Indian student changemakers leveraging AI for good

Ashoka Innovators for the Public and Connecting Dreams Foundation successfully organised the National Student Change Initiatives Festival 2026 at the EMPI Business School Campus, New Delhi, bringing together hundreds of university students changemakers from across India to showcase innovative, AI-enabled solutions to some of the country’s most pressing challenges. A total of 100 student teams comprising over 250 students from 14 different States travelled to participate in the festival, each presenting AI-enabled prototypes developed to address real-world problems within their communities. This festival is a powerful demonstration that we have to harness and build AI Skills for every young Indian for solving real world problems,” said Dr. Shruti Nair, South Asia Leader, Ashoka Innovators for the Public. “When students combine cognitive empathy with AI and entrepreneurial thinking, they are role models in their universities and communities to create an “Everyone A Changemaker” world. During the two-day event, 100 student teams exhibited their prototypes to a distinguished group of leaders from academia, venture capital, and corporates, alongside several established changemakers.