AI for Development
and Impact.
AI4D brought together practitioners, funders, researchers, public institutions and technology leaders to examine where AI can create real value in development and humanitarian work — and what responsible adoption requires in practice.
From AI potential to practical impact.
The day focused on the practical conditions that make AI useful: stronger evidence, real organizational adoption, responsible governance and the institutional capacity to use new tools well.
Evidence
Move beyond hype: understand where AI is creating measurable value, what remains uncertain, and what evidence should guide investment and scale.
Adoption
Explore how development organizations move from experiments and pilots to AI embedded in workflows, programmes and decision-making.
Responsible AI
Keep governance, local context, human oversight, data responsibility and accountability at the centre of implementation.
Institutional capacity
Look at the people, skills, partnerships, data infrastructure and organizational change needed to make responsible AI useful at scale.
One summit. Three connected days.
AI4D opened the three-day ECOSYSTEM Summit, followed by the Ownership Economy Summit and Trusted Commerce.
AI for Development & Impact
Responsible and practical AI for development, humanitarian action, public institutions and social impact.
AI4DThe Ownership Economy Summit
Ownership, incentives and governance models that distribute agency, value and participation more broadly.
OwnershipTrusted Commerce
Trusted data, standards, traceability, verification and infrastructure for more accountable markets.
TrustPeople who shaped the day.
A selection of speakers from the AI4D programme, spanning humanitarian response, funding, evidence, governance, health data and organizational adoption.
Zineb Bhaby
AI LeadNorwegian Refugee Council
View profile →
Caryl Feldacker
Senior Program OfficerGates Foundation
View profile →
Kent Freeze
Program OfficerGates Foundation
View profile →
Emily Janoch
Associate VP, Evidence & LearningCARE
View profile →
Catherine Vogel
Coordination LeadGIZ Data Lab
View profile →
Samuel Garman
Head of Data Science & AnalyticsBAO Systems
View profile →
Melissa Omino
DirectorCIPIT
View profile →
Grace Cramer
Deputy Team Leader, Tech & InnovationFCDO
View profile →
Joshua Beretta
Humanitarian Project CoordinatorKoboToolbox
View profile →
Tetyana Zelenska
Director, Monitoring, Evaluation & LearningDigital Green
View profile →Selected sessions, recorded live in Barcelona.
Watch conversations from AI4D 2026 on AI readiness, development delivery, organizational adoption, agriculture and responsible AI. Selected sessions were recorded; the full programme includes additional workshops and conversations.
Opening Remarks
Watch session →
Connected ≠ Ready: AI Readiness for Vulnerable Populations
Watch session →
Advanced Solutions for Development Delivery
Watch session →
The Reality of AI: Adoption, Capacity and Change Management
Watch session →
Capital for AI for Agriculture
Watch session →
Responsible AI: Ethics, Governance and Practice
Watch session →The people funding, building, implementing and evaluating AI for impact.
AI4D was designed to connect strategy and funding with implementation, evidence, technical practice and the realities of organizational change.
Funders & development institutions
Donors, foundations, public institutions and development organizations shaping AI investment and strategy.
NGOs & humanitarian organizations
Teams applying technology in programmes, operations, crisis response and service delivery.
Researchers & evidence organizations
Experts testing what works and building stronger evidence around AI in development.
AI, data & technology practitioners
Builders and technical teams translating AI capabilities into practical tools and infrastructure.
The conversation continued beyond the room.
Selected coverage from earlier AI4D gatherings on how the development sector is approaching AI, capability, local context and responsible adoption.
How the development sector is finding its own way with AI
Development organizations chart a cautious path around AI, emphasizing local data, diverse perspectives and AI literacy.
Read article → Devex · 29 Oct 2025One big misconception about AI in development? It taking over the workforce
A conversation from AI4D in Barcelona about the gap between current AI capability and complex development decision-making.
Read article →Funders & supporters.
Organizations supporting the conversations, research and practical work around responsible AI for development and impact.
Organizations represented at previous gatherings.
A selected view of the international development, humanitarian, research and public-interest organizations represented across previous AI4D gatherings.
Selected organizations represented at previous events; this is not a current sponsor list.
A working room — and space to keep the conversation going.
AI4D 2026 took place at Norrsken House Barcelona, combining plenary sessions, breakouts, networking and a rooftop reception.
Watch the sessions and explore the ideas from Barcelona.
AI4D is part of an ongoing conversation about how development organizations can use AI with stronger evidence, better governance and more meaningful human control.