Introducing the Global AI Adoption Index: Measuring How AI Is Diffusing Across the World

AI is spreading rapidly across economies, yet we still know surprisingly little about where, how, and by whom it is actually being adopted. Holly Krambeck, Program Manager for the World Bank Data Lab and founder of the Development Data Partnership, will present the Global AI Adoption Index, a new joint initiative bringing together the World Bank, IMF, OECD and leading AI companies including Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and OpenRouter.

The initiative aims to develop harmonized, privacy-protected measures of consumer and API adoption across countries, complemented by indicators on infrastructure, labor markets, connectivity, and language. The talk will discuss the unique challenge of turning proprietary data held across competing AI companies into a comparable public good, and how better measurement of AI diffusion can help governments understand emerging divides, target investments, and design more effective policies.

Speaker: Holly Krambeck, Program Manager of the World Bank Data Lab and founder of the Development Data Partnership

Whether attending in person or virtually, please register in advance. Room attendance is permitted for the Harvard community. Lunch will be served. The Zoom session is open to the public.

Speaker Bio: Holly Krambeck is Program Manager of the World Bank Data Lab and founder of the Development Data Partnership, a global collaboration uniting 12 international organizations and over 30 technology partners to use private-sector data and AI for international development. The Partnership creates scalable technical, legal, and governance frameworks that support secure public-private data sharing and public sector analytics capacity building worldwide. Previously, Krambeck led World Bank transport infrastructure investments across East and Southeast Asia, helping government agencies modernize data collection, analytics, and infrastructure management. She holds a Master of City Planning and a Master of Science in Transportation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Growth Lab’s “Development Talks” is a series of conversations with policymakers and academics working on economic growth and development in countries, regions, states, and cities in the US and around the world. The seminar provides a platform for practitioners and researchers to discuss both economic growth and development and analytical work centered on policy.