The Institute for Human Flourishing (IHF), headquartered in India, was launched during the high-level week of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The institute is backed by The Rockefeller Foundation, Schmidt Philanthropies and the Government of India.
According to a press release, IHF will work to ensure that AI raises incomes, expands agency and creates opportunities for vulnerable communities around the world. The institute also aims to identify what works, turn evidence into replicable playbooks and inform policy so that pro-worker outcomes become the default.
READ: AI won’t fix education on its own. Chaula Gupta explains what schools need (September 19, 2026)
Founded by Ravi Venkatesan and led by CEO Urvashi Aneja, IHF made its global debut before an international audience of philanthropists, policymakers and employers gathered in New York for UNGA week. The Government of India’s Expert Group on Human Flourishing has formally endorsed the institute’s establishment.
“India has the chance to show the world a different model — one in which AI becomes a tool for mass flourishing rather than mass displacement. But that will not happen by default,” Venkatesan said. “It requires institutions that connect evidence, practice and policy. That is why we have built IHF.”
IHF said institutional choices, rather than the technology itself, will shape AI’s economic impact. For India and other countries in the Global South, the risks could differ from those faced by wealthier countries. The institute noted that entry-level information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) roles — a major pathway into the middle class in many countries — are declining, while export-led growth based on low-cost labor is weakening as automation puts pressure on wages.
IHF said the larger risk is the missed opportunity. Nearly 90% of India’s workforce is informal, and AI could potentially augment farmers, artisans and microenterprises at scale, according to the institute. However, investment is largely focused on larger firms. IHF said the key constraint is the diffusion of AI, rather than its technological capability.
IHF also plans to create a Livelihoods Lab that will run live, co-designed demonstrations of human-AI collaboration in real organizations with real workers. The institute said every finding will be published as an open public good, regardless of the outcome.
The institute also plans to launch an AI and Jobs Observatory to track worker experiences and develop a foundational Index of Human Flourishing that measures outcomes beyond income, including agency, dignity, capability and economic security. A Policy and Narrative program will translate findings into evidence-based advocacy and connect a Global South advisory network around shared priorities.
READ: The $4,200 IVF option: What Indian Americans may overlook when leaving the US for fertility care (September 16, 2026)
“The question is no longer whether AI will transform work in the Global South — it already is. The question is whether that transformation raises incomes and expands agency for the majority, most of whom work in the informal economy,” Aneja said. “That outcome will be decided by institutional choices, and those choices need evidence. IHF exists to build that evidence in the field, with real workers and real enterprises, and to make sure it shapes both markets and policy.”
“India’s approach to AI has been anchored in inclusion — technology as a public good that expands opportunity for all,” said S. Krishnan, secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India. “Building rigorous evidence on how AI can strengthen livelihoods, particularly in the informal economy, complements the Government’s efforts under the IndiaAI Mission. We welcome the Institute for Human Flourishing’s contribution to this agenda.”