Recent podcast:
AI For Good: Applications in Sustainability, Humanitarian Action, and Health
by Juan M. Lavista Ferres
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Speakers
Juan M. Lavista Ferres
Corporate vice president, chief data scientist, and director of Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab
Juan M. Lavista Ferres, corporate vice president, chief data scientist, and director of Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab, leads a global team in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and statistical modeling. His team addresses challenges in the areas of sustainability, health, humanitarian action, digital literacy, and cybersecurity. Their work has been featured in over 100 global news platforms, including BBC, CNN, and The New York Times. Juan has shared insights with organizations such as IEEE and TedX, and universities such as Harvard, Stanford, and the University of California, Berkeley, extending his influence in countries including the United States, Canada, and Switzerland, as well as in Latin America and Africa. He also plays an editorial role in the Microsoft Journal of Applied Research, shaping the discourse in AI and data science within Microsoft. Prior to this work, Juan held positions in Microsoft's Experimentation Platform (EXP) and Bing Data Mining team, and co-founded Alerts.com. His earlier career focused on applying data science to poverty reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean. Juan's academic credentials include a Computer Science degree from the Catholic University of Uruguay, a graduate degree in Data Mining and Machine Learning from Johns Hopkins University, and a Ph.D. in AI on Healthcare from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Juan lives in Kirkland, Washington, with his wife and three children.
Raj Kumar
President and editor-in-chief, Devex
Raj Kumar is the founding President & Editor-in-Chief of Devex, the media platform for the global development community. A social enterprise dedicated to ensuring global development efforts do more good for more people, Devex was born in 2000 when Raj was a graduate student at the Harvard Kennedy School. Today, there are 100+ Devexers around the world serving a global audience of more than one million aid workers and development professionals. Beginning as a kid in Kerala, India, Raj has witnessed firsthand determined and courageous development work in over 50 countries – it’s what drives the Devex mission to “Do Good. Do It Well.” He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a media leader and former humanitarian council chair for the World Economic Forum, and has interviewed on-camera and on- stage hundreds of global luminaries on the most important challenges of our time. Raj is the author of the book “The Business of Changing the World,” a go-to primer on the ideas, people, and technology disrupting the aid industry.
About the Devex Book Club
It seems like every day there’s an exciting new book coming out on global challenges like poverty and climate change. Are you fascinated by books like these, especially the ones that challenge preconceived notions and present bold new ideas? Then join me as I bring you conversations with authors on the most important yet underreported issues facing our world. Each month I’ll recommend one or two books and let you know when I’ll be speaking with authors so you can join in. Follow me on twitter @raj_devex where I’ll be posting about the books and conversations. And tweet me what books you suggest I read and what questions you’d like me to ask.
As an author myself - check out my book The Business of Changing the World - I love to speak to fellow-authors to uncover the latest thinking and most surprising takes in global development. Sign up to get invitations to these virtual conversations and be a part of this book club. Join me!
— 
Raj Kumar, President & Editor-in-Chief, Devex
