Investing at the Inflection Point: AI's Potential for Community Impact

AI has the power to change the lives of millions of people in vulnerable communities. At the Citi Impact Fund, we see artificial intelligence (AI) as a powerful tool for bringing accessible, customized and cost-effective solutions to economically vulnerable communities across the U.S. From finding a job to securing a home to accessing healthcare, AI has the potential to accelerate affordable and efficient solutions for more people in more places.
 

Using AI as an Engine for Impact 

AI has already transformed from an emerging tool to a key vehicle for our portfolio companies in just a matter of years. Right now, every company across our 58-company portfolio uses AI in some fashion. Most are using the technology to create economic opportunity and foster community resilience, and many are using AI to support Americans navigating financial uncertainty and to expand their access to critical services. Clerkie, for example, leverages AI to analyze an individual’s financial situation and create personalized roadmaps to help reduce debt.  

Empathy, another portfolio company, uses proprietary AI to guide families through some of life’s most difficult moments. Users can access personalized guidance, resources and coaching to help navigate grief, estate settlement, legacy planning and more. The platform also equips Empathy’s dedicated team of human “Care Managers” with deeper insights to deliver support at scale.  

Others are leveraging AI to broaden access to healthcare and emergency response. Stepful’s platform delivers customized learning experiences for aspiring healthcare workers, helping fill the field’s labor shortage. RapidSOS is a leading public safety AI company that unlocks intelligence for first responders and security teams, enabling faster and more accurate emergency response. There's also TailorMed, a platform that uses AI-driven insights to connect patients, providers, pharmacies and life sciences companies, helping people to afford their prescriptions, access them more easily and stay on them. 

We also see this technology being used to build greater climate resilience. Omnidian leverages AI to help its engineers more efficiently monitor and manage clean energy assets. Forerunner provides an AI-powered platform for local governments and regulated industries — helping them to more efficiently upgrade aging infrastructure and prepare for increasing climate risks. Forerunner’s platform enables teams to automate complex compliance requirement work, so they can spend more time making communities safer and more resilient. 

These examples demonstrate the positive use cases AI can have within communities. As a team of impact investors who believes that market-based solutions can improve affordability and access at scale, we’re excited by the opportunities and ways our portfolio companies are adopting AI to bring services to U.S. communities.  
 

Investing in Communities Now, Not Later

But it’s more than just the companies that are transforming through this technology. AI is changing entire industries, from education to healthcare to financial services to the workforce and beyond. This change represents an inflection point as significant as the rise of computers and the internet. As impact investors, we have a real opportunity to help shape how AI transforms the systems millions of people depend on, to proactively support a more interconnected design, rather than addressing gaps for communities after the fact. In past moments of technological leaps, such as the internet and broadband infrastructure, many underserved communities have been the last to benefit from new innovations. We have an opportunity to flip the script. We can invest in solutions that help meet essential community needs while the technology is evolving, not after the groundwork has been laid. 

It’s clear to me that there is an urgency facing investors: to capitalize on this moment and support mission-driven founders who are seeking to solve the most critical issues facing communities. We need to get in on the first floor. Effective AI implementation requires investments in talent, training and partnership to ensure that new solutions are built for a resilient future. 

We are energized by this opportunity, and the Fund will continue to pursue investments that couple this breakthrough technology with responsible innovation for the communities who need it most. From higher quality educational resources and workforce training to financial management and mental health, our Fund actively seeks to invest in organizations whose AI brings underserved communities some of the most tailored, impactful services on the market. That combination — the speed and scale of AI led by human expertise and empathy — is what the Citi Impact Fund believes can catalyze one of the most significant advancements in history.