In this conversation, recorded at Devex Impact House on the sidelines of UNGA81, Kanika Bahl, who leads the AI Access Initiative (2AI) and previously served as CEO of Evidence Action, discusses what it takes to move AI for good beyond pilots to results for millions of people.
Kanika describes applying the “design for scale from the start” approach behind Evidence Action’s reach of 530+ million people. She also explains why government systems are the channel to scale: governments deliver most population-level services and hold the digital registries that let AI reach people where they already are, with minimal behavior change.
2AI grew out of work incubated at Evidence Action to evaluate how AI could deliver step-change impact for people in low- and middle-income countries. That work began with a cross-sector analysis, published in October 2025, evaluating 30+ AI interventions across agriculture, health, education, and humanitarian response.
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