On the morning of September 11th, a room in Delhi slowly filled up. Some faces looked curious, some slightly nervous, and others excited about what the next two days might hold. These were people who had traveled not just from Delhi but from across the country (Jamshedpur, Mumbai, Assam, Pune) – each carrying stories, challenges, and a strong intent to build something meaningful for their communities.
Within minutes, the icebreaker melted the room. Conversations jumped from pets and marathons to families, social issues close to their hearts, travel tales, and more. The shift was instant: hesitation gave way to laughter, and suddenly this wasn’t a workshop anymore – it was the start of a small community who were ready for two days of shared learning and peer networking.
Six Organizations, Six Journeys, One Shared Space
Every time we run a city-specific program, we assume most participants will be from that city. But time and again, we’re proven wrong. Organizations travel in from across cities, showing incredible intent and dedication to building solutions for their end users.
At the Launchpad, six diverse organizations from across the country came with a validated chatbot use case and deep expertise in their own field:
- TiTLi – equipping women to become skilled early childhood educators and caregivers (Education).
- Adventures Beyond Barriers – promoting disability inclusion through adaptive adventure and sports (Disability Rights & Services).
- MSC India Consulting Pvt Ltd – enabling social, financial, and economic inclusion through digital solutions (Agriculture).
- Gyanprakash Foundation – transforming rural primary education through community-owned learning ecosystems (Education).
- Seven Sisters Development Assistance (SeSTA) – empowering rural communities, especially women, through SHGs and FPOs (Agriculture).
- IPE Global Limited – driving inclusive and resilient growth with governments and agencies (Maternal Health).
What brought them together? A shared belief that WhatsApp chatbots, powered by AI, could help them serve their end-users better.
Day 1: Breaking Barriers and Building Foundations
The day began with Sneha setting the stage with basics, expectations, and possibilities. This segued into demos and prototypes from organizations already using Glific:
- Nayi Disha – showing how families of children with disabilities can use chatbots to learn about their rights based on their location or connect directly with a counsellor.
- The Apprentice Project – TAP Buddy, an AI-powered chatbot nudging students with projects, recognition through gamified experiences, and personalized responses.
- Civis – enabling public participation in lawmaking through video explainers and feedback collection.
- Prototype we built for Centre for Mental Health Law and Policy (CMHLP) – fostering empathy and safe spaces through informal chatbot interactions.
- SNEHA – supporting mothers with multilingual, voice-enabled maternal and child care content.
This session surfaced key questions:
- How do we monitor AI-generated content?
- Can the information we share in the form of a document be summarized within the chatbot using AI?
- How much support does Glific provide in the process? (And for those already using Glific, you know we’ve earned top marks from NGOs for our support 🙂)
The afternoon moved from inspiration to creation. With the Glific chatbot canvas in hand, participants mapped who their bot was really for, what problems it would solve, and how it would talk. Sketches turned into flows, and peer-reviews turned into laughter, debates, and “aha” moments.
We closed the day on a very happy note when we got to know that the platform did not look intimidating anymore, it looked like a possibility. Quoting a statement that Prashanth from ABBF said “Main bhi kar sakta hoon! (I too can do it)” because on Glific “Nothing is technical, everything is logical.”
This was very important and meant a lot to us!
We end all our sessions with feedbacks because we believe that constructive feedbacks help us grow, this is the culture we have internally and externally as well!
On that note, Day 1 Feedback was around 4.4/5
In their words: “More time for hands-on.” “We’d like deeper support on generative AI.” “The flow design canvas really helped sharpen ideas.”
Day 2: From AI to Pilot Design
If Day 1 broke barriers, Day 2 was about turning ideas into action.
Gayatri & Khushi from Labhya opened the morning, sharing how their well-being programs with three state governments reach 2.4 million children. They introduced their chatbot persona Jovi, highlighting lessons from their Glific Accelerator journey and how children engage meaningfully with the tool.
AI in Action
Aishwarya went deeper into AI walked NGOs through what AI & LLMs are, how to write a prompt, and how does this translate on the Glific platform and how to upload knowledge bases on AI assistants as we call it on Glific. It was time get their hands dirty, soon, laptops lit up with experiments, assistants were integrated into flows, tested, re-prompted, and improved. “This is real. This works.” That realization showed on faces across the room.
Designing for Pilots
In the afternoon, Erica grounded the energy with practical wisdom on pilots, drawing from her experiences at Digital Green and BBC Media Action: define success, start small, measure what matters. By evening, prototypes weren’t just concepts – they were foundations for pilot-ready plans.
Closing the Loop
The two days ended with NGOs proudly showcasing the chatbot prototypes they worked on, highlighting their journey from concept to working models and the practical insights they gained along the way.
A special mention and thanks to Sunandan from Dhwani RIS, who accommodated us, supported us on both days, and took care of all our needs. He also spent some time with organizations, getting to know them after uninterrupted work sessions and a long day, lightening the mood of everyone by sharing Dhwani’s story on how it evolved from IVR-based solutions to enabling digital interventions for NGOs at scale and connecting with people over mutual interests.
Day 2 feedback was around 4.2/5
In their words: “Hands-on support from the team was the best part.” “The AI session was fantastic.” “Less PPT, more practical please.” “The way queries were solved gave me so many ideas to implement.”
Beyond the Tech: Building Community
What made the Launchpad special wasn’t just the chatbot flows, frameworks or AI prompts, it was the people.
The chai-fueled side conversations, The shared field challenges, The marathon runner inspiring a wheelchair athlete, The anganwadi worker who doubles as a YouTuber, surprise quizzes, and a collective sense of possibility, and The joy when a test bot finally responded right.
By the end, participants walked away not only with working prototypes and ideas for pilot plans, but also with peers and collaborators for the road ahead.
The Takeaways
From feedback and conversations, here’s what stood out:
- Hands-on is gold – participants want even more practical time.
- AI is here to stay – the AI integration session was the highlight.
- Prep matters – NGOs need stronger pre-event support (verification, setup, walkthroughs).
- Community fuels learning – informal spaces are as valuable as structured sessions.
- Clarity of outcomes – design canvas and pilot planning helped sharpen success metrics.
Closing Thought
If you picture the room on Day 1, nervous, curious, a little unsure, and then picture it on Day 2 evening, intrigued, confident, filled with new ideas, that’s the journey the Glific Launchpad is all about.
It’s not just about learning how to build a chatbot. It’s about giving NGOs the tools, the confidence, and the community to say: “We can build this. And we can use it to serve our people better.”
We’re doing another Launchpad this November in Mumbai! It will be two days of pure energy, collaboration, and hands-on building, and you’ll leave with more than just a prototype. You’ll leave with clarity, new skills, and a community walking the same path as you. 🙂
Click here to know more and apply now!
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