As AI and digital infrastructure scale at breakneck speed, we must ask: Who is this future being built for?

After attending the Datacloud Global Conference, UN Ocean Conference, and Money20/20, Shivani Baghel was left with more questions than answers. Behind the trillion-dollar promises of data centers and tech innovation lie hidden costs — from water scarcity to deepening global inequality.

This article reflects on those tensions: the race to scale vs. the need for regulation, techno-solutionism vs. Indigenous wisdom, and the urgent need to ground our digital ambitions in ecological and social responsibility.

Because a just, sustainable future isn’t built by accident — it’s built by design.

I’ve learnt to roll my tongue in many ways as a child.

Flavours of expat life.

The global narrative often paints developing nations as lands of deficiency, labelling them “third world” despite their natural abundance, cultural wealth, and resilient histories. Rising Lotuses: Your Guide to Blooming with Purpose, written by Shivani Baghel and illustrated by Sadhvi Konchada, sheds light on this deeply ingrained misconception and its impact on women of the global majority.

I started writing Rising Lotuses almost 3 years ago. I knew I couldn’t be the only one questioning my place in the world as a woman. To be more specific, as an Indian woman who immigrated to France and hit so many stereotypical ‘success’ goals, only to understand that there was something massively incomplete about my journey, my story, and the stories I recognised when I met so many women from different backgrounds from all around the world. I was lucky to work with my close friend, talented illustrator and creator Sadhvi Konchada, who brought life and liberating illustrations to this book. 

In a world where women of the global majority often navigate complex intersections of identity, culture, and history, Rising Lotuses: Your Guide to Blooming with Purpose emerges as a transformative guide. Written by Shivani Baghel and and illustrated by Sadhvi Konchada, this book offers tools for reflection, healing, and leadership.