AI with Purpose: What AI Can Do for Our Cities and the Planet

At greenhub, we work every day with startups building solutions for a more sustainable future, and more and more of them are turning to AI to do it. From managing resources and reducing waste to making cities more resilient, AI is quickly becoming one of the most powerful tools in the climate and sustainability toolbox.

But powerful tools need a clear direction. AI can be used simply to make businesses more efficient, or it can be used to create solutions that have a positive effect on society and the environment. That was the idea behind AI with Purpose, an Innovation Day on 22 September at AIhub by Unicorn Factory Lisboa, bringing together startups from greenhub, Engineers Hub and healthhub.

A technology that is changing fast

AI is evolving faster than ever, and the question of what it is being built for has never been more urgent. In recent weeks, even the leaders of the world's biggest AI labs have called for a more careful pace, with Anthropic's Dario Amodei urging companies to slow capabilities development and receiving backing from OpenAI's Sam Altman and Elon Musk. For us, the message is clear: as the technology accelerates, so does the responsibility to point it towards the challenges that matter most, and the future of our planet is one of them.

An Innovation Day for Lisbon AI Week

As part of Lisbon AI Week, the event focused on how AI-powered solutions are shaping real societal impact, from urban innovation and sustainability to health. More than 120 participants joined us for an afternoon of talks, showcases and conversations.

Urban Track: AI for resilient cities and smarter resources

For the greenhub community, the Urban Track was the heart of the day. It explored how intelligent technologies can help us rethink the systems that shape everyday life, from how we use resources to how we prepare for the challenges of a changing climate.

Pedro Fernandes, Machine Learning Lead at TEKEVER, opened with Technology in Service of Resilience, showing how AI can help communities respond better under pressure in emergency scenarios, from wildfires to search and rescue. As climate-related events become more frequent, this kind of technology is no longer a future scenario but a present need.

Francisco Pais de Sousa, Co-founder of L.ai - Holistic Waste Management, followed with Rethinking Waste, Rethinking Value. He showed that some of AI's most meaningful applications are found in the systems we rarely think about, and that by using impact theory we can create solutions that help us live better now and in the future.

Manie, Constructer.ai and AiTecServ then took the stage to showcase how they are using AI to make cities, environments and shared systems work better for people and the planet.

Health Track: AI for better care

The programme continued with a Health Track led by our colleagues at healthhub, starting with the launch of the healthhub Open Innovation Program, under the banner Show Up Before the Problem Does, a new way of tackling real prevention challenges together with the ecosystem. Pedro Maurício, Portugal Accounting Executive at Tucuvi then spoke on Extending the Reach of Care, exploring how technology can take care beyond traditional settings while keeping human needs at the centre, and the track closed with showcases from Simpl.care, UpSpeech and Usawa Care.

Closing and Networking Sunset

Having explored what AI can do for our cities and our health today, the day closed by looking further ahead. Rodrigo Fernandes, Co-founder of Augusta Labs, delivered the closing keynote, Beyond Today: AI's Long-Term Impact on Society. For Rodrigo, the real challenge is not to stop innovation, but to make sure it is matched by more "prevention, control, international cooperation and political preparedness."

The day ended with our Networking Showcase Sunset on the rooftop. Over food and drinks, participants visited the startup booths, where Typeble, BloodFlow and Lampsy joined the startups from the showcases, met the founders behind the solutions and saw AI with a purpose in action as the sun went down over Lisbon.

Thank you

A heartfelt thank you to our speakers, to the startups who shared their work, and to everyone who joined us. The future of our cities and our planet will be shaped by the choices founders make about what to build and why, and at greenhub we are proud to support the ones who choose purpose.

Want to be part of the next conversation? Follow the greenhub by Unicorn Factory Lisboa calendar on Luma and stay tuned for upcoming greenhub events.