How Xatoms is using AI to solve the global water crisis

Every September, Climate Week and Global Citizen Week in New York bring together policymakers, investors and innovators focused on the world’s most pressing problems. It’s also when Cisco Systems Inc. and Global Citizen recognize the winner of the Global Citizen Prize: Cisco Youth Leadership Award. Cisco and Global Citizen created the award in 2018 to honor a young leader who uses technology to help end extreme poverty, and this year’s recipient may have the most compelling story yet. Diana Virgovicova (pictured) is the founder and CEO of Xatoms (pronounced “X-Atoms”), a Toronto-based company that uses artificial intelligence and quantum chemistry to design sunlight-activated materials that break down pollutants in water. The award comes with a $250,000 grant, and Xatoms was chosen from more than 2,000 applications. Most of the AI conversation at Climate Week focused on what AI takes from the planet: power, land and, increasingly, water. Xatoms offers a positive counterpoint, a case study in AI giving back. Most founders find a market. Virgovicova…