Putting AI to work for the public good.
Backland Impact brings together people who understand public problems with people who know how to build. We work with nonprofits and public agencies to turn real data and hard-won context into useful AI tools. Then we help those organizations keep going on their own.
The expertise is already there.
Our mission is to ensure the beneficial deployment of AI by partnering with nonprofits and underserved communities. These organizations already know where their systems break. What many lack is the time and technical capacity to test what AI can do.
Backland Impact brings together people who understand public problems with people who know how to build. We work with nonprofits to turn real data and hard-won context into useful AI tools. Then we help those organizations keep going on their own.
Put the right people in the room.
Useful civic technology needs people who know the problem and people who know how to build.
Partner organizations
Cities, agencies, nonprofits, and community groups that bring the problem, the data, and years of context.
Domain experts
People who know where a system breaks, which edge cases matter, and what has already been tried.
AI builders
Engineers and product builders who can turn that knowledge into something people can test.
Impact Labs give them a day to work together on a well-scoped problem. After the event, we help partners decide what is worth continuing and keep those projects moving.
Bring the problem you know best.
This is for people working in city government, public health, housing, education, criminal justice, environmental policy, and other mission-driven organizations. You don't need a technical background. You need the expertise you already have.
AI can help, but it cannot tell us which problems are worth solving or what a workable answer looks like. You bring that judgment. We bring builders and a process for turning it into something people can test.
Why Backland exists.
Max Kruger founded Backland Impact after seeing the same gap repeatedly. Nonprofits and public agencies understand their problems but often do not have the people or time to test what AI can do. Builders have the technical skills but rarely get enough context to make something useful. Backland gives them a way to work together.
Max has led AI engineering efforts at Accenture and Casper Studios, founded the AI Tinkerers San Diego chapter, and has spent more than six years building production AI systems. The AI Tinkerers community supplies many of the builders. Partner organizations and domain experts bring the problems, context, and accountability.