Sama: AI for Social Good

Sama is a woman-founded, women-led organization dedicated to giving meaningful work and access to the digital economy, not aid, to some of the most underserved communities on Earth. Led by CEO Wendy Gonzalez and founded by Leila Janah, the company provides data annotation, validation, and curation solutions for AI and ML models utilizing computer vision to some of the biggest companies on the planet, including 25% of the Fortune 50 companies. Its focus and technological developments have resulted in a platform that can deliver a 99% acceptance rate and up to 300+ million frames, 850+ million shapes and 10 billion annotation points a month. The OECD estimates that some 86% of workers in Africa are informally employed, meaning they do not receive the same labor protections or benefits as formal employment does, Sama’s mission is to empower people in Kenya and Uganda, especially women and youth, to join the digital economy through formal employment, benefits, and training. In 2022 alone, Sama created 1,622 new jobs, a single-year record for the company. New entry-level employees, primarily based in Kenya and Uganda, averaged a 2.2x increase in income from employment with the company and access to formal benefits and protections as employees. Sama has achieved all of this while also preserving its gender parity: 51% of the Sama workforce identifies as female; 48% of senior managers identify as female; and 50% of the executive team identifies as female. With an impressive three-year growth percentage of 134% and measurable social benefits for East Africa, Sama is proving that AI can both be profitable and do good through conscious choices to empower and have a positive impact.