The program aims to benefit farmers, healthcare workers, vocational school and university students, those seeking employment, domestic workers or caregivers, as well as professionals, managers, executives, and technicians. Photo credit: ADB.
An additional $10 million allotted last year will now fund the program's phase two.
AVPN, the largest network of social investors in Asia, has announced three initiatives that further expand the impact of the AI Opportunity Fund: Asia–Pacific, supported by Google.org and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which started as a $15-million fund. Last year, the fund expanded with an additional $10 million for phase two, which includes selecting 18 local training providers across Asia and the Pacific.
The 18 organizations were selected based on their skills and experience in AI skilling training. AVPN will work with the local training providers to develop and deliver the program, while ensuring the autonomy and flexibility of the organizations to meet the needs of the communities they serve. Building on the strong outcomes of the project's first phase, AVPN aims to have curriculums that ensure the region has an AI-ready workforce, while continuing to address systemic barriers in the region.
Beneficiaries include farmers, healthcare workers, vocational school and university students, those seeking employment, domestic workers or caregivers, as well as professionals, managers, executives, and technicians. See full list of the organizations here.
Training ecosystem
AVPN is also building an AI training ecosystem through the AI Opportunity Fund. This includes a publicly available AI training content hub, AI Learning for the Future of Work, which provides open access to local training providers and their programs for the general public to discover and enroll in relevant courses to increase the number of workers able to benefit from localized AI upskilling.
On a policy infrastructure level, AVPN has also developed an AI skilling policy toolkit for governments and policymakers. Built on insights from engagements with policymakers across the region, the toolkit defines and translates design principles for more effective AI skilling initiatives into actionable policy considerations and implementation pathways that can be undertaken through the skill development cycle.
AVPN hopes to use the toolkit to support ongoing and deeper policy engagements in 2026, helping to strengthen ecosystem alignment and provide a common reference point for unified approaches to AI skilling across the region.
Naina Subberwal Batra, CEO of AVPN, said: "Workers in Asia Pacific have an urgent need for contextually relevant, localized, digital skills and relevant upskilling that will position them well for employability, entrepreneurship and job retention. Continuing on the strong momentum and results of phase one of the AI Opportunity Fund, phase two of the AI Opportunity Fund initiative expands the good work that has been and continues to be done by the selected organizations in empowering workers across the region, partnering policymakers, reaching out to workers seeking resources, forging more equitable outcomes for all."
Marija Ralic, head of Google.org APAC, said: "At Google.org, we believe that for AI to truly be a force for good, its benefits must be accessible to everyone. We are incredibly proud to see the impact and continued momentum of the Google.org AI Opportunity Fund: Asia–Pacific as it moves into this next critical chapter, focused on scaling impact. By supporting an additional 18 local providers and launching the AI Content Hub, AVPN is making localized upskilling available to the public at an unprecedented scale. This hub serves as a central gateway where anyone can search and filter for localized training by market or language, allowing workers to seamlessly discover the training they need."
Antonio Zaballos, director, Digital Sector Office, ADB, said: "AI skills are essential but they are not sufficient on their own. For AI to drive inclusive and sustainable growth across Asia and the Pacific, skills development must be built on strong digital and data infrastructure, robust data governance, and the protection of critical information and systems. Through the AI Opportunity Fund, ADB is supporting a holistic, AI-ready ecosystem that links workforce skilling with policy readiness and scalable investment opportunities. This approach helps countries move beyond isolated pilots toward bankable, region-wide solutions that boost productivity, strengthen MSMEs, and improve public service delivery."
As of December 2025, phase one has trained over 300,000 workers with the help of 48 organizations who provided the training. Together with the AIM ASEAN programme, a dedicated track focused on supporting MSMEs in Southeast Asia and launched in collaboration with the ASEAN Foundation, AVPN's initiative aims to support training for 720,000 workers across Asia Pacific and 100,000 MSMEs across the Southeast Asia region by 2027.
AVPN
AVPN is the largest network of social investors in Asia, comprising more than 600 funders and resource providers across 33 markets. Its mission is to increase the flow and effectiveness of financial, human, and intellectual capital in Asia by enabling members to channel resources towards impact. As an ecosystem builder, AVPN enables its members to connect, learn, act, and lead across key pillars and improve the effectiveness of deployed capital, bringing local field needs, regional expertise, and policy insights to the forefront.
