JanAI Technology Pvt. Ltd., Head Held High Foundation and Aavishkaar Foundation sign MoU to make AI accessible to rural communities and unlock new economic opportunities

Bengaluru: JanAI Technology Pvt. Ltd., Head Held High Foundation and Aavishkaar Foundation today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at Sankalp Bharat 2026 in Lucknow to establish 25 new JanAI Cafés across 25 districts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh over a 12-month period. The partnership aims to make AI more accessible to rural communities and create new opportunities for rural youth and entrepreneurs.

JanAI has been expanding its network of AI Cafés, which serve as community spaces where people can learn about AI and explore how the technology can be used in everyday life. The initiative recently reached its tenth Café, opened in Wardha, Maharashtra.

Building on this growing network, the new partnership will extend JanAI’s work across Eastern Uttar Pradesh, with one Café planned in each of the 25 identified districts. The Cafés will help rural households, youth, women, farmers and entrepreneurs use AI in their own languages to address everyday needs, access information on government schemes, explore jobs and markets, and develop enterprise ideas. Trained local operators and JanAI Ambassadors will support citizens in applying AI to practical challenges and identifying opportunities within their communities.

The rollout will be undertaken in phases, with districts prioritised based on local needs and opportunities.

What Each Partner Brings

JanAI Technology Pvt. Ltd. will provide the multilingual AI platform, while Head Held High Foundation will lead the establishment and operation of the JanAI Cafés, including recruiting and training JanAI Ambassadors. These locally trained, AI-enabled problem-solvers will help citizens use AI to address practical needs while identifying local challenges, aspirations and opportunities.

Aavishkaar Foundation works across 25 districts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh through its Youth Entrepreneurship Programme (YEP), which has reached more than 60,000 students across 1,000 schools and colleges. With an ambition to reach one million students by 2030, Aavishkaar Foundation is committed to expanding access to entrepreneurship education and opportunities for young people.

Through this partnership, Aavishkaar Foundation will leverage JanAI’s AI tools to support students in exploring ideas and advancing their entrepreneurial journeys, while creating opportunities to integrate AI into its broader efforts to nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Vishwesh Pai, Co-founder & CEO, JanAI Technology Pvt. Ltd., said: “AI becomes truly transformative when it speaks your language, understands your aspirations, and earns your trust. At JanAI, we are building technology that turns everyday challenges into actionable solutions and local aspirations into real opportunities.”

Madan Padaki, Managing Trustee, Head Held High Foundation, said: “AI becomes meaningful when it helps a young person find an opportunity, an entrepreneur build a livelihood, a farmer make a better decision, or a family access a benefit that can transform their lives. Through this partnership, we have an opportunity to start with the aspirations of people and build an AI ecosystem around them. Our ambition is for these 25 districts to demonstrate what people-first AI can look like at scale.”

Lisa Rodricks, CEO, Aavishkaar Foundation, said: “Our ambition is to make entrepreneurship a more accessible path to economic opportunity across Eastern Uttar Pradesh. That means making it easier for people to turn ideas into businesses and for those ventures to access the networks and capital to grow. Through this partnership, we see an opportunity to connect the reach of JanAI Cafés with the entrepreneurial ecosystem we are building across 25 districts.”

Building a Model for People-First AI

The 25-district initiative aims to demonstrate how AI can be made accessible and useful at the community level by connecting technology with local institutions, entrepreneurship ecosystems and everyday needs.

The partners will jointly develop a roadmap covering Café locations, district-level partnerships, links with government programmes, Ambassador training, technology deployment and outcome measurement. The initiative will explore how multilingual AI access, community participation and entrepreneurship education can work together to help rural communities identify challenges, develop solutions and create economic opportunities.

By bringing AI closer to people and their aspirations, the partnership seeks to build a model of community-led AI adoption that supports livelihoods, jobs and inclusive economic growth.