In July 2026, David Swicegood was selected by the U.S. Department of State as a U.S. Speaker and hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu for a week-long program on AI, business innovation, and Nepal's growing digital economy.
Over five days he delivered sessions to investors, legal advisors, emerging professionals, policymakers, and private sector leaders on how U.S. companies use AI to improve operations, scale digital services, and expand exports. He also led a hands-on working session with participants from tourism, agriculture, banking, manufacturing, and education, where each group worked through AI-enabled solutions to problems in their own industry.
The program included the American Chamber of Commerce in Nepal, Kathmandu University, technology firms, investors, entrepreneurs, and government agencies. Roughly 200 people took part across the week.
"Nepal shouldn't adopt AI for AI's sake."
Why this matters to a business here
The problems in that room were the same problems I see in Coeur d'Alene and across the Inland Northwest. Manual work that nobody has time to document. Years of spreadsheets, invoices, and purchase orders that no one can get an answer out of. Money already leaking out of the back office. The industries change. The problems do not.