The CGD Podcast: Where AI Meets Development with Temina Madon and Han Sheng Chia
From chatbots supporting new mothers and nutrition coaches guiding families, to tutoring tools for children and apps advising farmers, artificial intelligence is beginning to find its place in development. But is it ready—and are we? In this episode of the CGD Podcast, I'm joined by Temina Madon, Executive Director of the Agency Fund, and Han Sheng Chia, CGD Fellow and Director of our new AI initiative. We discuss where AI shows promise—from health and education to livelihoods and agriculture—what risks it could amplify, and how the development community can ensure these technologies improve lives rather than deepen inequalities.
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38:08
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38:08
Saving Newborn Lives with Lord Jim O'Neill and Dr. Akhil Bansal
CGD's Rachel Glennerster speaks with Lord Jim O'Neill and Dr. Akhil Bansal on the nature and scale of the problem of neonatal sepsis, how an advance market commitment could help incentivize the development of a diagnostic, and what steps policymakers can take to help save newborn lives.
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35:16
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35:16
Remittances for Development with Manuel Orozco
CGD's Helen Dempster speaks with the Inter-American Dialogue's Manuel Orozco about the key role that remittances play in development, the impact of the new tax, and how remittances could be better supported and managed.
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24:50
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24:50
Climate Finance in an Era of Uncertainty with Dirk Meyer and Elizabeth Sidiropoulos
Following the 2025 Development Leaders Conference, CGD's Rachel Glennerster speaks with BMZ's Dirk Meyer and SAIIA's Elizabeth Sidiropoulos about conference takeaways, including whether climate should be a focus for development agencies, how to get more bang for your climate-change buck, and how developing countries might prioritize between climate mitigation and adaptation.
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27:15
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27:15
Racing to Preserve Life-saving USAID Programs with the Project Resource Optimization Team
After a large share of USAID's work was terminated, a small cadre of development experts created Project Resource Optimization, or PRO, to identify highly cost-effective, life-saving programs that were on hold and connect them with philanthropic donors who could fill the gaps. CGD's Erin Collinson speaks with two PRO team members, Rob Rosenbaum and Caitlin Tulloch, about the origins and limits of the PRO initiative, its successes to date, and the lessons from the work that could help re-envision US foreign aid.
Colombia