Emmie Chiyindiko

Dr Emmie Chiyindiko is curious by default, a relentless problem-solver, and a leader who builds trust first. What she cares about most is translating complexity - scientific, systemic, economic - into language that moves people to act. Right now, that curiosity is pointed at a hard question: who gets the upside of AI, and who absorbs the downside.

She carries a figure-it-out instinct into Falling Walls Lab Zimbabwe, the platform she founded in 2022 and still runs, built on partnerships, including the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and UNDP, earned one relationship at a time. It's the same instinct she brings to her work at Boehringer Ingelheim, a privately owned German pharmaceutical company built around transforming lives for generations through breakthrough innovation. She holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of the Free State, has 10+ peer-reviewed publications, and is a GIZ "Afrika Kommt!" alumna. Emmie was named Breakthrough of the Year at the Falling Walls Lab global finale in Berlin in 2021. The throughline across all of it is the same instinct: find the deciding variable, then build the room where the right people can act on it together.