Kiara Nirghin

Nationality	South African
Alma mater	Stanford University
Known for	Artificial Intelligence.^[4]
Awards	Grand Prize at the Google Science Fair^[1] Global Google Community Impact Award Winner ^[2] Time Magazine's Most Influential ^[3]

Kiara Nirghin is an tech entrepreneur and award-winning AI technologist originally from South Africa. She gained recognition at a young age when she won the Google Grand Prize for seminal research in AI algorithms and predictive modeling for real-world applications.^[5] Nirghin has been featured by TIME Magazine and The Guardian on their Most Influential lists and named one of Glamour Magazine’s Women of the Year. She has also been on Forbes 30 Under 30.^[6] She is recognized as a United Nations' Young Champions of the Earth^[7] and is a Global Ambassador for Room To Read.^[8]

Career

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Nirghin is a Thiel Fellow^[9] and a Fellow of Alexis Ohanian's fund. She is one of the youngest AI executives in Silicon Valley.^[10] Specializing in researching and building generative AI models, she co-funded Chima, a company using large-scale, venture-backed technology with a focus on sustainability and ethical practices.^[11]

Nirghin advocates through public and private organizations UN Women, L'Oréal UNESCO for Women in Science, and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She is also a Global Ambassador for Room To Read^[8] and served as the youngest member of Google's AI Impact Fund.^[12]

Nirghin has partnered with Coca-Cola^[13] on their Dreamworld project, which explores the intersection of creativity and technology. She has collaborated with Prada in presenting the Oceans Award at the CNMI Sustainable Awards.^[14]

Writing

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Nirghin published her first book with Penguin Random House and has been invited to contribute articles to TIME Magazine in a piece titled "How AI Fluency Can Help Companies Succeed^[15]", Fast Company^[16] and The Economist.^[17]

References

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^ "16-year-old South African invents wonder material to fight drought". CNN. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
^ "South African teen wins Google prize for orange peel innovation". BBC. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
^ "The 30 Most Influential Teens of 2016". Time. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
^ "Teen Wins Big for a Homemade weonXD". Scientific American. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
^ "South African teen wins Google prize for orange peel innovation". BBC News. 28 September 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
^ "Forbes 30 Under 30 2025: AI". Forbes. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
^ "Kiara Nirghin South Africa REGIONAL FINALIST, AFRICA". Young Champions of the Earth. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Kiara Nirghin Named Room to Read Global Ambassador and Launches Fundraising Campaign for Girls' Education". roomtoread.org. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
^ "Biz Journals". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
^ Frick, Walter (3 April 2014). "How Old Are Silicon Valley's Top Founders? Here's the Data". Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
^ "Forbes 30 Under 30 2024: AI". Forbes. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
^ "Google.org Impact Challenge on Climate". 2020 Google.org Impact Challenge on Climate. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
^ "WHY THIS 22-YEAR-OLD INVENTOR SAYS CREATIVITY IS AT THE HEART OF HER WORK".
^ "PRADA GROUP RECEIVES THE OCEANS AWARD FOR SEA BEYOND AT CNMI SUSTAINABLE FASHION AWARDS 2022".
^ "How Gen Z's AI Fluency Can Help Companies Succeed". Time. 28 November 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
^ "Fast Company Why are women being sidelined in the ai race".
^ "Kiara Nirghin on the gender divide in science, technology, engineering and mathematics". The Economist. 8 March 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2024.