Josh Mandell is a tech and digital innovation leader at IBM, specializing in digital transformation and development for international organizations. As the current Account Manager for USAID at IBM, Josh brings extensive experience in business development and strategy, having previously worked at DevResults and co-founded Mission Metrix. With an MPA from NYU Wagner and a BA in Middle East and African Studies, he focuses on leveraging technology for global development, particularly through partnerships with government and private sectors. 

Topic: AI for Better KM and Decision-Making in Ethiopia

USAID/Ethiopia is one of USAID’s largest and most dynamic Missions, managing over $1b

in funding per year to address complex development and humanitarian challenges. In this

session, Kaizen and IBM leadership will share experiences from their USAID-funded Learning Analytics Activity (LAA), discussing the process they led for collaboratively co- designing and co-creating AI solutions to increase USAID’s reach and impact.

Our initial area of focus is supporting the Mission to leverage AI to extract greater value

from USAID Ethiopia’s 25 existing Knowledge Management (KM) systems. We will discuss

eRorts to apply AI to reduce administrative burdens, improve decision-making, enhance

collaboration, and amplify the impact of development programming.