Sama Impact Forum 2026

The upcoming **Sama Impact Forum 2026** stands as a beacon of hope and innovation in the evolving landscape of responsible artificial intelligence. This marquee event, hosted by Sama—the pioneering company originally founded as Samasource by the visionary social entrepreneur Leila Janah—promises to bring together leaders from tech, philanthropy, policy, and the global workforce to explore how high-quality, ethically sourced data can drive inclusive AI advancement while upholding human dignity and economic opportunity.

Leila Janah’s legacy looms large over this gathering. In 2008, she launched Samasource with a bold conviction: talent is distributed equally worldwide, but opportunity is not. By creating dignified digital jobs for people in underserved communities in East Africa and India, she transformed the concept of “impact sourcing” into a scalable model that combined cutting-edge technology with meaningful social change. Tragically, Leila passed away in 2020 at age 37 after battling epithelioid sarcoma, but her vision endures. Under CEO Wendy Gonzalez, who stepped in as a close collaborator and has led the company since, Sama has evolved into a leading provider of human-verified data annotation, validation, and evaluation services for ambitious AI projects. As a Certified B Corporation, Sama continues to prioritize fair wages, career-building, and ethical practices—having positively impacted over 69,000 lives and built sustainable careers for more than 15,000 associates.

The **Sama Impact Forum 2026**, set to take place in [a major hub like San Francisco or Nairobi—details forthcoming], will mark a milestone in this journey. Building on Sama’s rebranding from Samasource in 2021 and its ongoing commitment to “data certainty” for AI models (achieving 99% first-batch acceptance rates in computer vision, NLP, multimodal, and generative AI workflows), the forum will spotlight real-world applications and forward-looking discussions.

Attendees can expect a dynamic agenda featuring:

– **Keynote addresses** from industry titans in autonomous vehicles, retail AI, agriculture tech, and robotics, sharing how Sama’s precise, human-in-the-loop data has powered production-grade models for Fortune 100 clients and innovative startups alike.

– **Panels on ethical AI scaling**, examining bias mitigation, workforce upskilling in the Global South, and the role of responsible data in foundation models and GenAI.

– **Impact showcases** highlighting success stories, such as improving e-commerce search for millions of products, enhancing waste sorting accuracy in sustainability efforts, and enabling precise object detection in manufacturing and indoor robotics.

– **Workshops and networking sessions** designed to foster collaborations between AI developers, policymakers, NGOs, and on-the-ground talent programs, echoing Leila’s belief in opportunity as the ultimate equalizer.

This event arrives at a pivotal moment. As AI adoption accelerates globally, questions of equity, data quality, and human-centered design have never been more urgent. The Sama Impact Forum 2026 will not merely convene thought leaders—it will catalyze actionable commitments to build an AI ecosystem that uplifts rather than excludes. In Leila Janah’s spirit, it reminds us that technology’s greatest power lies in its potential to create fairer futures for all.

Mark your calendars and stay tuned for registration details via sama.com. Whether you’re an AI practitioner, impact investor, or advocate for global equity, this is the gathering where inspiration meets implementation. Leila’s work lives on—not just in Sama’s mission, but in every conversation that pushes for a more just digital world.