Frugal AI

As AI systems scale globally, concerns about computational cost, energy consumption and accessibility are becoming increasingly urgent, with large models demanding vast amounts of compute, electricity and specialised hardware that only a small number of organisations can afford. This creates a growing gap between those who can build and deploy cutting edge AI and those, including many public bodies, SMEs and institutions in the Global South, who are effectively priced out of meaningful participation.

This talk explores Frugal AI as both an architectural philosophy and a practical framework for developing and deploying machine learning systems that are significantly more efficient without sacrificing performance, rooted in the principles of doing more with less from the frugal innovation tradition at Cambridge Judge Business School. It will outline how a Frugal AI stack, combining model compression, efficient hardware, open models and careful systems design, can reduce total cost of ownership by an order of magnitude while cutting energy use and carbon intensity, making advanced AI economically and environmentally viable for a much wider range of organisations.

The talk will include contributions and insights from the Frugal AI Hub team linking technical efficiency to accessibility, inclusion and impact, the session will argue that frugality is not just a constraint but a design principle for a more equitable and sustainable AI ecosystem.

THE SPEAKER:   Dr Arjuna Sathiaseelan

Dr Arjuna Sathiaseelan is a Fellow at the Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, and CTO of the Frugal AI Hub. He is also the CEO and Co Founder of Flipped.ai, an AI powered hiring platform that enables organisations to recruit talent smarter and faster.

Before moving into industry, Dr Sathiaseelan directed the Networking for Development (N4D Lab) at the Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge, where his research focused on providing novel solutions to connect the next three billion users to the Internet. He founded and chaired the IRTF Global Access to the Internet for All (GAIA) research group and was a member of the Internet Research Steering Group (IRSG). He has served on the Access Advisory Panel of the United Nations Foundation’s 75 million dollar Digital Impact Alliance (funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID and SIDA), and has advised and continues to advise several for and not for profits.

Dr Sathiaseelan has also co-authored and contributed to several Future Internet standards at both the IETF and ETSI.

He holds a PhD in Networking from King’s College London (2005), an MSc in Computing and Internet Systems from King’s College London (2001) and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from NIT Trichy, India (2000). In 2016 he received the Young Alumni Achiever Award from NIT Trichy.