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About Us
The Frugal AI Hub is co-led by Venkata Serish Gandikota and Elizabeth Osta, Fellows at the Cambridge Judge Business School.
The Frugal AI Hub at Cambridge Judge Business School serves as a catalyst and connector for advancing Frugal AI principles and practices. We foster a vibrant ecosystem, bringing together researchers, industry leaders, policymakers, and innovators to champion responsible and resource-efficient AI solutions.
“Let’s embrace this opportunity to innovate responsibly—doing more with less for more people and ensure that technology serves humanity in its truest sense. Frugal AI underscores the importance of aligning technological advancements with societal goals and environmental sustainability.”
Jaideep Prabhu
Professor of Marketing & Nehru Professor of Indian Business
Cambridge Judge Business School
Frugal AI Ecosystem
What Is Frugal AI?
Core Idea
Frugal AI is a paradigm shift towards designing AI systems that achieve high impact with minimal resources. It’s about “doing more with less” across compute, energy, data, and capital.
Key Principles
Frugal AI is guided by key principles: resource efficiency, sustainability, accessibility & inclusion, and impact & scalability. These ensure responsible and equitable AI development.
The Triple AI Challenge
Frugal AI addresses:
– Economic Pressure: High costs and uncertain ROI of traditional AI.
– Environmental Impact: High energy consumption and carbon emissions.
– Limited Reach: Limited access for small businesses, startups, and underserved communities.
Frugal AI vs Traditional AI
Frugal AI represents a distinct paradigm compared to traditional, often resource intensive AI development. Key differences include:
| Feature | Frugal AI | Traditional AI |
| Resource Use | Minimal compute, energy, data; lightweight models | High compute, energy, data requirements; large, complex models |
| Sustainability | Environmentally conscious by design; lower carbon footprint | Often carbon-intensive; environmental impact a growing concern |
| Cost | Optimized CapEx, lean OpEx, reduced TCO | High infrastructure and operational costs; potentially uncertain ROI |
| Accessibility | Democratized; deployable on edge/mobile; lower barriers to entry | Often limited to well-resourced firms; requires significant infrastructure |
| Performance | Optimized for efficiency; may involve trade-offs; can excel in specific tasks | Potential for state-of-the-art results, especially on complex, large-scale tasks |
| Data Requirements | Focus on quality/relevance; effective with smaller datasets | Typically relies on massive datasets for training |
| Speed to Deploy | Faster prototyping and deployment, especially with lean models | Can involve long cycles due to infrastructure setup and complex training |
| Design Approach | Constraint-driven, problem-first, value focused | Often scale-first, data-heavy, performance-maximization focused |
| Primary Beneficiaries | SMEs, emerging markets, resource constrained settings, specific use cases | Large enterprises, tech hubs, research-intensive applications |
What We Do
Our Focus Areas
Research & Innovation: Developing new methods for efficient AI.
Adoption & Implementation: Guiding organizations in applying Frugal AI.
Ecosystem Building: Connecting stakeholders to foster collaboration.
Venture & Investment: Supporting Frugal AI ventures and investment.
The Frugal AI Hub Key Activities
Research: We support research to develop Frugal AI techniques and frameworks.
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Events: We host workshops, seminars, and conferences for knowledge sharing and networking.
Frugal AI Adoption Labs: We facilitate real-world piloting and validation of Frugal AI solutions through our Adoption Labs.
Startup Support: We provide resources and connections to help Frugal AI startups thrive.
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Events & News
Recent workshops and events are listed below.
We will also list upcoming events as and when they are finalized.
Frugal AI Workshop Series – Scaling Sustainable and Impactful Innovation
On March 21, 2025, we hosted the third edition of the Frugal AI Workshop and Event Series. The takeaways were that Frugal AI prioritizes user-centric design, resource efficiency, and ecosystem partnerships. It emphasizes infrastructure innovation, reuse, and energy-aware data centers to reduce AI’s footprint. Ultimately, it calls for redefining human-AI collaboration in the workplace.
Click here to learn more.
Frugal AI Keynote at the 10th anniversary of InnoFrugal
On February 18, 2025, we partnered with InnoFrugal for their 10 year anniversary. Dael Williamson (CTO, EMEA, Databricks) presented Frugal AI as a driver for inclusive growth, focusing on practical AI deployment. He discussed efficient models, responsible data use, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation, stressing data quality and collaboration. The talk spurred discussions on data governance and MLOps.
Click here to learn more.
Inaugural Frugal AI Workshop
On November 22, 2024, we hosted the very first edition of the Frugal AI Workshop and Event Series at Cambridge Judge. The Frugal AI Workshop highlighted the potential of accessible and resource-efficient AI to drive innovation, inclusivity, and sustainability. We began building a vibrant community of practice, to ensure that innovation remains sustainable, inclusive, and impactful.
Click here to learn more.