Proposed network to bring medical institutions, frontline health workers and innovators together to explore locally relevant, responsible AI applications for rural healthcare
The initiative aims to connect rural healthcare needs with the institutions and innovators working to address them. Through training, workshops and community engagement, the hubs will help students, faculty and frontline health workers understand how AI can be applied responsibly in healthcare. They will also provide a platform for innovators to identify local health challenges, explore potential solutions and develop pilots in collaboration with healthcare institutions. Community outreach in local languages will be central to making AI more accessible and relevant to the people it is intended to serve.
Presented as “Swasth AI Hub – an initiative of DataLEADS and JanAI”, the proposed network will combine DataLEADS’ work in trusted information, AI readiness, global health and digital trust and safety with JanAI’s focus on making AI accessible, inclusive and useful for underserved communities through local-language and community-based solutions.
Madan Padaki, Founder of JanAI, said: “AI should be useful to people where they live, including communities in rural India that are often overlooked in the development of new technologies. Swasth AI Hubs will bring communities, health institutions and innovators together to shape AI solutions around people’s needs, in languages they understand. Through our JanAI Cafés, we want to help communities engage with AI and explore how it can address challenges that matter to them.”
Syed Nazakat, Founder and CEO of DataLEADS, said: “Our vision is to make AI a force for more accessible, equitable and people-centred healthcare. Building on ADiRA, our AI readiness and capacity-building initiative reaching medical colleges, public health institutions and hospitals across India, Swasth AI Hubs will take AI from awareness to practical, responsible use in community health—connecting trusted information and institutional expertise with grassroots needs, equipping health workers, students and innovators to explore how AI can address the health challenges people face every day. We are proud to partner with JanAI to advance this vision.”
The hubs will offer training, workshops and learning resources to help students, faculty, frontline health workers and partner institutions build their understanding of AI in healthcare, with a focus on rural needs. The network will also provide a platform for startups and innovators to explore grassroots health challenges, develop potential solutions and test ideas through pilots and mentoring. DataLEADS and JanAI will jointly design, implement and review the initiative. Partner institutions and industry organisations will be identified and onboarded to host and run hubs. The selection of districts, regions and states, along with rollout phases, activities and timelines, will be defined through jointly agreed work plans.
Knowledge generated through the hubs will be documented and shared through reports and other learning resources. Ethical handling of health-related information and data privacy will be central to the initiative.
Bengaluru, October 14, 2026 :
How can artificial intelligence help address healthcare challenges in rural India? DataLEADS and JanAI aim to explore this through a proposed network of 100 Swasth AI Hubs, planned predominantly across rural districts. Under a newly signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the two organisations will work with medical colleges, research institutions and industry partners to build local platforms for health-related AI learning, capacity building and innovation.The initiative aims to connect rural healthcare needs with the institutions and innovators working to address them. Through training, workshops and community engagement, the hubs will help students, faculty and frontline health workers understand how AI can be applied responsibly in healthcare. They will also provide a platform for innovators to identify local health challenges, explore potential solutions and develop pilots in collaboration with healthcare institutions. Community outreach in local languages will be central to making AI more accessible and relevant to the people it is intended to serve.
Presented as “Swasth AI Hub – an initiative of DataLEADS and JanAI”, the proposed network will combine DataLEADS’ work in trusted information, AI readiness, global health and digital trust and safety with JanAI’s focus on making AI accessible, inclusive and useful for underserved communities through local-language and community-based solutions.
Madan Padaki, Founder of JanAI, said: “AI should be useful to people where they live, including communities in rural India that are often overlooked in the development of new technologies. Swasth AI Hubs will bring communities, health institutions and innovators together to shape AI solutions around people’s needs, in languages they understand. Through our JanAI Cafés, we want to help communities engage with AI and explore how it can address challenges that matter to them.”
Syed Nazakat, Founder and CEO of DataLEADS, said: “Our vision is to make AI a force for more accessible, equitable and people-centred healthcare. Building on ADiRA, our AI readiness and capacity-building initiative reaching medical colleges, public health institutions and hospitals across India, Swasth AI Hubs will take AI from awareness to practical, responsible use in community health—connecting trusted information and institutional expertise with grassroots needs, equipping health workers, students and innovators to explore how AI can address the health challenges people face every day. We are proud to partner with JanAI to advance this vision.”
The hubs will offer training, workshops and learning resources to help students, faculty, frontline health workers and partner institutions build their understanding of AI in healthcare, with a focus on rural needs. The network will also provide a platform for startups and innovators to explore grassroots health challenges, develop potential solutions and test ideas through pilots and mentoring. DataLEADS and JanAI will jointly design, implement and review the initiative. Partner institutions and industry organisations will be identified and onboarded to host and run hubs. The selection of districts, regions and states, along with rollout phases, activities and timelines, will be defined through jointly agreed work plans.
Knowledge generated through the hubs will be documented and shared through reports and other learning resources. Ethical handling of health-related information and data privacy will be central to the initiative.
