Karya Launches AI Think-Tank to Empower Marginalised Communities

3 months ago 30

Published on January 16, 2025
In AI News

Karya Institute plans to launch a Digital Skills Passport to help workers in the gig economy document and track their skill development.

Around 7.7 million gig workers were active in India in 2021, as per Niti Aayog. This number is expected to rise to 23.5 million by 2030, making India the third largest gig workforce globally. Of those, the majority are from marginalised communities.

To enable these marginalised communities, Bengaluru-based startup Karya, a non-profit AI firm that provides digital work opportunities for rural India recently launched Karya Institute, an AI think-tank.

“AI has the potential to create job opportunities for low-resource communities but today, we have not realised even a fraction of this potential. Karya Institute conducts critical market, skilling and labour research to uncover a future of AI work that is inclusive of low-resource communities,” read the post on Linkedin.

The company said that Karya Institute focuses on three core areas that will shape the future of AI and digital work. These include identifying the new digital work opportunities that AI can create, understanding the skills required for individuals to benefit from these opportunities, and transforming the gig economy to ensure that work is ethical and safe.

The Karya Institute is currently backed by Google.org, ACT, and 100x Impact Accelerator. The company looks to expand the reach of high-paying, complex digital work to low-income regions, making sure that the opportunities are accessible and equitable.

Founded in 2021 by Manu Chopra, Vivek Seshadri, and Safiya Husain, Karya aims to provide solutions to ensure these opportunities are inclusive and accessible.

In an exclusive interview with AIM, co-founder Chopra, at the time, said that it plans to reach 100 million rural Indians by 2030. “It currently takes an average low-income Indian over 7 generations to make $1500 in savings and a Karya worker can make the same amount in less than a year. We think of Karya not as a job, but as societal wealth distribution,” said Chopra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl3nGi2MaVg

What’s Next?

Karya Institute plans to launch a Digital Skills Passport, a key initiative designed to help workers in the gig economy document and track their skill development. This passport will provide a practical, accessible, and market-acceptable way for digital workers to demonstrate their continuous and certified growth in the evolving AI job market.

Starting in 2026, the Digital Skills Passport will be widely implemented to support digital gig workers as they align their skills with AI-based job opportunities. The institute hopes that by creating accessible digital work pathways, historically marginalised communities in the global south will be able to uplift themselves from poverty through high-paying and complex digital jobs.

Last month, Karya launched Platform-as-a-Service to scale ethical data work at a global level and create AI-enabled earning opportunities for marginalised communities.

Vandana Nair

As a rare blend of engineering, MBA, and journalism degree, Vandana Nair brings a unique combination of technical know-how, business acumen, and storytelling skills to the table. Her insatiable curiosity for all things startups, businesses, and AI technologies ensures that there's always a fresh and insightful perspective to her reporting.