Gamechangers: KidsAI's Irmak Atabek

Driven by a commitment to building a future where technology enhances the human experience for the next generation, Irmak Atabek operates at the intersection of creativity, technology, and responsibility. In 2024, the entrepreneur and children’s media executive co-founded with Evren Yiğit the UAE-based childfirst technology and media company KidsAI, which develops ethical and safe artificial intelligence (AI) assistance and media content “to help children understand, navigate, and thrive, in an AI-powered world.”

Central to KidsAI’s mission, Atabek tells us, is exploring how to design systems that reflect cultural values, with the aim of preparing children to engage with AI both consciously and responsibly.

“KidsAI addresses a global challenge: children worldwide lack safe tools to navigate and understand an increasingly digital future,” she explains. “While this is a universal problem, it becomes more acute in the Middle East, where existing technologies often carry significant Western or Eastern biases that don’t reflect regional values or perspectives. This means young users interact with systems that don’t understand family structures, cultural nuances, or regional priorities that shape their world view.”

KidsAI addresses this problem by personalizing and localizing the children’s experience of interacting with AI while giving them insight into how the technology works.

“At KidsAI, through AI literacy media, we aim to make children understand the philosophy behind AI technologies and help them think through ethical considerations,” Atabek explains. “This will help children be conscious about technologies and develop a broader vision. We are excited to see a future where we can witness the impact of literacy and experience on children.”

In fact, Atabek believes that it will be content and context that will make AI a useful tool to children moving forward. “I see a future where every child has an AI assistant, with content and vision—not technology—as the main differentiator,” she says.

At the core of Atabek’s offering is thus a platform that can create safe, responsible spaces for children and parents as they navigate a fast-evolving technology like AI.

“What makes us gamechangers is our recognition that the real innovation isn’t in the technology itself, but in how we deploy it—with cultural sensitivity, developmental appropriateness, and parental involvement,” Atabek says. “While others race to build faster algorithms, we’re focused on building better relationships between children and technology because, for us, the most valuable currency is trust.”

Atabek also highlights how bringing female perspectives from the region to AI education is path-breaking in its own right.

“What excites me most is seeing KidsAI, a company with Middle Eastern origins and women founders, positioned to develop one of the world’s first AI assistants specifically designed for children,” she says. “This represents a fundamental shift in who shapes technological futures—moving beyond the traditional East-West binary to create truly global innovation.”

Pictured in the lead image is the co-founder and CEO of KidsAI Irmak Atabek. Courtesy of KidsAI.

Irmak Atabek was one of the artificial intelligence (AI) innovators celebrated in Gamechangers, a special feature built for Inc. Arabia's April/May 2025 issue. For the full list of Gamechangers, please click here