Girmaw Abebe Tadesse

Exploration question

What would it take for AI-enabled systems to become genuinely trusted partners in public decision-making within communities and institutions navigating complex social and developmental challenges?

Girmaw is a Principal Research Scientist and Manager at Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab in Nairobi, Kenya, where he leads research and partnerships across Africa to develop responsible AI systems for informed decision-making. He is a Member of the United Nations Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence.

Girmaw is driven by the mission of ensuring AI-enabled systems become genuinely trusted partners in high-stakes decision-making. His work applies AI and data to complex social and developmental challenges, including food security, climate resilience, biodiversity conservation, and public health. He collaborates closely with governments, UN agencies, and nonprofits to co-design data-driven tools that support policy planning, emphasizing contextually grounded development in limited-resource settings.

His work has appeared in leading scientific venues, such as Nature, contributed to 24 international patent filings, and been featured by outlets including the BBC. Prior to Microsoft, he was a Staff Research Scientist at IBM Research Africa and a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Oxford. He holds dual PhDs from Queen Mary University of London, awarded through the Erasmus Mundus Joint Double Doctorate Programme.