Sri Vijaya Puram, July 03: A new community-led initiative to make Artificial Intelligence (AI) accessible to women entrepreneurs in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands has taken its first step with the successful completion of a three-day AI Awareness and Skill Training for Master Trainers, organised by ANET-Dakshin Foundation from 1-3 July 2026. The initiative aims to create a network of locally trained women who will, over the coming months, take practical AI learning to Self-Help groups and women entrepreneurs across the islands.
Ten local women entrepreneurs from South Andaman participated in the training, several of whom are also Community Resource Persons (CRPs) under National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM). As Master Trainers, they will now conduct AI awareness and skill-building sessions for SHG women engaged in enterprises of different scales, creating a sustainable, locally led model for expanding AI literacy and digital capacity across the district.
This training is a part of Dakshin Foundation’s initiative to improve entrepreneurship and livelihoods in the islands. Supported by the Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME), Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (APVN), and Google, the initiative is part of ongoing efforts to promote inclusive and responsible AI learning. Rather than focusing on technology alone, the training demonstrated how AI can become a practical business tool for women entrepreneurs.
Over the three days, participants learned how to use AI for prompting, branding, product marketing, WhatsApp Business, understanding government schemes for entrepreneurs, and the ethical and responsible use of AI. The sessions were highly practical, allowing participants to work on real business challenges and explore how AI can save time, improve decision-making, and help scale their enterprises.
The trainees shared that the programme opened up possibilities they had never imagined for their businesses. They realised that activities such as branding, labelling, packaging and marketing, once thought to be possible only for large businesses, can now be done from home using a smartphone, internet connectivity and AI tools. They also noted that the training helped them understand the importance of factoring in their own time and labour while pricing products, enabling them to calculate costs and profits more effectively. In addition, they found that AI made it much easier to access information on government schemes and opportunities available for entrepreneurs.
With the Master Trainer programme now complete, the next phase of the initiative will focus on reaching SHG women entrepreneurs across South Andaman through a series of practical, hands-on training.
