# Global Progress in the AI Era: Can a new effort scale AI for good to reach hundreds of millions?

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/this-week-in-global-development-6311778/global-progress-in-the-ai-era-can-a-new-effort-scale-ai-for-good-to-reach-hundreds-of-millions
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/this-week-in-global-development-6311778/global-progress-in-the-ai-era-can-a-new-effort-scale-ai-for-good-to-reach-hundreds-of-millions.md
Podcast: [This Week in Global Development](https://stenobird.com/podcast/this-week-in-global-development-6311778)
Published: 2026-03-09T17:15:18+00:00
Episode link: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/global-progress-in-the-ai-era-can-a-new-effort-scale-ai-for-good-to-reach-hundreds-of-millions--70551872
Audio file: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/70551872/kanika_final_audio.mp3
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Duration seconds: 2501

## Resource

Too many “AI for good” pilots fail before reaching the people who need them most. To solve this scaling crisis, Kanika Bahl, the CEO of Evidence Action, is stepping down from the helm of the organization to lead a new effort called the AI Access Initiative. Operating as an “AI-native NGO,” the initiative will bridge the gap between frontier tech labs and global development actors. Rather than funding endless pilots, it is focusing on scaling proven “big bets,” including clinical decision support for overstretched health systems and AI weather forecasting for smallholder farmers. Bahl warns that the development sector must abandon “business as usual” and aim for audacious goals — including reaching half of the world’s 3.5 billion people living in poverty — to prevent a rapidly widening digital divide.

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