Sameer Garde is joining non-profit Wadhwani AI as its chief executive, the Mumbai based institute has announced. Garde, who quit Cisco India and SAARC last month and has been Dell India's president in the past too, will be succeeding P Anandan, who had quit earlier this year.

"My experience with Cisco and Nasscom has reinforced my belief that technology, if wielded deliberately as a force for social good, can enable an inclusive and equitable future for all," Sameer Garde said on his appointment.

Garde outlined a two-pronged strategy going forward, which focuses on strengthening work as an innovator and continuing the emphasis on deployment and scaling, and also expand its role as a catalyst for systemic transformation, helping large-scale social impact programmes become AI-ready.

Over the last three years, Wadhwani AI has grown into a reputed and unique organization developing AI-based solutions for some of the world's toughest challenges in global health and agriculture, adding its portfolio today spans tuberculosis, Covid, maternal and child health, and cotton farming. It will be interesting to see what else to they engage in under Sameer Garde’s leadership.