The global AI race is accelerating, but the real question is who gets to build it, shape it, and benefit from it in the Global South. In this episode of Global Southing, we speak with Anima Anandkumar, AI and Science leader, TIME100 Impact Award Winner, and Caltech Professor, about what it will take for emerging markets to move from AI adoption to real AI agency. From compute access and energy realities to local language data, talent pipelines, and practical use cases in agriculture, weather forecasting, healthcare, and smart cities, this conversation cuts through hype and gets specific about what’s feasible now, what needs policy support, and where the biggest opportunities and risks sit. With grounded examples including AI enabled weather prediction, pandemic preparedness, and disease modeling, Anima explains why democratizing AI is not just about tools, but about infrastructure, education, and local control over data and governance choices. Tune in to learn: → Why access to compute and energy is the real starting line for AI in the Global South → How AI weather forecasting can support food security and climate resilience → What it takes to build local language AI when the data is not online → Where AI can close healthcare gaps, from disease modeling to drug discovery → How cities can use AI for mobility, safety, and pollution monitoring → Why regulation before adoption can slow innovation, and what to do instead → How AI will reshape jobs, and why reskilling speed matters → The infrastructure moves that matter most, including sovereign AI, GPUs, and universities Key Moments 00:00 Opening and episode setup 01:10 AI access and agency, what the Global South actually needs 02:00 Compute and energy, the real bottleneck no one talks about 04:00 Weather forecasting and climate resilience, why prediction is power 06:40 Agriculture and food security, what works in the real world 11:10 Pandemic preparedness, early warning and disease modeling 15:20 Healthcare breakthroughs, underserved diseases and drug discovery 19:30 Smart cities, mobility, safety, and public trust 23:40 Data privacy and surveillance, where the lines get blurry 28:00 Jobs and reskilling, how to stay ahead of the shift Follow Global Southing LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/global-southing/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/globalsouthing/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@globalsouthing Follow the guest Anima Anandkumar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anima-anandkumar/ Caltech: https://www.caltech.edu/
