Sven Koenig Receives ACM SIGAI Autonomous Agents Research Award

Sven Koenig, Chancellor’s Professor and Bren Chair of computer science at the UC Irvine Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS), received the 2026 Autonomous Agents Research Award from the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Special Interest Group on Artificial Intelligence (SIGAI) at the 25th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS 2026). The ACM award recognizes researchers in autonomous agents whose current work has a significant influence on the field.

Koenig was honored for research contributions in AI planning and search, including contributions to how intelligent agents reason and act in complex, dynamic environments. The ACM noted:

“He is one of the foundational figures of modern AI planning and search, whose work has fundamentally shaped how intelligent agents reason and act in complex, dynamic environments. His contributions seamlessly bridge theory and practice, with a profound impact not only on AI and multi-agent systems, but also on robotics, where his algorithms have enabled robust, scalable autonomy in real-world robotic platforms.”

Koenig received his award in person at the AAMAS 2026 in Cyprus on May 28, 2026.