdalena González Victorica (Arcos Dorados–McDonald’s Argentina), Natalia Vargas (Corporación Multi Inversiones) and Camilo Riveros (Sony), among others. After this evaluation, the jury selects the winning initiative in each category, recognizing the most influential and innovative proposals of the year.

It should be noted that nominee registration is free. Those interested can apply directly on the Tomilli website. Only the initiatives on the Golden List will be asked to pay for the award rights. 

Tomilli in the Global Awards Ecosystem

The Tomilli Summit is part of the Tomilli.com content platform, a portal specializing in innovation, trends, creativity and business. In addition, it is part of an international festival ecosystem including the WINA Awards, Saniss Awards and Luum Awards. 

With more than a decade of experience, these internationally recognized platforms have successfully highlighted organizations, individuals and entities from almost a hundred countries, through a series of events held in London, Switzerland, Thailand, Colombia, Spain, Spain and the United States. 

The Tomilli Summit, the international festival that recognizes innovative initiatives, is open for submissions for its 2026 (and first) edition. Tomilli is receiving applications from companies, startups, institutions, social organizations and entrepreneurs, who will participate in eleven different categories designed to represent different types of innovation.

The Categories for the Tomilli Summit – Dubai 2026:

Marketing Innovation: 

This category highlights marketing strategies that change the way brands relate to people. Launches, CRM experiences, point of sale actions, commercial strategies and in general, all those actions capable of generating new ways of connecting with consumers and users.

Advertising Innovation: 

Recognizes creative campaigns and ideas that break away from what’s conventional. From the innovative use of traditional and digital media to advertising actions that generate real results for brands, organizations or causes.

Design Innovation: 

A category for those who use design as an engine of innovation. Architecture, furniture, packaging, product design, interiors, urbanism or visual identity, etc. 

Fashion Trends

Fashion is also innovation. This category recognizes brands, designers and ventures that are transforming the fashion industry through new materials, designs, sustainable proposals, products or experiences for people and pets.

Business Ideas

Designed for companies and ventures that reinvent business models, create new products or develop services capable of generating value and changing the experience for their customers.

Better World Innovation

Aimed at initiatives that generate a positive impact on the planet and society, including projects related to sustainability, circular economy, inclusion, community development and environmental solutions.

Trend Setters

The people, organizations, products, or brands that don’t follow trends, but create them, pioneering initiatives that inspire others and redefine the direction of an industry.

Health Innovation (Saniss Awards) | Wellness Innovation (Saniss Awards) 

This category recognizes the innovative talent of laboratories, products, hospitals, associations, services and solutions that contribute to improving the health and well-being of human or animal patients. Or that contribute to healthcare management. 

AI 

The AI category recognizes initiatives and solutions that use intelligent systems to transform organizations, solve complex challenges, automate processes or generate a positive impact on society through the use of data, machine learning and cognitive technologies.

Product innovation

If you have a company, startup, campaign, product, service or initiative that is making a real impact in your industry, you can apply to be part of the Tomilli Summit 2026 selection process via our website. 

Tomilli in the Global Awards Ecosystem

The Tomilli Summit is part of the Tomilli.com content platform, a portal specializing in innovation, trends, creativity and business. In addition, it is part of an international festival ecosystem including the WINA Awards, Saniss Awards and Luum Awards. 

With more than a decade of experience, these internationally recognized platforms have successfully highlighted organizations, individuals and entities from almost a hundred countries, through a series of events held in London, Switzerland, Thailand, Colombia, Spain, Spain and the United States. 

Register at: https://tomillisummit.com/application/

This new alliance will strengthen the presence of the Health & Wellness industry at the Tomilli Summit: the new international festival recognizing innovation by organizations and brands from around the world.

The Saniss Awards, the global festival recognizing excellence in communication, marketing and creativity within the health, pharma and wellness industries, has announced a collaboration with the Tomilli Summit, the new global festival dedicated to recognizing the initiatives, companies and professionals that are driving innovation. This alliance will ensure that health innovation is featured on this global stage.

Through this strategic alliance, the Saniss Awards will assume leadership of the Health & Wellness category within the Tomilli Summit, bringing its experience, international community of judges and track record in recognizing creative initiatives that improve quality of life.

This integration will connect leaders in the Health & Wellness ecosystem with representatives from other industries that are redefining the future via technology, sustainability, artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship and business innovation.

With this alliance, the Saniss Awards and the 2026 Tomilli Summit will consolidate a platform that transcends the traditional format of awards festivals, to become a permanent space for inspiration, knowledge and connection between those building the future of Health & Wellness innovation.