The India Research Action Policy Lab has been launched with a focus on understanding how artificial intelligence can affect workers, incomes and economic opportunities, particularly in the Global South. The new Institute for Human Flourishing (IHF), headquartered in India, began operations on September 23, 2026, during the high-level week of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The initiative aims to generate evidence on how AI can support workers and translate successful approaches into policy and practice.
The India Research Action Policy Lab has been founded by business leader and entrepreneur Ravi Venkatesan and is led by CEO Urvashi Aneja. According to the institute, its work will focus on testing practical approaches that can help workers navigate changes brought by AI. The organisation plans to conduct research in real workplaces and use the findings to develop approaches that can be applied across countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The launch of the India Research Action Policy Lab comes as AI is increasingly influencing employment, business operations and the skills required across industries. The institute says the central question is no longer whether AI will change work, but how that transformation will affect incomes, agency and economic security for workers, particularly those employed in informal sectors.
The India Research Action Policy Lab is expected to focus particularly on the Global South, where labour markets have different characteristics from those in developed economies. The institute has highlighted the potential impact of AI on entry-level information technology and business process outsourcing jobs, while also pointing to opportunities for AI to support farmers, artisans and small businesses.
According to the institute, nearly 90% of India’s workforce is informal. This makes the question of how AI reaches smaller businesses and informal workers an important part of the India Research Action Policy Lab agenda. The organisation argues that the challenge is not only developing AI technology but also ensuring that useful technologies reach workers and enterprises that may have limited access to advanced digital tools.
The India Research Action Policy Lab will operate through several programmes designed to connect research with real-world applications. One of the central initiatives will be a Livelihoods Lab, which will conduct live demonstrations of human-AI collaboration involving workers and organisations. Findings from these projects are planned to be published as an open public resource, including results where an approach does not produce the expected outcome.
Another component of the India Research Action Policy Lab will be an AI and Jobs Observatory. The observatory will track workers’ experiences as AI changes different types of employment. The institute also plans to develop an Index of Human Flourishing that will look beyond income and include factors such as agency, dignity, capability and economic security.
The India Research Action Policy Lab will also include a Policy and Narrative programme. Its purpose will be to translate research findings into policy discussions and connect the evidence generated by the organisation with decision-makers and stakeholders across the Global South. The institute says it plans to develop a wider advisory network covering shared priorities among countries and regions.
The establishment of the India Research Action Policy Lab has received formal endorsement from the Government of India’s Expert Group on Human Flourishing. S. Krishnan, Secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, said that research into how AI can strengthen livelihoods, particularly within the informal economy, complements India’s broader work under the IndiaAI Mission.
The government endorsement gives the India Research Action Policy Lab a connection to India’s wider AI policy and technology ecosystem. India has been expanding its focus on artificial intelligence through programmes aimed at building computing infrastructure, developing AI capabilities and encouraging responsible adoption. The new institute’s focus is specifically on gathering evidence about how AI affects people and livelihoods.
The India Research Action Policy Lab is backed by several organisations, including The Rockefeller Foundation and Schmidt Philanthropies, alongside support associated with the Government of India. Its global launch took place at The Rockefeller Foundation in New York during the UN General Assembly week, placing the new India-based organisation within a wider international discussion about AI and economic development.
Ravi Venkatesan, founder of the India Research Action Policy Lab, said India has an opportunity to demonstrate a model in which AI is used to expand economic opportunity rather than simply displace workers. He argued that achieving such an outcome would require institutions capable of connecting evidence, practical experimentation and public policy.
Urvashi Aneja, CEO of the India Research Action Policy Lab, said AI is already transforming work across the Global South. She highlighted the importance of understanding whether this transformation results in higher incomes and greater agency for workers, especially people employed in informal economies. According to Aneja, evidence gathered directly from workers and enterprises can help shape future policy and market practices.
The India Research Action Policy Lab is also focusing on the relationship between AI and small-scale economic activity. While large companies are often among the earliest adopters of advanced AI systems, the institute says there is significant potential for technology to assist smaller enterprises and workers. Applications could include helping farmers access information, supporting artisans with markets and tools, or assisting micro-enterprises with business processes.
The institute’s approach means the India Research Action Policy Lab will not operate solely as a traditional research organisation. Its model combines research, field experiments and policy engagement. Instead of studying AI only through theoretical models, the organisation intends to observe how workers and businesses use technology in actual working environments.
This approach could make the India Research Action Policy Lab relevant to discussions about AI-related employment disruption. Concerns about automation have grown as generative AI and other systems become capable of performing tasks that were previously handled by humans. At the same time, AI can create new tools that allow workers to complete existing tasks more efficiently or access services that were previously unavailable.
The India Research Action Policy Lab will therefore examine both risks and opportunities associated with AI adoption. Its stated objective is to identify approaches that can improve economic outcomes for workers rather than simply measuring how many tasks can be automated. This focus places worker experience and economic security alongside productivity when evaluating AI’s impact.
The India Research Action Policy Lab also plans to make its research available publicly. The Livelihoods Lab is expected to publish findings regardless of whether individual experiments succeed or fail. Such an approach could allow policymakers, businesses and researchers to learn from unsuccessful experiments as well as successful ones.
Another important element of the India Research Action Policy Lab is its planned measurement framework. The proposed Index of Human Flourishing is intended to capture outcomes that may not be reflected by income statistics alone. Measures involving dignity, agency, capability and economic security could provide additional information about how AI affects workers and communities.
The India Research Action Policy Lab is expected to have an international focus despite being headquartered in India. The institute says it will work across Asia, Africa and Latin America, regions where informal employment represents a significant part of the workforce and where AI adoption could develop differently from richer economies.
The launch of the India Research Action Policy Lab also comes at a time when governments and companies are examining how to prepare workers for AI-driven changes. Questions surrounding reskilling, job transitions, productivity, income distribution and access to technology are becoming increasingly important as AI systems become more capable and widely deployed.
For India, the India Research Action Policy Lab could provide additional evidence on how AI adoption affects workers outside large technology companies. The institute’s emphasis on informal employment and smaller enterprises reflects the structure of India’s labour market, where a large proportion of workers operate outside traditional formal employment arrangements.
The India Research Action Policy Lab will also work on translating research into practical policy recommendations. Rather than stopping at academic studies, the organisation says it intends to identify approaches that can be replicated and then connect those findings with policymakers and other institutions.
The global launch event for the India Research Action Policy Lab included a panel at The Rockefeller Foundation featuring Urvashi Aneja, Rohit Kansal, Secretary to the Government of India’s Department of Rural Development, and Manu Chopra, co-founder and CEO of Karya. The discussion focused on AI’s potential to expand opportunity rather than concentrate economic gains.
The India Research Action Policy Lab is beginning its work at a point when the debate around artificial intelligence is shifting from technological capability to economic and social consequences. As businesses increasingly adopt AI tools, policymakers need evidence about which approaches help workers adapt and which groups may face greater risks from technological disruption.
The institute’s research could therefore contribute to discussions about the future of employment in India and other developing economies. The India Research Action Policy Lab intends to examine these questions through field-based experiments, worker data and policy engagement rather than relying only on projections about future AI capabilities.
At the same time, the India Research Action Policy Lab is a newly launched organisation, meaning its programmes and findings are still at an early stage. Its eventual influence will depend on the evidence generated through its field experiments and how effectively those findings are adopted by governments, businesses and other institutions.
The India Research Action Policy Lab represents an effort to connect India’s growing AI ecosystem with research into employment and livelihoods. By focusing on workers, enterprises and policy, the Institute for Human Flourishing intends to study how AI can be integrated into economic activity while addressing potential disruption.
The launch of the India Research Action Policy Lab ultimately places India at the centre of an international conversation about AI and the future of work. Its stated goal is to generate practical evidence on how technology can improve incomes, agency and economic security, particularly among workers and communities that may otherwise have limited access to the benefits of AI.
