startAD, the Abu Dhabi-based startup accelerator powered by Tamkeen and anchored at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), concluded the AI for Good Sandbox Pitch Day at 42 Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital’s innovative and disruptive coding academy, spotlighting breakthrough innovations that leverage artificial intelligence for social impact across the region. Supported by Google.org, the initiative is part of a multi-year,  multi-track program designed to develop AI-powered applications that help provide healthcare access for vulnerable populations in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. This includes senior citizens, disadvantaged youth and people from low-income backgrounds.

The AI for Good Sandbox Pitch Day opened with a panel discussion titled “Growing Up with AI: The Future of Mental Health of Children and Youth,” held in partnership with Takalam, an AI powered platform for mental wellbeing that delivers culturally grounded care, and livestreamed on YouTube.      Participating organizations included the Early Childhood Authority Abu Dhabi, Ability Pediatric Rehabilitation Medical Center, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, National Center for Mental Health Promotion of Saudi Arabia, and the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation, all of which contributed challenge statements that guided the Sandbox teams.

Anchored in Sustainable Development Goal 3 – Good Health and Well-being, the program ensures that emerging AI solutions strengthen social impact and advance inclusive innovation aligned with the UAE’s Year of Community 2025. Fifteen finalist teams presented solutions tackling children’s mental health, digital safety, nutrition, rehabilitation, and inclusive education in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Their innovations ranged from AI companions and digital wellness platforms to intelligent clinical tools and AI systems that ensure fairness and efficiency in grant assessments.

Following rigorous evaluation by a jury of experts, four selected projects were recognized for their exceptional potential to drive positive social impact:

• startAD AI for Good Grant Award of USD 15,000: Bidaya– Web-based AI assistant helping high school students discover strengths, career paths, and mentorship opportunities.
• startAD AI for Good Grant Award of USD 12,000: Shaheen – Sahib AI (صاحبAI) – Emotion-support companion transforming youth feelings into personalized story-based coping journeys.
• startAD AI for Good Grant Award of USD 10,000: Socia– Explainable AI for automating grant eligibility and review workflows while ensuring fairness and speed.
• Abu Dhabi Youth Challenge Award of USD 4,000 powered by the Early Childhood Authority Abu Dhabi: Q-adam – SafeKey– Intelligent keyboard for children that detects digital risks in real time and nudges safer online behavior.

The four projects selected were part of 15 finalist teams hailing from universities across the MENA region and presented diverse AI applications shaping the future of health and education:

1. Nibras – AI-powered app helping UAE parents prevent childhood obesity through personalized nutrition and gamified healthy habits.
2. KNN – MindScroll – Digital wellness platform transforming screen time into mindful learning with AI-curated micro-content for youth.
3. Beyond Zero – Interactive simulator helping Emirati youth plan major life milestones while visualizing financial readiness.
4. Vitality Labs – Clinical intelligence platform that personalizes and optimizes pediatric rehabilitation plans.
5. VitalLens – Kinesis OS – Pediatric rehab operating system that automates workflows and enhances clinical decision-making with federated learning.
6. coAct – AI-powered gamified speech assessment for early detection of speech and language challenges.
7. ECMR – Adaptive AI platform generating personalized speech therapy exercises aligned with treatment goals.
8. KAUST Works On My Machine – NCMH Pulse – Arabic mental health AI analyzing real-time feedback to map regional well-being trends.
9. MindMate – Safina – Culturally sensitive mental health and employment resilience companion for youth.
10. HealthStack – Nabdh (نبض) – AI companion for individuals with RRMS integrating wearable, mood, and voice data for proactive support.
11. NextGen – AI MS Companion – Adaptive rehabilitation and culturally aligned mental health support for people living with MS.

Ashwin Joshi, Director of startAD, said: “AI could contribute about USD 320 billion to Middle East GDP by 2030. Our aim at startAD is to ensure a meaningful share of that growth comes from solutions that improve health and well-being. Through our Sandbox and Market Access tracks, teams pressure test ideas with real users, form partnerships for pilots and MOUs, and, when viable, progress toward sustainable ventures that can scale across the region, with support from Google.org. That is how we make AI work for people, and for our economies.”

He added: “AI for Good demonstrates what’s possible when regional innovators and global partners collaborate to address shared human challenges. These teams are not just building technology, they are designing pathways for well-being, inclusion, and empowerment across our communities.”

“Today’s pitches showed the true potential of our youth. Their solutions directly addressed the challenges we outlined, from family wellbeing to healthy habits and community support, with creativity and real purpose.

The passion, curiosity, and commitment we saw from the young innovators reinforces why Abu Dhabi Youth Challenge (ADYC) continues to be a powerful platform for shaping ideas that can strengthen families and improve early childhood outcomes across Abu Dhabi.”, added Dr Yousef Alhammadi, Executive Director of Knowledge and Impact, Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority (ECA).

Over 18 months, the program progresses through four connected tracks Track 1– AI Readiness Workshops helps organisations uncover where AI can genuinely support their mission and prepares their teams to adopt it confidently. Track 2 – Fireside Chats brings experts and practitioners together to share practical insights and spark collaboration around AI applications in health and wellbeing. Track 3 – AI Sandbox competition invites young innovators from across the MENA to turn these needs into working prototypes through a focused development sprint. Track 4 – Market Access & Partnerships is the ecosystem event designed to strategically introduce AI solutions (from the Sandbox, aligned startups, and research labs) to implementation partners and ecosystem leaders, leveraging collected program insights to initiate the pipeline for formal scaling agreements and announce the program’s knowledge dissemination playbooks. Together, these tracks form a structured pathway from capability-building to implementation, enabling AI solutions to be responsibly developed and effectively adopted for societal benefit.

The AI for Good initiative continues with organizational AI readiness workshops through the end of 2025, followed by a Market Access Day in early 2026 that will connect innovators with potential delivery partners and pilot opportunities.