The Gates Foundation AI Fellows Program 2027 for young African Innovators.

Application Deadline: November 11, 2027

Applications at the moment are open for the 2027 Gates Foundation AI Fellows Program. The AI Fellows Program on the Gates Foundation is devoted to accelerating the accountable and impactful use of AI in world well being, growth, and training.

You will likely be becoming a member of the primary Africa-based AI Fellows cohort the place you’re employed alongside our Africa crew, our companions and authorities counterparts to convey AI tooling to make clear and make choices that matter most. Each fellow will likely be assigned 1–2 high-priority tasks that can assist speed up reaching the inspiration’s mission.

Note: This is a 12-month restricted time period employment place primarily based in Abuja, Nigeria / Addis Ababa, Ethiopia / Johannesburg, South Africa / Nairobi, Kenya. Candidates should have the ability to legally work within the nation the place this place is positioned with out visa sponsorship and relocation help won’t be offered.

Sample challenge areas embrace:

• Build decision-support instruments throughout a number of African nations that unify disparate financing circulate techniques, conducts a periodic bottleneck diagnostics and helps knowledgeable decision-making.
• Design and prototype an answer to cut back stockouts of important medicines at district and facility stage, focusing on nations going through drawdown of US Government-funded logistics administration capability.
• Strengthen well being planning and provide chain techniques by constructing an AI decision-support instrument that ranks interventions in opposition to finances ceilings and traces prioritized interventions via procurement and money launch, creating a predictive analytics layer to forecast stock-out danger and flag redistribution Opportunities earlier than expiry

Your Role

The AI Fellows Program on the Gates Foundation is designed to speed up the accountable and impactful use of AI in world well being, growth, and training. Our objective is to draw top-tier, mission-aligned AI expertise to drive innovation in these areas. Building on the success of our US and India-based cohorts, we’re increasing our program to Africa. As a Gates AI Fellow, you’ll be a part of a prestigious cohort making use of AI for public good and achieve career-defining expertise, entry to Gates’ highly effective community, and publicity to senior management.

This function provides the distinctive alternative to collaborate throughout a number of divisions inside the Foundation—together with Global Health (GH), Gender Equality (GE), Global Development (GD), and Global Growth & Opportunity (GGO)— to bridge the chances of frontier AI know-how with the realities of deployment to create actual, significant influence.

Over the course of 12 months, every AI Fellow will likely be assigned to high-priority tasks, embedded inside our Africa crew. Fellows might contribute to a number of AI-oriented tasks over the course of the fellowship, together with concurrently, and needs to be snug adapting their technical strategy as challenge wants evolve.

Requirements

• Education: Candidates should maintain a bachelor’s or grasp’s diploma (in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, Applied Math or related discipline).
• Experience: At least 2 years of expertise making use of AI options, ideally in well being or agricultural techniques.
• AI Technology: Strong basis in fashionable AI/ML, together with ML/AI modeling, mannequin analysis, and hands-on expertise with LLMs, mixed with software program engineering and information expertise wanted to construct end-to-end utilized options. Evidence might come from utilized coursework, analysis, internships, or early skilled expertise.
• AI Applications: Demonstrated curiosity in making use of AI to fields comparable to well being techniques, public monetary administration, provide chain and logistics, with enthusiasm and literacy to make use of fashionable AI instruments safely and pragmatically (direct AI analysis expertise not required). Candidates needs to be snug studying throughout adjoining technical areas – comparable to information engineering, time-series evaluation, optimization, info retrieval, or decision-support techniques – as challenge wants evolve.
• Collaborative Mindset: Strong teamwork and adaptableness, with expertise working cross-functionally in advanced environments.
• Communication Skills: Demonstrated capability to obviously articulate technical ideas and proposals to each technical and non-technical audiences.
• Mission-Driven Ethos: Deep motivation to apply AI responsibly for public good, with alignment to equitable growth and world well being influence.
• Builder and Teacher Approach: Hands-on expertise constructing prototypes with LLMs and different fashionable AI instruments (e.g., utilizing open-source instruments or API-based platforms), with the judgment to attach AI parts to the broader information and software program techniques wanted for real-world use. Willingness to share findings overtly and talent to show and allow others, not simply ship technical outputs.

Benefits

• Apply AI the place it issues most: Work on issues core to the Foundation’s mission—well being, growth, and training so extra individuals can dwell wholesome, productive lives.
• Drive outsized ends in LMICs: Aim options at nations and communities the Foundation prioritize, the place innovation can transfer the needle quickest.
• Advance digital public items: Contribute to protected, inclusive digital public infrastructure and well being innovation efforts the place AI can speed up entry and fairness. Partner with Program Strategy Teams to ship tangible prototypes, instruments, and analyses.
• Tap right into a uniquely highly effective community: Collaborate throughout multilaterals, NGOs, academia, and trade via the Foundation’s partnership mannequin.
• Stand on a world platform: Benefit from the credibility and attain of a basis funding work in over 140 nations.
• Lead from day one: Own high-priority tasks with clear outcomes and companions.
• Grow sooner with knowledgeable mentorship: Learn from leaders throughout AI, well being, growth, and coverage whereas constructing a portfolio of real-world influence.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the Gates Foundation AI Fellows Program