Leveraging AI Across the Evaluation Cycle: Insights from AfDB Evaluations

Evaluators frequently work with large volumes of textual evidence, including evaluation reports, policy and administrative documents, and qualitative sources. Reviewing and synthesizing these materials can be highly time-consuming. Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers new opportunities to accelerate the analysis of large bodies of text, reducing the time needed for document screening, evidence extraction and thematic analysis while enabling evaluators to work more efficiently. In this context, this webinar draws on the practical experience of the Independent Development Evaluation function (IDEV) of the African Development Bank in deploying AI tools across two distinct evaluation modalities: evaluation syntheses and thematic evaluations.
The session aims to contribute to the broader Glocal 2026 conversation on responsible and effective AI utilization in evaluation practice, offering evidence-based insights from Multilateral Development Institutions’ evaluation functions.
The session will offer participants:
- Concrete, experience-based examples of AI applications in evaluation, grounded in IDEV’s real evaluation products rather than theoretical possibilities.
- A practical framework for understanding where AI adds value in the evaluation process and where it does not, helping participants make informed decisions about AI adoption in their own contexts.
- Thoughtful consideration of the requirements, protections, and quality checks needed to ensure AI is used responsibly in evaluation.
- An evidence-based perspective from an MDB’s/UN agency’s independent evaluation function, contributing to the diversity of viewpoints on AI in evaluation.
After the presentation IDEV’s experience, a panel discussion will follow where other MDBs/ UN Agencies will share their insights on the matter. Q&A will conclude the conversation.