CAT 2026: In a first, IIM Indore to use AI-based face recognition along with admit card check at exam centres

For the first time, the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2026, the entrance exam for Indian Institutes of Management and other top B-schools, will see the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based face recognition used at exam centres. It will be used as an “additional check” to verify the identity of candidates, said Himanshu Rai, director, IIM Indore, the organising institute for IIM CAT 2026. 

The technology will be used alongside the existing human verification process and candidates will not be denied entry if the AI system fails to recognise them, Rai told Careers360.  “Normally what would happen is that a human being would check the face against the admit card. But this time we are going to use AI,” he explained. 

The CAT exam is scheduled for Sunday, November 29. The MBA admission exam has received 2,89,961 registrations this year, a count slightly small than last year’s 2.95 lakh . 

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IIM CAT 2026 admit card plus AI

Rai said the check is being introduced “on an experimental basis”. The system will work alongside the usual human verification with IIM Indore assessing its effectiveness after the examination.

“Whether it's effective or not is something that we will look at later. Because this is almost like a double check right now. So we are experimenting this year,” he said.

A candidate will still be required to show their CAT admit card 2026 to a human official while entering the examination centre. Rai said, “The institute also wants to assess whether AI can eventually help reduce the time taken for face verification, particularly when candidates are entering examination centres in quick succession.”

“But this year, this is the first time that it is being done, so we are not going to stop anyone from entering if the machine says no,” he said. “We will use the diagnostics later and then do a double check to see whether the system works and to what extent, and then how do we further refine it. It does not change anything, it does not alter anything, it does not substitute anything. So it is not being used as a substitute this year. It is being introduced this year.”

If the experiment works, the institute may refine the system in the future and reduce its reliance on human verification, he said.

AI tool details not disclosed 

When asked about the AI tool being used for face recognition, Rai said the institute would not disclose the specific tool or backend technology.

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“There's transparency. We have told them that this is what is being done. We can't talk about the tool. This is like saying what we are using at the back end of our tests. That is not the information that is given out,” he said.

Rai said IIM Indore has already been using the AI tools in classrooms since last year for attendance purposes. The institute is now extending its use to the CAT examination process.

“IIM has always stayed up-to-date and introduced technology as and when it comes,” he said.