Mercy Corps operates in environments where timely, well-informed decisions are essential to effective crisis response. Teams must rapidly assess conditions and draw on research and historical knowledge, often under intense pressure.
As global crises have increased in scale and complexity, this model has become harder to sustain. At the same time, funding constraints have driven sector-wide contraction, requiring organizations like Mercy Corps to do more with fewer resources, even as delays in analysis can have real consequences on the ground.
To address this challenge, Mercy Corps began exploring how data and AI could reduce friction in crisis research without replacing human judgment. By combining Mercy Corps’ humanitarian expertise with Cloudera’s data and AI capabilities, the two organizations set out to strengthen crisis response and support Mercy Corps’ mission at scale.
Managing Processes at Scale
Mercy Corps’ Global Crisis Analysis teams support decision-making across the organization by producing research on aid and development topics in rapidly changing contexts. Their work informs everything from emergency response planning to longer-term program design. These teams analyze conflict dynamics, food insecurity, displacement trends, and economic shocks to help anticipate needs and guide action.
Historically, this research relied on manual processes. Analysts navigated across numerous news sources, websites, and information platforms, copying and recording information into spreadsheets and documents before synthesizing it into reports. While thorough, this process was time consuming and created bottlenecks when rapid crisis analysis was required.
As the scale and pace of crises increased, Mercy Corps recognized that this model was not sustainable. The organization also faced practical constraints. Technical capacity was limited, teams were under-resourced, and building new AI solutions internally would have required investments that were difficult to absorb while maintaining existing operations.
Realizing the Power of Professional Services
Cloudera’s Professional Services team provided the capacity and expertise Mercy Corps needed at a critical moment. And through this partnership, Mercy Corps gained support from leading technical experts without the added strain of bringing in additional staff or infrastructure.
“The intention of this project wasn’t just to come in, do the work and then leave,” said Laurence Da Luz, Senior Director, CTO & Portfolio. “It was to set them up to be self-sufficient.”
Cloudera’s team brought deep experience in data, analytics, and AI, along with a clear understanding of the operational and mission constraints humanitarian organizations face. Working closely with Mercy Corps stakeholders, the Professional Services team helped translate real-world challenges into a scalable solution that could evolve as needs changed.
Rather than approaching the engagement as a one-time delivery, the focus was on partnership and enablement. The goal was to move quickly during a period of crisis while setting Mercy Corps up with a solution they could adapt, extend, and sustain over time.
A Human-Centered Approach to AI
From the outset, the partnership was guided by a clear objective to start with the people and decisions that matter most. Cloudera Professional Services worked closely with Mercy Corps teams to understand how crisis research happens in practice and where delays and bottlenecks most directly affect outcomes.
“Recognizing that there is still a human element in the solution was vitally important,” said Da Luz. “The goal for us wasn’t to replace what they do with AI, as much of the work still requires human nuance and expertise.”
Rather than attempting to automate judgment, the solution was designed to accelerate it. AI was applied to handle information aggregation and early summarization, enabling analysts to spend more time interpreting findings and applying contextual expertise where human judgment is essential.
This approach resulted in a flexible, AI-driven research capability that brings fragmented workflows into a more unified experience. These capabilities allowed analysts to quickly identify, access, and synthesize information from diverse sources, reducing research cycle time while maintaining human oversight.
At a technical level, Mercy Corps’ solution leverages multiple agentic workflows aligned to different humanitarian research themes. These agent workflows process large volumes of diverse, fast-changing humanitarian and social data. The resulting output helps surface highly relevant information based on the analyst’s stated objectives. Because the system supports conversational interaction, analysts can iteratively refine results and guide the output toward their specific scenario, while retaining full control over interpretation and final conclusions.
Designed for the realities of humanitarian work, the solution adapts to varied geographies, audiences, and crisis types without requiring significant changes to existing workflows. Support for evolving research needs, multilingual sources, and rapidly changing conditions allows teams to respond faster and make more informed decisions in moments where timing and context are critical.
Impact Beyond Innovation
For Cloudera team members, working on the Mercy Corps project has been especially meaningful. Beyond the technical challenges, the work offered a direct connection between technology and social impact. Many involved have spoken about the pride that comes from knowing their work helps support humanitarian efforts around the world.
“It’s quite humbling when you sit and understand the work they’re doing and the reasons behind it,” said Alastair Elliot, Director of Professional Services, North EMEA.
The project gave the team new insights and learnings to help refine and expand on Cloudera’s existing AI capabilities. It also directly helped to strengthen Cloudera’s library of proven patterns and reference architectures, applicable across industries. This combination of learning and collaboration reflects the company’s culture of empowering teams to pursue work that aligns with both business goals and values.
AI Solutions for a Deeply Human Purpose
Cloudera’s partnership with Mercy Corps demonstrates what is possible when advanced data and AI capabilities are paired with a clear mission and a collaborative approach. By focusing on human needs, operational realities, and long-term sustainability, the two organizations delivered a solution that accelerates impact where it matters most.
We are proud of the work accomplished together and inspired by the potential ahead. This collaboration serves as a model for how organizations can apply AI responsibly, effectively, and with purpose, not just to solve technical problems, but to support people and communities around the world.
Learn more about how Cloudera’s Professional Services team can support the most complex data and AI initiatives.
