The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and data.org today announced the five awardees of the Artificial Intelligence to Accelerate Inclusion (AI2AI) Challenge, a global call for AI solutions that advance inclusion and economic empowerment. Working on projects across Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, North America, and South Asia, each of the awardees will receive $200,000 to develop and scale their solutions, as well as technical expertise and mentorship from the data.org and Mastercard teams.
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“Our work in data science has laid the foundation for us to take advantage of the opportunity to develop AI responsibly, equitably, and for the benefit of all” said Shamina Singh, founder and president of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth. “This cohort of AI2AI Challenge awardees are bringing forward innovative tools, solutions and approaches that will drive inclusive growth and redefine how we use AI for social impact across countries and industries for the coming years.”
Selected from a pool of more than 500 applicants across 82 countries, AI2AI Challenge awardees are tackling the climate crisis, small business development, financial inclusion, and gender equity through existing AI solutions that have a demonstrated record of success and are ready to scale with additional funding and technical assistance.
“The power of AI to drive impact is tremendous and must be harnessed to ensure its benefits extend to all segments of society,” said Danil Mikhailov, executive director of data.org. “In the data and AI race to be first and move fast, we must thoughtfully strive for inclusive growth that leverages data and AI to tackle the world’s most pressing problems.”
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The Challenge received regional support from Dasra in India and Capital One in the United States to help expand the geographic diversity of the awardee pool and provide additional expertise at the intersection of responsible AI and financial inclusion.
As data.org’s fourth global innovation challenge, the AI2AI Challenge advances the organization’s commitment to train one million purpose-driven data practitioners by 2032. Each awardee has committed to sharing or open sourcing their work so other organizations can replicate and scale their solutions.
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THE AWARDEES:
Quipu – Colombia
Quipu leverages AI to offer the technical infrastructure to bridge the financial inclusion gap for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Their approach integrates comprehensive onboarding for MSMEs, a robust scoring model analyzing non-traditional data, and intelligent disbursement and credit collection. The AI-driven credit alternative scoring model utilizes machine learning algorithms to analyze a diverse array of alternative data points, such as mobile transaction histories, social media interactions, SMS, and payment patterns. This approach allows for a comprehensive and accurate assessment of creditworthiness, particularly for those businesses typically excluded from traditional financial systems.
IDinsight – Ethiopia
Partnering with Last Mile Health and Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health, IDinsight focuses on an AI-powered call center that 40,000+ Health Extension Workers (HEWs) can contact for real-time medical guidance on complex cases. IDinsight’s AI solution will include a case management system and a question-answering service based on comprehensive Ministry of Health (MoH) guidelines that will provide real-time support to call center agents who will further relay critical information to HEWs via phone. Call center agents, as a result, will learn new AI skills, leading to more efficient and effective work processes, and new career pathways.
International Rescue Committee – Global
Signpost is an International Rescue Committee (IRC) program that provides critical information to displaced people impacted by conflict, disasters, poverty, and violence. Their AI-powered humanitarian infrastructure offers lifesaving access to information and resources through frontline help centers, digital channels, and social media. The Signpost platform allows IRC and local partner NGOs to create AI agents to deliver support at scale while removing language and geographic barriers. With pilots of this AI solution underway, IRC aims to expand its platform to selected low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Buzzworthy Ventures – India
Buzzworthy’s BEEKIND is an AI-driven mobile application to revolutionize the beekeeping ecosystem in India by addressing the significant challenges India’s 400,000 small-scale beekeepers face, from hindering crop productivity to livelihood sustainability. BEEKIND empowers small-scale beekeepers, particularly women, small landholders, landless farmers, and tribal populations in rural and marginalized communities, to enhance their economic potential and resilience. Their AI platform also provides real-time insights and predictive analytics, helping beekeepers adapt to changing climate conditions and improve hive management.
Link Health – United States
The Link Health initiative leverages AI to tackle the challenge of underutilized federal assistance programs. The platform enables more eligible individuals to receive financial assistance to alleviate poverty, reduce financial stress, and improve well-being. With healthcare settings as the access point to reach low-income and marginalized communities, Link Health aims to unlock $10 million in state and federal benefits through an AI-powered enrollment platform and chatbot. Through these efforts, the Link Health AI implementation addresses immediate economic needs, fosters long-term financial stability, and accelerates inclusive growth.
About the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth
The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth advances equitable and sustainable economic growth and financial inclusion around the world. The Center leverages the company’s core assets and competencies, including data insights, expertise, and technology, while administering the philanthropic Mastercard Impact Fund, to produce independent research, scale global programs, and empower a community of thinkers, leaders, and doers on the front lines of inclusive growth. For more information and to receive its latest insights, follow the Center on LinkedIn, Instagram and subscribe to its newsletter.
About data.org
data.org is accelerating the power of data and AI to solve some of the world’s biggest problems. By hosting innovation challenges to surface and scale groundbreaking ideas, and elevating use cases of the most effective tools and strategies, we are building the field of data for social impact. By 2032, we will train one million purpose-driven data practitioners, ensuring there is capacity to drive meaningful, equitable impact.
About Mastercard
Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we’re building a sustainable economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions secure, simple, smart and accessible. Our technology and innovation, partnerships and networks combine to deliver a unique set of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential.
