PlanAI, the financial-planning automation platform built by ThorAI Group, has won the Start-Up category at the 2026 INCITE Awards, announced at a gala at The Westin Perth last Friday.
Led by managing director Ross Thorpe, a former PwC partner of 34 years, and co-founder Scott Thorpe, ThorAI pitches PlanAI as an end-to-end tool that lets financial planners complete a client’s statutory requirements in 30 minutes rather than more than 20 hours. It is the company’s second product for the professional financial services industry, after R&DAssist for R&D tax claims. PlanAI beat a Start-Up field of six finalists spanning medtech, mining navigation, motorcycle safety, cybersecurity, and retinal screening for heart disease.
Now in its 35th year, INCITE is the longest-running technology awards program in Western Australia. This year’s event drew 94 nominations, with 63 entries reaching the finals across nine categories.
The winners
| Student Tech Solution | Argus Sentinel by Om Prashanth, Japtoz Singh Puri, Osayed Abdullah Khan, Elena Jane Odtojan, Chonlada Srimungkhun and Virginia Frilly Analda Changir of Curtin University | An AI-based Android anti-malware system that performs real-time behavioural monitoring and APK analysis using lightweight on-device telemetry and cloud-hosted machine learning models. |
| Artificial Intelligence | Agili8 | Patented XRAI Vision® teleports offsite experts to guide frontliners by merging realities with XR + AI + computer vision into an instant Plug & Play solution. |
| Digital Government | LipReader by Jason Hall, Fiona Stanley Hospital and South Metro Health Services | LipReader is the world’s first co-designed, fully integrated AI lipreading phone app. |
| Diversity & Digital Inclusion | LipReader by Jason Hall, Fiona Stanley Hospital and South Metro Health Services | LipReader is the world’s first co-designed, fully integrated AI lipreading phone app. |
| Industrial Technology | Heat-Trap Solutions | A technology solution used for emergency eye/face wash supply systems in mining and high-risk environments. |
| People & Planet | MateriaPOD by Materia Health | Materia Health’s MateriaPOD is a smart, portable, reusable device for precise organ and tissue preservation. |
| Research & Development | Hypatia | Precision psychiatry is powerful, but high technical barriers prevent its use in the clinic. Hypatia uses a scalable, browser-based platform that interprets human behaviour at the causal level. |
| Start-Up | PlanAI by ThorAI Group | PlanAI is an end-to-end platform for financial planners to complete their statutory requirements for clients within 30 minutes rather than over 20 hours. |
| Technology & Business | Hola Health | Hola Health connects patients with doctors in under six minutes, 24/7. Australia’s only fully end-to-end telehealth platform. |
| Lead Judges Choice Award | AI Safety Guard by Pattricia Ruth Das of Southern Cross College | The multi-sensory driver drowsiness detection device is an edge-based, privacy-first system that monitors driver fatigue using real-time computer vision. |
| Chief Judge Award | Integrated System Modelling by Rio Tinto | Integrated System Modelling is a cloud-native platform that unifies digital supply chain and mine simulation models through a self-service web app. |
| Achiever of the Year | Professor Iain Murray AM | Awarded for a lifetime of building WA’s technology sector through inclusion, mentorship and innovation. |
| WA Tech Entrepreneur of the Year | Professor Girish Dwivedi | Awarded for his work in identifying opportunities, taking calculated risks and transforming world-leading Australian research into globally significant health technology companies. |
| WA Tech Company of the Year | CorePlan | CorePlan is the first integrated drilling management platform. |
