KIARA NIRGHIN

Future Godmother
AI technologist, climate innovator, and entrepreneur

"The future is being built right now. We are living in an era of exponential change, where technology and bold thinking are reshaping what's possible in real time.”

THE PROBLEM
At 16, Kiara was living through South Africa’s worst drought on record.

Millions of people faced water shortages and crops were failing.

She decided to try to solve it.

THE INVENTION
Kiara created a super-absorbent polymer made from orange peels and avocado skins.

The material can store hundreds of times its weight in water, helping soil retain moisture during drought.

Placed in soil, the polymer acts like a tiny reservoir.

It slowly releases water to crops, helping farmers keep plants alive even in dry conditions.

And it’s cheap, biodegradable, and made from food waste.

GLOBAL RECOGNITION
Her project, “No More Thirsty Crops,” won the Google Science Fair Grand Prize.

She was later named a UN Young Champion of the Earth and appeared on Forbes 30 Under 30.

FROM CLIMATE INNOVATION TO TECH
Today, Kiara is an AI technologist, author and entrepreneur.

She has worked at Stanford’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, advised at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI) and co-founded Chima, an AI research lab focused on advancing AI's understanding of the world.

One of the youngest execs in Silicon Valley, she remains a fierce advocate for bringing sustainability, responsiblity and ethics into AI.

“A more daring, open, and abundant reality is emerging.”

– Kiara Nirghin

WHY SHE’S A GODMOTHER
Kiara Nirghin represents a generation building technology to solve real-world problems. She researches, innovates and advocates, always with humanity in mind.