Technovation is a global AI accelerator focused on empowering young people to solve real-world problems using technology. Through programs including its AI in Action curriculum and AI Ventures Accelerator, the nonprofit helps students and women develop technology skills, build startups, and gain access to mentorship, networks, and other resources. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Technovation CEO Tara Chklovski to learn more.
Tara Chklovski’s Background
When asked about her background, Chklovski shared:
I’m an aerospace engineer and physicist by training, but I’ve always viewed myself as an innovator first. Early in my career, I helped my grandparents run a school in India for children, which showed me the true value of opportunity.
30 years later and that experience still drives everything I do. It’s why I founded Technovation, a global AI accelerator that empowers the youth to shape tomorrow by solving real-world problems today.
How Technovation Started
When asked how the idea for the organization came together, Chklovski explained:
My experience running a K-8 school shaped me. From that foundation grew the desire to ensure that every person, no matter where they’re from, has the opportunity to be an innovator, not just an end user.
My belief is that we’re here on earth to make things better. For me, that means breaking barriers and building a global community of innovators.
Seeing Students Discover What Is Possible
When asked about her favorite memory working for Technovation so far, Chklovski recalled:
It’s hard to pick just one, but nothing beats the moment when a student who says they “can’t” finds out they in fact, “can.” We’re wired to see limits instead of possibilities, and breaking that pattern takes innovating before we’re ready.
And our alumni continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible. Aruzhan Koshkarova created QamCare, Kazakhstan’s first personal security app, and won the 2017 Technovation grand prize. She’s now a software engineer at Morgan Stanley developing social impact projects.
Victory Yinka-Banjo from Lagos created Frostpark, an app designed to address the issue of bystander apathy, a phenomenon where people fail to offer help to a victim when other people are present. She received over $5M in full-ride scholarship offers, and went on to graduate from MIT in 2025.
There’s also Vanessa Tostada, who was a part of the team that built Tag It, an application that helps communities organize graffiti clean-ups. She would go on to be the first in her family to graduate college, accepting a position at Palo Alto Networks and becoming a part of an industry where only 2% of Latina women make up the workforce.
These are only a few examples of the inspiring and innovative work being done and I’m honored to be able to witness it firsthand.
Core Programs And Features
When asked about Technovation’s core products and features, Chklovski detailed:
In a nutshell, we teach students as young as 8 to solve real-world problems with innovative, tech-based solutions.
Our AI in Action curriculum breaks down complex concepts so anyone can learn how to build an AI startup, and across 160+ countries, 500,000+ people have used it to build apps and AI tools that make a real difference in health, emergency management, and more.
Scaling Global Impact
When asked about recent challenges and how Technovation has navigated them, Chklovski noted:
Scaling globally in an ever-evolving industry will always be a challenge, but we turn that into an advantage. In staying close to students, educators, and local communities, we’re able to adapt our programs in real-time to maximize access and impact no matter where or how young people are learning.
That’s why we’re evolving from being a curriculum-focused organization to an organization with education as a pillar, allowing us to grow into the world’s largest network of women technology professionals, innovators, entrepreneurs, and investors.
The AI Ventures Accelerator is a major step in that journey. Right now, women founders around the world face the same barriers: bias against their capabilities and a lack of access to capital and networks, and we want to change that.
Our vision is to build a scalable, self-sustaining accelerator that not only supports the first thousand women but eventually empowers hundreds of thousands to launch and grow successful AI startups.
Five years from now, success will look like a thriving global ecosystem, where young women have access to mentorship, expertise, funding, and visibility. They’ll be able to see their innovations shaping industries, solving real-world problems and receiving the same level of seed funding as others.
Technology And Curriculum Evolution
When asked how Technovation’s technology has evolved since launching, Chklovski explained:
Technovation is ever-evolving. Our curriculum is updated each year because it’s shaped by thousands of student projects and built alongside leading scientists and AI experts.
Even as the tools change, our mission to empower young people to solve tomorrow’s problems today stays the same.
Our approach to innovation has always been grounded in three core practices: working closely with researchers to connect science with real-world application; rigorously analyzing learning data to understand what drives lasting impact; and constantly scanning the horizon to prepare for the technologies reshaping human potential.
This has been consistent across every platform shift from Internet, mobile, cloud, and now artificial intelligence.
Through it all, our guiding instinct never changed: to ensure that those most often excluded communities are not only participants in the next technological wave, but are the leaders shaping it.
As AI becomes the defining platform of our era, Technovation continues to stand at the frontier, translating breakthrough science into opportunity, and empowering a generation to imagine and build the future we all share.
Major Organization Milestones
When asked about some of Technovation’s most significant milestones, Chklovski said:
There’s just so much for Technovation to be proud of. We have an alumni network of more than 500,000 who’ve created over 25,000 apps and AI solutions across 120+ countries.
Every milestone is a reminder of what’s possible when we trust ourselves to innovate.
The impact of the Technovation mentoring experience also speaks for itself: 80% of industry professionals increased their job satisfaction, and approximately 75% said their communication, presentation skills and leadership skills improved.
87% of our alumni pursue STEM and why many later launch startups, conduct university research, or become leaders in their fields.
Once participants turn 18, they can join the AI Ventures Accelerator and Women Techmakers. This allows the participants to gain further mentorship, resources, and the support needed to scale their impact within Technovation’s global ecosystem.
Alumni Success Stories
When asked to share specific success stories, Chklovski highlighted:
Jenny Xu, who shipped her first game at 12 and now has 10 million downloads comes to mind, as does Mhea Bardouille, whose Technovation project went on to become a global climate company.
These are just two alumni and every journey is different, but success is a common thread if you define it by taking the chance to try in the first place.
Annual Revenue
When asked about funding and revenue metrics, Chklovski shared:
Technovation is a non-profit organization, with an annual revenue of $5 million.
Competitive Differentiation
When asked what differentiates Technovation from other organizations, Chklovski emphasized:
I’d say Technovation’s differentiator is that our programs apply cutting-edge technologies to solve real world problems.
Our focus is on skill and mindset building to help young people believe they can innovate.
Future Goals
When discussing Technovation’s future goals, Chklovski said:
Our two biggest goals are to reach 25 million girls by 2037 and continue to inspire young innovators for generations to come.
Technology And Moral Ambition
When invited to discuss another topic, Chklovski concluded:
I’d like to share something that should be highlighted more when we talk about AI. Few people, if any, are asking what happens to the 8.2 billion people living through this time of technology transition, but are not able to actively witness it.
A third of the world still doesn’t have access to the internet. Over a billion people don’t have access to roads. Many don’t even have a bank account.
So how can we solve world hunger or improve healthcare when so many people are still out of reach?
I believe there needs to be a combination of technology and moral ambition if we’re serious about tackling poverty, hunger, climate change, or lack of education.
We need to get young people inspired and pointed in the right direction to make a real difference. And they should start by looking around their own communities to find the inspiration to solve the problems of today and tomorrow.
