Startups are key to solving today’s biggest challenges and a huge driver of innovation — and artificial intelligence is one of their sharpest tools. AI continues to make its mark across industries with new levels of innovation and efficiency. Learning AI skills has become beneficial for entrepreneurs and professionals in today’s job market. Businesses are increasing their reliance on responsible AI-driven solutions and need more Black representation to lead the charge. We must give our flowers to the Black innovators in the AI space, whose contributions are already creating a ripple effect in shaping the latest AI tools and trends and leading the way for future Black innovators in tech.
Simi Lindgren, Founder of Yuty
Yuty harnesses generative AI powered by TensorFlow to cater to a diverse audience of beauty consumers. The app provides data-backed product recommendations delivered through an engaging quiz to help all consumers irrespective of race, gender, or ability to discover which product is right for them. This level of personalization enables brands to connect with and retain customers, by creating an individualized journey that identifies, markets, and sells the right product to the right customer. Lindgren’s creation represents a fusion of tech and beauty, making strides in inclusivity, she first launched Yuty during the pandemic but had been working towards the concept for 5 years before that.
Kingsley Ezeani, Co-founder of CashEx
Kingsley Ezeani is the CEO and co-founder of Boston-based CashEx, a startup directing global banking and payment services to solve the high remittance fees experienced by African migrants in the UK and the US. Ezeani graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School in 2022 with a Master’s in Public Administration and is a graduate of the University of Oxford’s Said Business School where he earned his MBA. CashEx was among the startups in the 2022 cohort of MIT’s student venture accelerator program Delta v. It also won the grand prize in Harvard Business School’s New Venture Competition. It is designed to help African migrants obtain their first US bank account and debit card just before they arrive in the United States and to help facilitate the transfer of their savings. It also plans to offer zero-fee remittances for sending money back to their countries of origin.
Before CashEx, Kingsley founded Techhive Africa, a digital media company whose portfolio platforms have over 5 million social media followers and have partnered with the BBC to fight misinformation in Nigeria. He is a recipient of multiple awards including The Future Awards Africa Prize for New Media and the YTech100 award for leaders in technology in Nigeria. He was also selected as a mentor to entrepreneurs vying for $1 Million in the Africa Entrepreneurship Award 2018. In 2019, Kingsley was recognized by the Obama Foundation as an African Leader due to his work and he joined leaders from 45 African Countries in the Obama Foundation Leaders Africa program in South Africa.
Renée Cummings, Founder and CEO of Urban AI
Renée Cummings is a community scholar at Columbia University and the Founder and CEO of Urban AI, LLC, a New York-based company that researches the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on urban communities. Transforming the world of AI, Cummings has devoted her career to harnessing the power of imagination and the extraordinary possibilities of ethical artificial intelligence. In 2007, she remarkably entered the industry by becoming the Founder and CEO of Criminal Justice Intelligence Inc in 2007. Developing an extensive repertoire of industry experience in this role, she became a specialist in areas such as crime investigation, crisis management, media skills for law enforcement, and many more.
Recognizing the positive impact that artificial intelligence could have throughout the justice system, Cummings has examined the ethical implications of data on society and has devoted her career to building ethical, justice-orientated AI systems that will benefit audiences globally. She is committed to fusing criminal justice and AI for ethical real-time solutions to enhance public safety and quality of life. At the frontline of ethical AI, she is a champion for the voices of the historically underrepresented in STEM and increases the visibility of vulnerable communities in AI and new emerging technologies.
Larry Adams, Founder And CEO of XStereotype
Larry Adams is a digital marketing and media veteran, the former head of design for AT&T and WarnerMedia, he helped design and develop HBO Max and launched DIRECTV NOW, and most recently served as Sr. Advisor for the Bloomberg 2020 presidential campaign. Adams is the founder and CEO of X_Stereotype, an AI-powered platform that analyzes content through a lens of diversity and inclusion. While AI is being utilized to advance industries, there is the danger of errors and bias on the other side of the coin. To combat such a danger, Adams took action. The platform is helping move content creators to be more inclusive by incorporating human intelligence into training natural language processing AI models. X_Stereotype has incorporated over 4 million points of data. X_Stereotype’s mission is to create data that represents all of humanity. By putting all experiences and points of view into the AI ecosystem, the result is unbiased and complete AI.
Megan Gray, Founder of Moment.ai
Megan Gray was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 23, she was able to fight through her struggle and create a solution to a problem that afflicts more than 3 million people in the US. Gray previously worked as a Product Engineer at Google, where she analyzed user behavior data and drove a user education strategy. She also completed an IT Internship at the University of Kentucky and a Writer Internship at Commercial Appeal/Scripps, where she won an award for Best Profile Story of the Year. Megan holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Kentucky.
After this life-changing event, Megan invented a device that hooked up to her steering wheel and monitored her brain and heart for signs of potential seizures. She then developed an app that would alert her when she was about to have a seizure by using facial recognition technology. Moment AI, an autonomous vehicle (AV) company, uses physiological data + traffic data not only to prevent accidents but to better the driver’s experience. The software seamlessly integrates with any camera to identify health risks for driving such as diabetes, heart disorders, neurological disorders, and sleeping disorders.
Joanna Smith-Griffin, Founder and CEO of AllHere
AllHere is a chatbot software designed to reduce chronic absenteeism and foster success among students. Using artificial intelligence, the startup’s virtual advisor communicates 24/7 via automated two-way texting, proactively sending nudges and leveraging a customized knowledge base to ensure each family and student receives the right support at the right time. Smith-Griffin is a former teacher, school family engagement director, and a Forbes 30 under 30 recipient who managed family engagement, child development, and personalized learning research at schools across the East Coast.
AllHere was born out of Joanna’s frustration as a public school teacher and family engagement leader in Boston. She saw schools experience countless absences followed by unanswered mailings and voicemails. AllHere’s platform builds on key insights and evidence-based strategies on how to partner with families so that they feel valued as their child’s teacher and can more effectively support attendance and learning. Spurred by the challenges of at-home schooling, the company grew by over 700% in the past year to over 8,000 schools across 34 states. AllHere’s solutions are built by educators and independently proven to positively impact stakeholder communication, family engagement, and student success.
Boitumelo Masihleho is a South African digital content creator. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Rhodes University in Journalism and Media Studies and Politics and International Studies.
She’s an experienced multimedia journalist who is committed to writing balanced, informative and interesting stories on a number of topics. Boitumelo has her own YouTube channel where she shares her love for affordable beauty and lifestyle content.
