AI for Conservation: The WildMe Solution

One of the most meaningful projects of my career was working with WildMe and Microsoft's AI for Earth team to bring AI to wildlife conservation.

The Challenge

Conservationists need to identify and track individual animals across vast landscapes. Traditional methods — physical tags, manual observation — are expensive, invasive, and don't scale. WildMe had built Wildbook, a platform that uses computer vision to identify individual animals from photographs, the way facial recognition identifies people.

What We Built

I led the engagement with the Wildbook team to understand their backend systems and communicate their mission to a broader audience. The key deliverables were:

• Narrative development — translating complex AI/conservation technology into stories that resonated with decision-makers
• Storyboards and consensus-building across Microsoft AI, AI for Earth, and the WildMe team
• Keynote-level demonstrations designed, developed, and delivered for multiple high-profile events
• Scripts and packaging so the demo could travel to different venues and audiences

The Impact

The WildMe demo became one of the flagship AI for Earth stories — showing that AI isn't just about enterprise efficiency, it's about protecting the planet. Every time that demo ran on stage, it reminded the audience that the same technology powering their business tools could also save endangered species.

This project crystallized something I'd felt for years: the best technology work serves a purpose bigger than the business case.