Frugal AI Pathways – AI for Low-Resource Languages

A one-day working session

A rural farmer can speak into a mobile device in their own language and receive relevant, actionable advice. For the first time, AI can bring information and services within reach of people long shut out by literacy and digital barriers, but only in the languages it can actually speak. Of roughly 7,000 living languages, fewer than 50 have meaningful AI support. The reason the gap persists is rarely a lack of a model, it is everything around it: the institutional, operational, governance and trust work that decides whether a system ever reaches the people it was built for.

A small number of deployments across tribal communities in India, Indian languages at scale, and East Africa show this is solvable with a Frugal AI approach, and that the lessons travel. This session convenes the people who can turn that evidence into something actionable.

About the event

Frugal AI Pathways: AI for Low-Resource Languages is a closed, full-day working session hosted by the Frugal AI Hub in partnership with EkStep Foundation. The discussions will produce a practical playbook for those working on similar problems, as a contribution to the 100 Diffusion Pathways initiative.

The session brings together 25–30 practitioners, researchers, and policy professionals. Through practitioners’ lived experiences and hands-on group work, participants develop concrete approaches for specific language communities and commit to next steps.

Speakers

A range of speakers will attend this working session, including:

• Dr Jaideep Prabhu, Co-Director, The Centre for India and Global Business; Jawaharlal Nehru Professor of Indian Business and Enterprise, Cambridge Judge Business School
• Serish Gandikota, Co-Lead, Frugal AI Hub at Cambridge Judge Business School
• Elizabeth Osta, Co-Lead, Frugal AI Hub at Cambridge Judge Business School
• Krishna Raju Jampana, Director of Solutions and Growth, EkStep Foundation
• Dr Mitesh M. Khapra, Associate Professor, Department of Data Science and AI, IIT Madras; Head, AI4Bharat Research Lab (joining online)
• Santosh Kevlani, Voice AI Strategist and Advisor, EkStep Foundation
• Dr Arjuna Sathiaseelan, Tech Lead, Frugal AI Hub, Cambridge Judge Business School
• Dr Sarbani Banerjee Belur, Assistant Professor, IIIT Dharwad
• Kato Steven Mubiru, Co-Founder, Crane AI Labs
• Namagembe Mildred Rebecca, Governance Specialist, Crane AI Labs

Agenda

About the organisers

The Frugal AI Hub at Cambridge Judge Business School is a cross-sector initiative focused on advancing resource-efficient, inclusive and socially beneficial AI. Co-led by Serish Gandikota and Elizabeth Osta, the Hub conducts research, convenes dialogues and supports adoption labs that help public and private organisations integrate Frugal AI principles into design, procurement and deployment practices.

EkStep Foundation is a not-for-profit platform initiative that is dedicated to equitably empowering people and unlocking possibilities for transformation at scale through various initiatives. EkStep co-leads the 100 Diffusion Pathways initiative, working to document and scale proven AI deployment pathways across low-resource contexts globally.

Register

This is an invite-only event. Please confirm attendance by replying to the email invitation you have received.