Global South stakeholders talked on artificial intelligence’s future, its effects on society, and the prospects for cross-continental cooperation.
Empowering AI in Global South
African and Indian perspectives at the Carnegie Global Technology Summit Innovation Dialogue 2025 emphasized common issues, distinct benefits, and the pressing need to develop inclusive, scalable AI ecosystems.
The CEO of Qhala, Shikoh Gitau, highlighted the growing momentum around South-South collaboration, pointing out that the Global South, which is home to 80% of the world’s population, has unrealized collective influence.
“Our population, data databases, and rare materials provide us a negotiating advantage. Gitau stated, “We have a lot to contribute to this AI economy.
Shared AI Growth Lessons
She pointed to similarities between the problems affecting nations in Asia and Africa and expressed hope that both areas may advance more quickly via shared lessons.
Gitau referred to India as a “big brother” in AI talent, citing research from talentindex.ai that demonstrates how Indian knowledge powers innovation hubs from Silicon Valley to Europe.
She pointed out that Africa also provides vital learning and digitization experience, from early ID system digitization to legal infrastructure changes, which may significantly advance the development of AI worldwide.
The founder of Mahila Prashikshan Sansthan, Shelly Sethi, emphasized the significance of raising AI literacy among women and young people, emphasizing that democratizing access to new technologies is essential for India’s next stage of development.
AI Empowering Health Access
She emphasized government initiatives designed to provide young people—particularly women—the skills necessary to engage in the AI-powered economy.
“Testing, comprehending, and mastering the new technology is crucial,” she stated, advocating for a more widespread use of AI tools for grassroots empowerment.
The co-founder of SimPPL, Dvara Mungra, explained how AI can fill in the knowledge gaps that lead to India’s high rates of maternal death. For expecting moms, delays in obtaining reliable medical information continue to be a significant risk factor.
“SimPPL is addressing this using Sakhi, an AI-enabled application that uses WhatsApp to transmit medically validated material that has been evaluated by gynecologists in local languages. AI’s developing involvement in maternal health is speeding up the process of finding the relevant information, according to Mungra.
AI Advancing Healthcare Innovation
She also discussed more general applications of AI in healthcare, such as enhancing access to government health data and detecting diseases.
However, she warned that India still has “a long way to go” in R&D, especially when it comes to creating fundamental models that are appropriate for the country’s linguistic and cultural diversity.
India is a special testing environment for the widespread use of AI, according to Shalini Kapoor, Chief Strategist at the EkStep Foundation.
She cited Nandan Nilekani as saying that India might develop into “the test bed for AI adoption” where internationally replicable technologies that have been tested at scale are possible.
Democratizing AI for All
According to her, “real effect depends on establishing tangible use cases in areas like agriculture, education, and healthcare, backed by essential horizontal enablers like language technology, safety standards, and AI-ready data infrastructure.”
She also praised programs like AI4Bharat’s open models for 22 Indian languages, derived from cultural and linguistic history, and emphasized India’s attempts to democratize AI development, such as the IndiaAI Mission’s efforts to make GPUs available to companies.
“AI is available to everyone. “No one should be left behind,” Kapoor said, adding that the Global South might adopt India’s strategy as a model.
In preparation for the next AI Impact Summit 2026, which will take place in New Delhi from February 15 to 20, 2026, Carnegie India presented the Global Technology Summit Innovation Dialogue in New Delhi on December 11.
