Cleo Named AI Startup of the Year at QLD AI Festival 2026

Leon Hayes and Eugene D'Hagé-Craig, Co-Founders of Cleo

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AI Startup of the Year: Cleo Named Best Startup at QLD AI Festival 2026. Autonomous marketing operating system validates market demand.

To be named AI Startup of the Year highlights the clear significance the team at Cleo is making in the world of AI. To be doing it right here in Australia makes us very proud.”

— Leon Hayes

BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA, June 1, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Cleo has been awarded AI Startup of the Year at the prestigious Queensland AI Festival Awards, recognising the company’s innovation, growth, and contribution to the rapidly evolving

artificial intelligence sector. The award was presented during the Queensland AI Festival in Brisbane, one of Australia’s leading events celebrating advancements in AI, machine learning, and emerging technologies.

Cleo, an autonomous AI marketing operating system, was recognised for its innovative approach to marketing automation and its position as a full-stack alternative to fragmented tool stacks.

Founded by Eugene D’Hage Craig, Leon Hayes, and the Cleo team, the company has quickly established itself as a leader in applying artificial intelligence to solve real-world business marketing challenges, helping organisations harness the power of AI marketing to improve productivity, decision-making, and growth. The AI Startup of the Year award recognises outstanding innovation, technical excellence, scalability, and real-world impact within the AI ecosystem.

Co-founders D'Hagé-Craig and Hayes accepted the award at the festival's closing ceremony, marking a significant milestone for the platform that challenges traditional marketing workflows.

"This recognition means a great deal to us," said Eugene D'Hagé-Craig, co-founder of Cleo. "We set out to build something genuinely new, not another chatbot, not another point solution, but a marketing operating system that acts on your behalf. Winning AI Startup of the Year at QLD AI Festival validates that the market is ready for autonomous marketing, and that we're building it the right way."

Cleo has gained traction among solo founders, small teams, and marketing agencies seeking to replace disconnected tools with a single, intelligent platform. The system handles research, strategy, content creation, email marketing, paid advertising, and analytics, all with autonomous decision-making at its core.

Leon Hayes, Co-Founder of Cleo, said the award highlights Queensland’s emergence as a major hub for AI innovation.

“Queensland is producing world-class technology companies and AI talent. This recognition is not only a milestone for Cleo, but also a reflection of the strength of the local innovation ecosystem. We’re excited about what comes next as we continue to build technology that creates meaningful impact for businesses and communities.”

The Queensland AI Festival brings together founders, researchers, investors, creatives, and technology leaders from across Australia and internationally to showcase the latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence. The festival culminates in an awards program celebrating excellence across multiple AI categories.

"We're not chasing scale yet. We're building a complete marketing operating system with the right people, those who understand the difference between AI tools and an AI marketing director. This award tells us we're on the right track," said Hayes.

The QLD AI Festival 2026 brought together innovators, investors, and technologists across Queensland. Cleo's win positions the platform as a leader in the emerging category of ai marketing software and autonomous marketing technology.


About Cleo
Cleo Technologies (Cleo) is an Australian AI company focused on helping businesses unlock the potential of artificial intelligence through practical, scalable, and impactful solutions. Founded by D'Hagé-Craig and Leon Hayes, Cleo combines cutting-edge AI technology with real-world business expertise to deliver measurable outcomes for organisations embracing the future of work.

As an AI marketing operating system built for founders, marketers and marketing teams, Cleo replaces the need for multiple disconnected tools by combining research, strategy, content creation, email marketing, paid advertising, and analytics into one autonomous platform. Learn more at cleoos.io.