Synapse - Africa’s 4IR Trade & Innovation Magazine - 2nd Quarter 2026 Issue 29

Launches

TELKOM

Launches

ACTIVATE

GOOGLE Expands

GUEST EDITORS

Claude is a series of large language models developed by Anthropic and first released in 2023

Learn more about Claude by Anthropic here

e welcome Claude to the guest editor line-up. Claude by Anthropic is our latest addition to the editorial lineup and is able to capture 3 months of AI news across all 54 countries as and present them by region. It really helps us capture a truly continental view with all the key news.

Darlington Akogo (Ghana) CEO, minoHealth AI / KaraAgro AI & Member of United Nations ITU & WHO Focus Group on AI For Health

darlingtonakogo

Darlington Akogo is a global leader in Artificial Intelligence. He's the Founder and Director of Artificial Intelligence at GUDRA, and its subsidiaries; minoHealth; an AI Healthtech company based in Ghana.

Naomi Molefe MSc, Manager: Strategic Sourcing and Research at Discovery & Co-Founder & Chapter Director Women In Big Data, South Africa

naomimolefe

N

aomi is the co-Founder and Chapter Director for women in Big Data SA; a registered NPO that is part of a global community of 17 000 women. The learning community works with strategic partners to cultivate tangible opportunities for women, unlock latent potential through accessible training and act as a catalyst for the advancement of women in Big Data fields.

INTERNATIONAL EDITOR

Deon Van Zyl (Norway) Senior System Developer Nordic Semiconductor

For 25 years, I have been an accomplished IT professional who is skilled in multiple languages with a strong background in development, security, digital forensics, automation, AI, management, and teaching. Through my work, I have been exposed to various industries, influenced public opinion, and networked with innovative leaders. As a roving Guest Editor, I write about new technologies that are reshaping the world such as Artificial Intelligence, VR & AR, Cybersecurity, Web3 and more.

WELCOME FROM THE EDITOR

Dr Nick Bradshaw Editor

& CEO

AI

Media Group

nickbradshaw

Nick is a Tech focused Executive / Entrepreneur helping clients, communities, practitioners & start-ups understand the value of Artificial Intelligence, Automation & Digital solutions in EMEA region. With 25 years experience in Europe, North America & Africa Nick has worked with a diverse set of Multi $bn global clients seeking to deploy and mature Enterprise grade software & cloud solutions. He is founder of the AI Media Group a new hybrid media, events, consulting & trade community offering clients insights into the growing 4IR opportunity in Africa. AI Media publish Synapse Magazine and run Africa’s largest Enterprise AI Trade Show – AI Expo Africa."

Welcome to the 29th edition of Synapse Magazine, the official publication of the South African AI Association.

As we welcome back Google and Huaweai Platinum Sponsors for 3 years straight we are also really happy to now welcome YES4Youth as Platinum sponsor too, we are a very grateful for these commitments and funding which allows us to do what we do. The second quarter of 2026 marked a watershed quarter for Africa's AI landscape, defined by massive infrastructure investments, contested / withdrawn national AI policies, a landmark continental declaration and emergence of Chinese AI platforms as local alternatives while token economics make frontier models problematic which the sovereign AI debate rumbles on. Planning for the 1st edition of our new AI in Government and Society Activate SA in Cape Town 25-27th August is gaining momentum while our the 9th edition of AI Expo Africa in Johannesburg at SCC Sandton, 28-29th October is shaping up for another great edition. Tickets are now on sale for both events and our speaking submissions are still open. Finally - the association also launched its FREE AI readiness assessment tool to help kick start your AI journey.

DON’T FORGET Join the South African AI Association, to secure your FREE membership here >> https://saaiassociation.co.za/ and check out the SA AI Association’s “Start your Journey in Responsible AI” FREE training and resources >> https://saaiassociation.co.za/startyour-journey-in-ai/ with content, training, guides, communities to help kickstart your adoption of Responsible AI. We now have 4800+ members and growing so we look forward to seeing you in 2026.

ABOUT SYNAPSE MAGAZINE

Synapse Magazine chronicles the AI Revolution as it unfolds in Africa and plays a vital part in connecting the members of this rapidly growing trade community across the region. With a global readership, it puts Africa centre stage with a clear focus on the African 4.0 innovation & investment narrative. We cover a range of technologies including; artificial intelligence (AI), intelligent automation (IA), robotic process automation (RPA), internet of things (IoT), big data, analytics & devices, as well as emerging standards, ethics and privacy concerns. Now entering its 9th year of publication, this unique quarterly trade publication is FREE to read on the ISSUU platform.

OWNER

SA AI Association

Web www.saaiassociation.co.za

PUBLISHER

AI Media Group

Web www.aimediagroup.co.za

EDITOR

Nick Bradshaw (South Africa)

GUEST EDITORS

Claude (Pan Africa)

Darlington Akogo (Ghana)

Naomi Molefe (South Africa)

Deon Van Zyl (Global)

EDITORIAL & ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES

Nick Bradshaw nick@saaiassociation.co.za

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE & ADMIN

Mia Muylaert mia@aimediagroup.co.za

LAYOUT, DESIGN & PRINT

Karin Liebenberg

iCandy Design

Email: karinl@icandydesign.co.za

2 Looking Back on the Success of AI Expo Africa 2025

6 Africa Artificial Intelligence Digest

4 Flash Back to AI Expo Africa 2025

9 Bridging the Eligibility Gap: From Form to Function in Financial Inclusion

10 Flash Back to AI Expo Africa 2025

12 SA AI Association & Western Cape Government: Launch AI Cluster Collaboration

15 Ready 4 AI

16 SA AI Association reflects on a year of growth

19 YES Joins SA AI Association Advisory Board

21 BrandAxis

22 Get AI.cc

24 The AI Shop: Meet Alex

26 Saucecode: Ahead of a Curve I Didn’t Know I Was On

28 Out and about: Saucecode –Gongs and Dinner Plates

29 Minister announces withdrawal of draft AI Policy

31 Telkom launching new R100 million AI Institute

33 What is Activate South Africa 2026?

35 Google Expands Africa Investment

36 How People-Centred AI Unlocks the Next Level of Human Potential

40 Microsoft Scout: The Invisible Operator

41 Bonisa AI

44 Higher Education, Google To Sign AI And Digital Skills Agreement

45 Establishing an Institute for Africa's AI Revolution

LOOKING BACK ON THE SUCCESS OF AI EXPO AFRICA 2025

Africa’s largest Artificial Intelligence & Intelligent Automation event, the highly acclaimed conference & trade show called AI Expo Africa was run for the 8th edition at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa 29-31 October 2025.

This globally recognized event, the AI Expo Africa event unites regional and international AI thought leaders, suppliers, investors and start-ups to discuss and showcase the latest AI & Smart Tech innovations from the biggest global brands to newest Startups.

The core focus of the show is real world applications you can deploy today with an audience comprised of Enterprise and Government buyers, deployment & service providers, start-ups, educators, NGOs, investors and AI ecosystem builders.

Dr Nick Bradshaw, Founder of AI Expo Africa & Chairperson of the South African AI Association stated, “This was our 8th Anniversary Edition and biggest show to-date, with over 100 companies in the expo hall 60 of which were AI Startups.”

Big themes ranged from Agentic AI and progress towards the autonomous Enterprise, Security in the Age of AI, Responsible AI, Data Centre investment, National AI strategies and a new, dedicated third day, devoted to AI for Good hosting of the first International Telecommunication Union (ITU) AI for Good Impact Africa gathering at the show (a G20 side event). With a community of 50k+ practitioners, the show format is built upon the phenomenal success of the previous seven events that have cemented AI Expo Africa as the largest AI and Intelligent Automation business gathering of its kind in Africa.

JOHANNESBURG IS AFRICA'S

We hosted 3400 delegates, ran 72 talks, 15 CPD workshops and 12 CxO round tables. Some of the 100+ Exhibitor & sponsorship brands that joined us in 2025 included; AWS, Google, Pinnacle, Dell, Supermicro, Nvidia, WIOCC, OADC, Verint, ServiceNow, Salesforce, VAST Data, Zoho Corporation, Avochoc, Cyborg Intell , French Embassy SA, Interface Systems / Yooz, LRMG, Matogen Applied Insights, Mavin Powercube, NITheCS - National Institute for Theoretical & Computer Sciences, ReportsAI, Retro Rabbit, Silicon Overdrive, Stubber, TesserAI, ZapDash Studio, JustSolve, AgenticZA, Akili, Amathuba-ai, Aptus Data Labs (Pvt) Ltd, Boxfusion, CIRRUS BRIDGE, Cohesion X, Ele-vate AI, ITLawCo, Nexus Data, Samurai Global, Aflu Med Healthcare, Beta Analytics, BotCTL, Edge Executive Search, Ejoobi, Hey Harvey, Learn AI, Link Nova, Owethu Managed Services and Surveya.

About AI Expo Africa 2026

Now entering its 9th year, the next edition of AI Expo Africa 2026 will be held in South Africa 28-29th October. It will again unite 1000s of regional and international AI thought leaders, suppliers and start-ups to discuss and showcase the latest AI & Intelligent Automation innovations, from the biggest global brands to the smallest and newest local Startups. The core focus of the show are real world applications you can deploy today with a senior level audience comprised of Enterprise and Government buyers, deployment & service providers, start-ups, educators, NGOs and ecosystem builders.

Learn more at: https://aiexpoafrica.com/

AFRICA ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE DIGEST

A

pan-African review of key AI announcements, policy, regulation, investment and events across all 54 countries

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY –KEY DEVELOPMENTS Q2 2026

Q2 2026 marked a watershed quarter for Africa's AI landscape, defined by massive infrastructure investment, contested / withdrawn national AI policies, a landmark continental declaration gaining momentum and the emergence of Chinese AI platforms as the preferred foundation for locally built language models.

 South Africa published its Draft National AI Policy (10 April) then controversially withdrew it on 26 April after it emerged that at least 10% of academic references were AI-generated and fictitious — a revised draft is expected in January 2027.

 AU Peace and Security Council (April) held dedicated session on AI governance, peace and security, with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed endorsed as AU Champion for AI; Ethiopia's EAII Director briefed the Council.

 Africa's data centre market is projected to attract $8.76 billion in investment by 2031 (15.76% CAGR), with Nigeria's Kasi Cloud 100 MW Lekki hyperscale facility commissioned and Kenya accelerating data centre expansion.

 Ghana launched its National AI Strategy in April, describing AI as a 'sovereign capability'; the Ghana–UAE $1 billion AI Hub deal was announced, reinforcing Accra as a rising West African tech hub.

 Nigerian federal government partnered with Meta to launch GovGuide Nigeria — an open-source, Llamapowered multilingual public service chatbot (English, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba) — and with Coursera to fund 36,000 AI skills licences for youth.

 Microsoft–G42 Kenya's $1 billion geothermal data centre project officially stalled after the Kenyan government declined to commit to required computing purchase agreements.

 African developers are building language models predominantly on Chinese open-source platforms (DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi) citing cost and accessibility advantages over Western providers.

 Nigeria climbed 42 places to 38th globally in the 2026 Global Index on Responsible AI — the continent's highest ranking; Egypt led Africa's AI Readiness Index with a score of 81/100.

 OECD published its AI Governance in Africa case study (April) covering 12 countries, identifying infrastructure, compute access and regulatory capacity as the three dominant constraints.

CONTINENTAL & MULTILATERAL

 AU Peace and Security Council holds dedicated session on AI governance, peace and security in Africa (April 2026) — Ethiopia’s EAII Director briefs Council; Abiy Ahmed endorsed as AU Champion for AI #Africa #Governance #AfricanUnion

 AU ministers gather in Tangier, Morocco (April 2026) to discuss Africa’s AI ambitions — 49 countries have endorsed the Africa Declaration on AI; $60 bn Africa AI Fund implementation reviewed #Africa #Policy #AfricanUnion

 OECD publishes ‘AI Governance in Africa’ case study (April 2026) covering 12 countries — identifies infrastructure gaps, compute access and regulatory capacity as primary constraints #Africa #Governance #OECD

 Africa data centre market to attract $8.76 bn by 2031 at 15.76% CAGR — South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt as primary hubs; Morocco, Ghana, Tanzania as emerging markets (Arizton, June 2026) #Africa #Infrastructure #Arizton

 Africa’s AI plans still depend on Google, Microsoft, Nvidia and Meta — Rest of World investigation (May 2026) reveals structural dependency on Western Big Tech for compute, funding and expertise #Africa #SovereignAI #DigitalSovereignty

 African developers turn overwhelmingly to Chinese AI platforms (DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi) to build local language models — faster, cheaper and open-source versus Western alternatives (Foreign Policy, June 2026) #Africa #LocalLanguages #China

 Al Jazeera investigation: who will control Africa’s AI infrastructure? — 49 countries endorse Africa Declaration on AI; foreign ownership of data centres raises sovereignty concerns (June 2026) #Africa #Infrastructure #SovereignAI

 India–Africa Forum Summit (28–31 May, Addis Ababa) — digital economy and AI cooperation feature in bilateral discussions between India and African nations #Africa #Diplomacy #India

 207 AI startups tracked across Africa: Nigeria (50), South Africa (49) and Kenya (31) dominate; Egypt grew 267% since 2022; Francophone expansion visible in Rwanda, Senegal, DRC, Togo and Cameroon #Africa #Startups #TechCabal

 SAP formalises Smart Africa partnership at GITEX Africa 2026 to drive AI and data integration across 40+ African countries #Africa #SmartAfrica #SAP

NORTH AFRICA

 Nexus AI Factory unveiled at GITEX Africa 2026: $1.2 bn, 500 MW AI data centre near Casablanca powered by NVIDIA and TAQA Morocco renewable energy — Morocco’s largest sovereign AI infrastructure project #Morocco #Infrastructure #NexusCoreSystems

 Morocco rises 14 places in government AI readiness index in 2025; 5G deployment targeting 45% population coverage by end 2026; country hosts UNESCO Category II AI Centre #Morocco #Policy #AIReadiness

 Orange Maroc and Ericsson sign agreement at GITEX Africa 2026 to co-develop private 5G networks for industrial AI applications in Morocco #Morocco #Telecoms #Ericsson

 Egypt’s Karnak sovereign LLM integrated into public administration — OECD case study confirms deployment for Arabic government document processing and citizen services #Egypt #SovereignAI #Karnak

 Data centre cost competitiveness: Egypt estimated at $8–10/ watt for development — one of the most cost-effective AI infrastructure markets on the continent (Arizton, June 2026) #Egypt #Infrastructure #DataCentres

 Algeria’s AI strategy listed as a 2024 policy framework in OECD April 2026 Africa case study; data localisation now mandatory for certain data categories #Algeria #Policy #DataGovernance

 Kenya accelerates data centre and AI-enabled cloud expansion as government targets East Africa’s preferred digital investment destination (ITWeb Africa, June 2026) #Kenya #Infrastructure #CloudComputing

 iXAfrica working with Oracle to deliver Kenya’s first public cloud region; second hyperscale facility at 53 MW capacity announced (2026) #Kenya #Infrastructure #iXAfrica

 Anthropic–Rwanda government AI partnership triggers sovereignty debate: critics argue dependency risk as Claude AI integrated into government and education systems #Rwanda #SovereignAI #Anthropic

 Rwanda ICT Minister Paula Ingabire warns of AI sovereignty risk at EAC Science, Technology and Innovation Conference; calls for continent-wide approach to AI infrastructure ownership #Rwanda #SovereignAI #EAC

 Ernest Mwebaze builds Sunflower LLM covering 31 Ugandan languages on Chinese Qwen 3 open-source model — exemplifying Africa’s pivot to Chinese AI platforms for local language models #Uganda #LocalLanguages #Qwen

 Ethiopian Electric Utility deploys AI for comprehensive modernisation of national power system (June 2026) — AI applied to grid management and predictive maintenance #Ethiopia #Energy #EEU

 A2SV African AI incubator’s Skillbridge expands from Ethiopia to Rwanda — AI education tool operating in Amharic and Afaan Oromo for university entrance exam preparation #Ethiopia #Rwanda #Education

 IMPALA AI-powered patient monitoring system demonstrating significant clinical impact across East African hospitals (June 2026) #EastAfrica #Healthcare #IMPALA

EAST AFRICA

 Microsoft–G42 Kenya $1 billion geothermal data centre project officially stalls — Kenyan government declines to commit to required computing purchases; project at a standstill (June 2026) #Kenya #Infrastructure #Microsoft

WEST AFRICA

 Nigeria climbs 42 places to 38th globally in 2026 Global Index on Responsible AI (GIRAI) — Africa’s highest-ranked country, reflecting progress in AI governance and policy frameworks #Nigeria #Governance #GIRAI

 Federal Government of Nigeria and Meta launch GovGuide Nigeria — open-source Llama-powered chatbot offering public services in English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba (May 2026) #Nigeria #eGovernment #Meta

 Nigeria and Coursera partner to fund 36,000 AI, data science and cybersecurity skills licences for youth — deployed via YABATECH and NOUN (May 2026) #Nigeria #Skills #Coursera

 NSIA-backed Kasi Cloud Datacentres commissions 100 MW AI-ready hyperscale facility in Lekki, Lagos — boosting Nigeria’s local data sovereignty #Nigeria #Infrastructure #KasiCloud

 Nigeria’s N-ATLAS: open-source multilingual LLM covering Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo and Nigerian-accented English — developed with Awarri as core engine; positioned as national digital public good #Nigeria #LocalLanguages #Awarri

 Nigeria’s Digital Economy and E-Governance Bill on track for presidential assent in Q2 2026 — risk-based AI licensing framework for high-risk systems in finance, surveillance and public admin #Nigeria #Legislation #NITDA

 Ghana launches National AI Strategy (April 2026) describing AI as a ‘sovereign capability’ — one of 49 countries endorsing Africa Declaration on AI; AI adoption at 9.3% #Ghana #NationalStrategy #SovereignAI

 Ghana–UAE $1 billion AI Hub deal announced — strategic partnership to develop AI infrastructure and innovation capacity in Ghana (April 2026) #Ghana #Investment #UAE

 Paystack launches experimental AI product allowing users to automate payments workflows (June 2026) — Nigeria’s leading fintech expanding AI capabilities #Nigeria #Fintech #Paystack

 Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia reject US-linked health datasharing agreements that would move citizens’ data outside national borders — data sovereignty hardening in Q2 2026 #Ghana #Nigeria #DataSovereignty

 Moov Africa Malitel (Mali) launches AI-enhanced digital service innovations — expanding AI-driven telecoms services into francophone West Africa (June 2026) #Mali #Telecoms #MoovAfrica

“ This digest covers publicly reported AI news for the period 1 April – 30 June 2026, sourced from African and international media, development institution publications and government announcements. It is not exhaustive but represents the most significant developments identified across all 54 African countries. ”

 South Africa’s banking sector among most concerned about AI-driven fraud landscape — AI reshaping fraud at speed across major financial institutions (June 2026) #SouthAfrica #Finance #Cybersecurity

 Zambia: government rejects US-linked health data agreement citing data sovereignty; AI strategy implementation under review — among countries hardening data localisation stance #Zambia #DataSovereignty #Policy

CROSS-CUTTING THEMES & SECTOR HIGHLIGHTS

 African AI sovereignty crisis: Big Four nations (Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa) all draft AI policies citing excessive dependency on Google, Microsoft, Nvidia and Meta for infrastructure #Africa #SovereignAI #DigitalPolicy

 Chinese AI platforms dominate African language model development: DeepSeek, Qwen (Alibaba), Kimi (Moonshot AI) preferred for cost efficiency and open-source accessibility #Africa #LocalLanguages #China

 Africa’s AI startups pivot to ‘exportable intelligence’ — constrained-environment AI systems from Nairobi to Casablanca outperforming Silicon Valley-scale models in specialised applications #Africa #Startups #Innovation

 OECD African AI governance workshop (Nairobi, March 2026) identifies three thematic priorities: AI in agriculture, locally developed language models, and regulatory frameworks #Africa #Agriculture #OECD

SOUTHERN AFRICA

 Cassava Technologies announces NVIDIA-powered AI Factory for Africa based in South Africa — plans to scale rapidly to Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and Morocco (May 2026) #Africa #Infrastructure #CassavaTechnologies

 South Africa withdraws Draft AI Policy on 26 April 2026 — at least 10% of academic references found to be fictitious, generated by AI tools; revised draft expected January 2027 #SouthAfrica #Policy #AIGovernance

 South African Revenue Service (SARS) reports AI has blocked more than R100 million in impermissible financial outflows (June 2026) — demonstrating AI’s impact in tax enforcement #SouthAfrica #Finance #SARS

 Equinix announces ZAR 7.5 billion investment in South Africa data centres — reinforcing Johannesburg as the continent’s primary data centre hub (April 2026) #SouthAfrica #Infrastructure #Equinix

 South Africa data centre boom: billions flowing into new projects as AI demand accelerates; Cassava–NVIDIA AI Factory first facility launched in South Africa (Q2 2026) #SouthAfrica #Infrastructure #DataCentres

 DataProphet (South Africa) highlighted as exportable AI intelligence — industrial AI for manufacturing yield and quality applicable globally (iAfrica commentary, June 2026) #SouthAfrica #Startups #DataProphet

 Data centre rush risks overshooting demand and electrical grid capacity — energy availability emerging as primary constraint for AI infrastructure investment across Africa (Africa Report, June 2026) #Africa #Infrastructure #Energy

 AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol identified as primary harmonisation vehicle for cross-border data governance — key mechanism for enabling pan-African AI market #Africa #DataGovernance #AfCFTA

 NVIDIA plans AI Factory in Kenya — 12,000 GPUs to be deployed over 3–4 years; signals NVIDIA’s long-term commitment to Africa AI infrastructure beyond the stalled G42 project #Kenya #Infrastructure #NVIDIA

Notes & Methodology

This digest covers publicly reported AI news for the period 1 April – 30 June 2026, sourced from African and international media, development institution publications and government announcements. It is not exhaustive but represents the most significant developments identified across all 54 African countries. URLs were live at time of compilation. Sources include Al Jazeera, Foreign Policy, Rest of World, iAfrica.com, TechCabal, ITWeb Africa, Morocco World News, Africa Report, DLA Piper, OECD, African Union, Ellipsis, Michalsons, AI Policy Lab, Arizton, DSN Community and others.

Compiled: 30 June 2026

BRIDGING THE ELIGIBILITY GAP

From Form to Function in Financial Inclusion

For decades, the standard response to financial exclusion has been singular: "Improve Access."

We treated it as a logistical and infrastructure challenge. The strategy was clear: build branches, open accounts, and push entire populations previously unbanked into the formal system.

By our conventional metrics, the progress is inarguable. Millions are technically "onboarded". Digital wallets have proliferated. Entire communities that were once excluded now exist on the financial grid.

And yet, after decades of working in the BFSI industry, and even launching some of these products and initiatives, I see a deeper, unchanging truth. The same individuals holding these new accounts frequently remain unable to access necessary credit, build assets, or meaningfully participate in the economy.

They are included in form but excluded in function.

This is not a failure of intent. It is a limitation of decision-making architecture. Our modern financial systems were built for a stable, predictable world that required clean, structured signals: credit scores, formal income, established histories.

The consequence is that the system defaults to what it knows best: rejection when presented with the "unknowable" data of gig workers, small merchants, and informal economy participants. We cannot blame traditional systems for this. The logical conclusion of their design is to exclude uncertainty.

This structural exclusion persists decision by decision. To move from inclusion metrics to real progress, we must fundamentally update the definition of "eligibility."

Working now in the AI industry, platforms like iTuring.ai are redefining that logic. We are moving from static, historical risk proxies to AI-driven decisioning that learns from a broader, more dynamic set of signals. The question is no longer, "Does this person fit an established profile?" It is, "What does their behaviour reveal about their reliability?"

In this model, the barrier shifts. Inclusion becomes not just possible, but profitable and sustainable.

AI changes the fundamental unit economics of serving low-income customers. When risk assessment,

underwriting, and monitoring are handled in real time, the marginal cost of serving an additional customer approaches zero. The small-ticket lending we once dismissed as unprofitable begins to make sound economic sense.

We are also seeing a crucial shift in risk management. In the past, uncertainty resulted in exclusion. Today, with systems that continuously learn, detect anomalies, and adapt, risk is something we actively manage, and appropriately price. Uncertainty becomes navigable.

The future of financial inclusion will not be defined by the next million accounts opened. It will be defined by how decisions within that system evolve.

The levers that shape inclusion outcomes are data-driven, adaptive, and designed to be inclusive from the core. It is about making the system itself more intelligent. It is about a system capable of seeing, understanding, and ultimately, deciding fairly, consistently, and at scale.

SA AI ASSOCIATION & WESTERN CAPE GOVERNMENT

Launch AI Cluster Collaboration

/ Read original story here /

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA 18th

May 2026 - The South African AI Association & Western Cape Government launch new provincial AI Cluster collaboration. The Western Cape AI Cluster (WCAIC) will research, support and grow the artificial intelligence opportunity in the province as well as engaging with relevant stakeholders on key themes such as AI Policy, Responsible AI, Governance, Infrastructure, AI Factories and Sovereign AI.

Forming part of the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT) Technology Ecosystem Enablement Programme, WCAIC seeks to strengthen the province’s innovation ecosystem and play a pivotal role in advancing the AI technology sector. The collaboration will run for a period of three years and aim to create an impactful and sustainable AI ecosystem.

Dr Nick Bradshaw, Chairman of the SA AI Association stated, “The WC AI Cluster will broadly follow the key tenants of the globally recognised Tech Cluster Model to create and orchestrate a robust AI ecosystem. This initiative is part of the province’s broader ambition to strengthen innovation, foster collaboration and unlock investment opportunities across key tech sub-sectors such as Artificial Intelligence which aligns with SA AI Association’s vision and mission. We see USA, China, Europe and Middle East already spending heavily on AI as they gear up business, citizens and society to embrace the AI opportunity and this forms a key part of the goals of the WCAIC collaboration.” WCAIC will be a collaborative multistakeholder vehicle geared to identify and

achieve common objectives in a coherent manner and to help promote, co-ordinate and share opportunities that will result in jobs, FDI and regional growth as well as presenting the Western Cape as a globally significant AI Tech Hub. It will also convene a new annual AI conference called Activate SA to be held in Cape Town 25th-27th August 2026, the nation’s first citizen and government AI event dedicated to Responsible AI. Bradshaw concluded, “Sovereign AI and the soon to be launched AI Factory in Cape Town South Africa is a big theme the WCAIC will engage on. It is a globally significant challenge for nations, provinces, cities & municipalities to develop, deploy and govern AI systems independently. Our aim is to help guide and showcase infrastructure, data and models that will benefit everyone, not just a few, so Citizen AI is a key component. We also need to find the brightest minds solving the hardest problems and match them to early-stage capital and AI compute services. Ultimately we want to develop a “success blueprint” other provinces can utilise. We look forward to working on this collaboration with the Western Cape Government and DEDAT team over the next 3 years.”

About The SA AI Association (SAAIA)

The South African Artificial Intelligence Association (SAAIA) is an industry body focused on promoting the advancement of responsible AI in South Africa by uniting practitioners across Commercial, Government, Academic, Startup and NGO sectors. SAAIA seeks to encourage stakeholders in the adoption of responsible AI for the commercial and societal benefit of the citizens of South Africa with a primary focus on economic growth, trade, investment, equality and inclusivity. SAAIA runs Africa’s largest Enterprise & Startup AI community and trade event, AI Expo Africa, and offers insights and advisory on the growing AI opportunity in Africa. Learn more:

https://saaiassociation.co.za/ Press & Media enquiries: https://saaiassociation.co.za/ contact

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READY 4 AI

SA AI Association Launches FREE AI Readiness Assessment Tool to Kickstart your AI Adoption Journey

Are you Ready 4 AI?

Is your company Ready 4 AI? Are you considering, adopting or building AI and automation solutions in your organization? Confused on where to start or feeling overwhelmed? Had a pilot project fail or just wanting some expert advice? If the answer is “yes” the SA AI Association can help connect you to our knowledge base, training offerings, deployment consultants and specialist vendors to ensure you achieve your desired goals and ensure success. We work with all sizes of company in both commercial, government and NGO sectors, startups, mid-size or large enterprises.

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As a team (or via our facilitated workshops) you answer 36 basic questions focused on 4 key dimensions; Strategy, Technology, Process & Leadership. From this assessment your AI Readiness score is calculated. This baseline readiness assessment helps start and track your change journey, identify gaps and develop plans for improvement and success.

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Want your AI / Automation project to succeed?

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Complete the form below to gain access to our AI Readiness Tool today – you will be given the tool (Excel file) to use. It comes with basic guidance and is easy to understand. In addition – one of our team will contact you. Your answers help shape a picture of where you are on your journey and assist us in aligning to the best consultants / vendors to assist you achieve success.

SA AI ASSOCIATION REFLECTS ON A YEAR OF GROWTH

/ Read original story here /

SAAIA operated on a funded basis for the second time from 1st March 2025 to 28th February 2026. This was achieved via the amazing sponsorship from Google, Huawei and other vendors who contributed to the years funding tranche for which we are very grateful.

It should be noted, all activity undertaken by SAAIA Advisory Board and its members is on a voluntary / no-salary basis, therefore all SAAIA funding is directed towards covering the cost of outreach activities so we aim to maximise the impact and benefit to the SAAIA vision & mission of the members and wider South Africa. It was a truly busy year at both the international and regional level with some of the highlights listed below.

Hosting 1st UNITU AI4Good Robotics Challenge & 3rd AI4Good Impact Pitching Sessions

Notable Developments:

 Membership grew from 2513 to 4285 over the year (71% growth)

 Signed AI Factory MoU with Cassava AI

 Signed AI Collaboration MoU with Dubai Centre AI

 Hosted Western Cape Government AI Delegation at Dubai Centre AI

 Signed 3 year AI Cluster development project Western Cape Government

 Updated our FREE AI Learning Journey Resources

 Worked on the creation of Activate SA – new Government / Citizen community event

 Finalised contributions to National AI Strategy

 Explored trade collaborations with Station F Paris, UK AI & Mauritius EDBM

AB Members undertook multiple international visits including the recent AI Summit India and meetings with Nvidia in Singapore

Major International Events We Delivered:

 AI Expo Africa 2025, Johannesburg 3406 delegates (47% growth on 2024)

 Hosted DCDT DigiTech SMME & French SMME delegation at AI Expo Africa 2025

 Hosted UN ITU 1st AI for Good Impact Africa Summit, Johannesburg

 Viva Tech Paris, France

 UNITU AI4Good Summit Geneva, Switzerland

Regional & Local Events where we Exhibited or Spoke:

 SAAIA Roadshow: Western Cape Launch @AWS, Cape Town

 SAAIA Roadshow: Gauteng Launch @ Google, Johannesburg

 TUT AI Seminar, Pretoria

 Pan African Data Centres Exhibition & Conference 2025, Johannesburg

 Deep Learning IndabaX South Africa, Stellenbosch

 AWS Skills Centre WCG Skills Panel Discussion

 Converge Panel on Trust in Technology

 UVU Investment Summit Cape Town

 AWS Early Stage Investment Summit

 IEEE Limpopo Outreach Event

 Coding for Mandela Limpopo Outreach Event

 12th Regional Leadership Summit Cape Town

 Exhibited at the G20 AI Summit Cape Town

 Multiple members spoke at both the G20 AI & B20 Summits in Cape Town

Networking & Events we attended in region:

 Microsoft: Agents of AI, Johannesburg

 Microsoft AI Tour, Johannesburg

 AfricArena: State of Tech Report webinar

 AI Everything Global – Dubai, UAE

 Innov8 Networking Session: AI & Cybersecurity Impact on Investment in SA, Pretoria

 AI Action Summit – Paris, France

 Cyber Security Summit 2025, Johannesburg

 Google Cloud: Johannesburg Cloud Region Launch, Johannesburg

 The Innovation Hub: Roundtable on Innovation, Tech Hubs and Digital Skills as Drivers of Growth in Gauteng, Pretoria

 SAIMC Technical Talk, Port Elizabeth

 Global AI Summit on Africa – Rwanda, Kigali

 Impact of AI on Geopolitics: UJ, Johannesburg

 Elastic Day South Africa 2025, Johannesburg

 HPE Innovation Day, Johannesburg

 Machines Can See 2025 – Dubai, UAE

 French Embassy Invitation | AI in 2025: Perspectives for Bilateral & Global Cooperation, Pretoria

 Africa Automation Technology Fair, Johannesburg

 South African Internet Governance Forum (Online Participant)

 Converge Africa 2025, Cape Town

 Y20 South Africa Launch, Pretoria

 Crayon RoundTable with Google Cloud, Johannesburg

 Data & AI Community Day, Johannesburg

 VIVA Tech, Onboarding – Online

 TechNvst – Microsoft, Johannesburg

 Red Hat & Google Cloud, Johannesburg

 SecurEx South Africa, Johannesburg

 Agent AI Salesforce, Johannesburg

 Data to Enable the power to predict: Transport Forum, Johannesburg

 VIVA Tech 2025 – Paris, France

 Y20 South Africa Pre- Summit, Pretoria

 Microsoft AI Skilling Day, Johannesburg

 AI ZA meetup: Entelect, Johannesburg

 G20 High level Intergenerational Roundtable, Johannesburg

 Huawei Africa Connect, Johannesburg

 Analytica Lab Africa, Johannesburg

 Manufacturing Indaba, Johannesburg

 SUSE Summit 2025, Johannesburg

 Startup Act LED Research Roundtable with SALGA, Pretoria

 Start-Up 20, Johannesburg

 Global SME Ministerial Meeting, Johannesburg

 Collective X’s Decoding Demand Research, Johannesburg

 Google: AI in Action, Johannesburg

 CEM Africa, Cape Town

 GIZ AI Maturity Assessment – Webinar

 CNBC Africa: AI Summit, Johannesburg

 Cloudfare Immerse SSA 2025, Johannesburg

 Huawei & Mustek: Future of Warehousing, Johannesburg

 Y20 South Africa Summit, Johannesburg

 AWS Summit, Johannesburg

 Trailblazer Community: Salesforce (Online)

 The Business Show, Johannesburg

 OpenText Summit South Africa 2025, Johannesburg

 Tshwane Investment Summit, Pretoria

 Solcon Infinity Summit 2025, Johannesburg

 Dell Technologies Forum 2025, Johannesburg

 TUT: TETA Research Chair Seminar & Stakeholder Feedback Event, Pretoria

 ECDPM’s AI for Social Good project and Research ICT Africa’s Just AI Framework of Inquiry, Johannesburg

 Africa AI Village: G20 side event, Johannesburg

 Science Forum South Africa, Pretoria

 Brawlers AI Mixer with Acalytica, Johannesburg

 AMLD South Africa 2026 Wits: Democratize AI in Africa, Johannesburg

 India-SA AI Dialogue: Skills, Jobs & the Future of AI, Johannesburg

 NPC Post-SONA Engagement Webinar

 Accelerate with Google Cloud, Johannesburg

 AI and Us: The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, Pretoria

 Project Launch – Catalysing AI Innovation in Africa through IP, Pretoria

About the SA AI Association

Join 4000+ AI Practitioners in shaping the future of South African Responsible AI adoption & inclusivity – The South African Artificial Intelligence Association (SAAIA) is an industry body focused on promoting the advancement of responsible AI in South Africa by uniting practitioners across Commercial, Government, Academic, Startup and NGO sectors. With over 4000+ members we are the largest AI community in South Africa focused on the AI opportunity in our region. SAAIA seeks to encourage stakeholders in the adoption of responsible AI for the commercial and societal benefit of the citizens of South Africa with a primary focus on economic growth, trade, investment, equality and inclusivity.

Join us for free: https://saaiassociation.co.za/ membership/

About the AI Media Group

The AI Media Group is a South African based industry analysis, publishing & advisory consultancy focused on the AI and smart tech sector in Africa. The group administers the South African AI Association and are the organisers of AI Expo Africa, the continent’s largest Enterprise Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) trade show. They also publish The State of AI in Africa Report and Synapse Magazine, Africa’s only AI trade magazine charting Africa’s 4.0 innovation journey. The group also runs AI TV which hosts discussions on trends in AI / deep tech technologies with local, regional and global thought leaders.

Take action today to join Africa’s largest AI Event & Conference Exhibit or sponsor the event >> https://aiexpoafrica.com/sponsor/ Speak at the event >> https://aiexpoafrica.com/speakers/ Contact: enquiries@aiexpoafrica.com

All trademarks & company names mentioned are protected by their respective owner.

YES J OINS SA AI ASSOCIATION ADVISORY BOARD

SA AI Association Welcomes YES as a Platinum Sponsor

YES is the highest impact private sector youth employment programme in South Africa. As a private sector led initiative, we address the country’s youth unemployment crisis by empowering businesses to create jobs for our unemployed youth.

We’re a non-profit organisation that receives no government funding. We work with leading businesses in various sectors to provide 12-month quality work experiences for unemployed young people to become the future managers, skilled professionals, and entrepreneurs who will drive the economy forward. In return, businesses receive one or two levels up on their B-BBEE scorecard and / or integrate into their ESG strategies.

Learn more about YES: https://www.yes4youth.co.za/

Dr Nick Bradshaw the Chairman and Founder of the SA AI Association stated, “We are very happy to welcome YES to our ecosystem as part of our Platinum Sponsor membership programme and also offer a warm welcome to YES CEO Ravi Naidoo who joins the SAAIA Advisory Board. We look forward to mutual partnering on our share vision and mission to help everyone learn, use and engage in the AI opportunity in South Africa.”

State of AI in Africa

FBrandAxis, an AI search analytics platform for marketers, agencies and growing businesses, announced the launch of its public platform, positioning itself as a challenger to the expensive, enterprise-first tools emerging in the AI visibility category. As customers increasingly turn to AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Google AI Mode or Claude to research companies, compare products and make buying decisions, brands face a new problem: they may be recommended, misrepresented or ignored entirely without knowing it. or large enterprises, the emerging AI visibility category is already attracting sophisticated tools and premium pricing. But for agencies, startups, challenger brands and midmarket companies, the barrier to understanding AI visibility remains relatively high. BrandAxis was built to change that. The platform gives brands a practical, affordable way to monitor how they appear in AI-generated answers, how they rank against competitors, whether mentions are positive or negative, and which sources are shaping what AI systems say.

"AI search should not only be measurable for companies with enterprise budgets,"

said Felix Norton, Co-founder of BrandAxis. "Every brand deserves to know how AI describes them, whether they are being recommended, and why competitors may be showing up instead. BrandAxis was built to make that level of visibility accessible."

Designed for the Answer Engine Era

Unlike traditional SEO tools built around search rankings, BrandAxis is designed for the new answer engine and AI search area, where visibility depends not only on keywords, but on how LLMs like ChatGPT and Claude understand a brand's positioning and credibility across not only their own website, but also other mediums like news articles, blogs, user generated content on Reddit and LinkedIn and even multi modal content like video on YouTube. This is where BrandAxis provides insight for companies to understand how their brand, product or service is being represented.

Key BrandAxis Features

 AI visibility tracking: Monitor how often a brand is mentioned across different AI model conversations like ChatGPT, AI Overviews, Perplexity, Claude and more.

 Competitor benchmarking: Compare brand visibility, rank and sentiment against competitors.

 Sentiment analysis: Understand whether AI answers describe a brand positively, neutrally or negatively.

 Source extraction: Identify the pages and citations influencing AI-generated answers.

 Prompt-level reporting: Track the questions customers are likely to ask and how brands show up in those answers.

 Country and city-level tracking: Understand how AI visibility changes by location.

 Misinformation Detection: Identify factual inaccuracies to mitigate AI hallucinations.

 Actionable recommendations: Turn AI search data into a practical improvement roadmap to be implemented by your marketing team or agency.

Challenger Positioning and Origin Story

The challenger positioning is central to BrandAxis' launch. While much of the AI search analytics market is moving toward

enterprise dashboards and high-cost contracts, BrandAxis is focused on speed, clarity and accessibility. The platform is designed for teams that need to understand AI search now, without waiting for a complex implementation or committing to enterprise software pricing. Within minutes of signing up, a company can begin to measure valuable insights.

The company was co-founded by Felix Norton, a digital agency founder with more than a decade of SEO, brand and performance marketing experience, and Freddie O'Donnell, a software engineer and successful fintech founder who led the development and solved the technical challenge of making AI visibility affordable. The idea came from a simple client question: "Where did you hear about us?" When the answer was "ChatGPT recommended you," Norton saw the beginning of a new acquisition channel and a measurement gap most marketers did not have the tool for.

"Marketers already know how important visibility is on Google. Higher visibility and rankings directly correlate to sales and revenue," Norton added. "But AI search changes the game. It does not just rank brands. It interprets them, compares them and recommends them, with studies showing conversion rates being x4 higher than traditional search mediums. BrandAxis helps teams understand that new layer of influence, and empowers marketing teams to leverage AI visibility and recommendations as an effective marketing channel."

BrandAxis is available now at BrandAxis. ai, with a free tier and paid plans designed to make AI visibility tracking accessible to brands and agencies of all sizes.

About BrandAxis.ai

BrandAxis.ai is an AI search analytics platform that helps brands measure, monitor and improve how they appear in AI-generated answers. The platform tracks AI visibility, rankings, sentiment, competitor mentions and source influence across major AI answer engines, helping marketers understand how AI systems describe their brand and what to do about it.

Built in Cape Town and operated by BrandAxis, the company is focused on making AI visibility tracking accessible to businesses, agencies and marketing teams competing in the new era of AI search.

AI without humanity isn't progress. Get AI.

We are building a community for CX, contact centre and BPO leaders who believe AI should make work more human, not less.

The world is racing to deploy AI. The real question is: who will show what responsible, people‑centred AI looks like in customer experience and contact centres? South Africa – with its Ubuntu culture, service talent and resilience – is perfectly placed to lead. Get AI exists to help turn that possibility into practice.

WHO IS GET AI?

Get AI (getai.cc) is an independent, human‑centred, research‑led media, advisory and community platform for leaders navigating AI in CX, contact centres and BPOs. It bridges the gap between AI innovation and measurable business impact, keeping people at the centre of every decision.

Independent Perspective

Neutral, research‑led insight on AI in CX and BPO – beyond hype and industry buzzwords.

From Strategy to Execution

Playbooks, programmes and frameworks that move AI from PowerPoint to production.

Focused on People & Outcomes

A growing community of local and global leaders shaping AI around human strengths.

Who Get AI is for

CX leaders responsible for customer experience, loyalty and service design. Contact centre and BPO leaders managing complex operations at scale. Executives, AI, digital and data leaders looking for practical guidance on AI in customer operations.

WHAT YOU GAIN

Clarity

Understand where AI fits in your CX and BPO environment, and what should remain human‑led by design.

Confidence

Build internal alignment around AI investments, risks and opportunities with an independent voice in the conversation.

Capability

Equip leaders and teams with the concepts, frameworks and programmes needed to lead AI change responsibly.

Rooted in South Africa, built for Africa and beyond.

South Africa's CX and BPO sectors are known for strong service, resilience and human connection. Get AI builds on these strengths to develop people‑centred AI practices that work here, and that can travel into the rest of Africa and the world.

Explore people‑centred AI for your CX, contact centre or BPO. Visit getai.cc to: Subscribe to independent AI‑in‑CX insight. Explore community, programmes and partnerships. Connect with us about your AI journey.

MEET ALEX Your next executive hire isn’t human

Executive capacity without executive headcount. By THE AI SHOP

There’s a problem every growing company experiences. You need a chief financial officer (CFO) who can tell you which customers are bleeding the business. A chief operating officer (COO) who sees the bottleneck before it shuts down the production line. A head of legal who can flag that regulatory change before it costs you. A chief risk officer who isn’t just ticking boxes. However, your leadership team is already stretched thin, or those roles simply don’t exist on your organogram.

You’re not alone. Most South African companies operate without a full C-suite. Not because they don’t need one, but because they can’t afford one. The result? Strategic blind spots. Decisions made on gut feel. Board packs assembled in a panic at midnight. Critical questions that never get asked because there’s nobody whose job it is to ask them.

ENTER ALEX

Alex isn’t a chatbot. It’s an entire leadership team – one that works around the clock, knows your business intimately and costs a fraction of a single executive salary.

Alex can manifest as any member of the C-suite – CFO, COO, chief of staff, chief human resources officer (CHRO), head of legal, chief risk officer, chief technical officer, chief marketing officer (CMO) – or as a board-level advisor helping directors navigate complex documentation and governance responsibilities. Each role brings the analytical

depth and strategic judgement you’d expect from a seasoned executive in that function. What makes Alex fundamentally different from generic AI tools is what’s happening underneath. Alex connects to the knowledge sources you choose to give it: board packs and governance documents for a director, enterprise resource planning (ERP) data and operational systems for an executive, or both for a CEO who straddles the two worlds. From these, Alex builds a continuously updated context graph that maps the people, roles, decisions, relationships and history that matter to your role. Alex doesn’t just answer questions. Alex understands your company – at the level relevant to you.

And, your data stays yours. Your information is completely isolated – no cross-contamination, no shared environments. Alex never trains on your data. Everything is hosted in a secure cloud environment, fully compliant with the Protection Of Personal Information Act. The intelligence Alex builds about your business serves your business alone.

Powered by recent research from MIT, Alex’s analytical capabilities, particularly as CFO, are now on a par with a listed-company analyst, delivering investment-grade financial analysis while openly flagging information gaps. This isn’t AI that pretends to know everything. It’s AI that thinks like an executive.

NOT JUST ANOTHER CHATBOT

Business meetings aren’t quiz shows, so you don’t need an AI that regurgitates facts. You need one that synthesises, challenges and advises. Here’s what sets Alex apart.

Alex’s executives think together. This is the breakthrough. When you ask Alex’s CMO about growth strategy, the CMO doesn’t answer in isolation. It responds with awareness that the CFO has flagged cash constraints, the head of legal has noted a pending regulatory change, and the CHRO has observed the sales team is understaffed. That’s because Alex’s executives build a shared, living picture of your business –each insight validated and refined across every relevant perspective, deepening with every interaction. You experience a coherent leadership team that’s been conferring behind the scenes. No other AI tool works this way.

Alex adapts to the user. A board director gets governance-focused insight drawn from strategy documents and board materials. An operations manager gets actionable detail from ERP and operational data. The user decides what context Alex works with, and Alex calibrates its depth accordingly.

Alex teaches, not just tells. A built-in Socratic mode helps users build genuine understanding and retention of complex material, not just skim a summary and move on.

Alex watches the horizon. Competitors, regulations, market shifts – Alex monitors the external environment so you’re never blindsided by changes outside your four walls.

IN PRACTICE: TIME CLOTHING

Time Clothing is a mid-sized South African manufacturer navigating the complexities of a

“ALEX IS LIKE HAVING A CONSULTANT ON DIFFERENT LEVELS. OUR EXECUTIVES GET STRUCTURED ANSWERS ON DEMAND. MOREOVER, INSTEAD OF KNOWLEDGE CLUSTERED IN A FEW HEADS, WE NOW HAVE A MUCH MORE DEMOCRATIC, YET CONTROLLED ACCESS TO KNOWLEDGE. MIDDLE MANAGEMENT CAN TAKE SWIFT DECISIONS WHERE PREVIOUSLY IT WOULD HAVE NEEDED ANOTHER MEETING WITH THEIR LINE MANAGER.”

– PHILIPP DREYER, TIME CLOTHING

highly competitive, margin-sensitive industry. Like many businesses of its size, the company generates rich operational data through its ERP system, but turning that data into strategic insight has traditionally required specialist skills the team doesn’t always have on hand.

With Alex connected to its ERP data, Time Clothing’s leadership can now ask the questions that matter: “Which customers are uneconomical to the factory?” “Where are the margin leaks across our product lines?” “What does the order pattern of the last 12 months

tell us about where to focus next?” These are exco-grade queries – answered in seconds, with the nuance of someone who knows the business intimately.

TRY ALEX. FREE FOR 14 DAYS

Alex is available in two tiers, plus enterprise deployment. Every plan includes the full AI executive platform; the only difference is how much of Alex you use.

Alex Essential gives you the complete AI executive platform – board preparation, strategic analysis, operational oversight, risk identification – with standard monthly capacity.

Alex Executive is for power users and leadership teams who rely on Alex daily, with extended capacity and priority support.

Enterprise Deployment brings Alex deep into your organisation with custom integrations, unlimited users and dedicated support.

Ahead of a Curve Ahead of a Curve

I Didn’t Know I Was On I Didn’t Know I Was On

An automation guy from Johannesburg, the “forward deployed engineer,” and the part nobody warned me about

A few months ago I read that the biggest names in AI were racing to hire for a role they call the forward deployed engineer: someone who sits inside the customer ’s business, learns the real problem not the one on the slide, the real one and builds the solution right there in the loop I had a slightly strange moment reading it, because I’d been doing exactly that Alone For about six years I just didn’t have the fancy name for it yet

This is the short version of how an automation guy from Johannesburg ended up ahead of a curve he didn’t know he was on and the thing that surprised me most about where it led

Building in the dark

For seven years I built z1, the framework underneath Roboteur, mostly solo and entirely before AI coding assistants existed. It was lonely work, and if I’m honest, it looked over-engineered. Over-engineered for what it needed to do then and, as it turned out, exactly engineered for what it needed to do five years later I was betting on something before it was obvious, including to me.

Going inside the business

The insight that changed everything wasn’t technical At some point I stopped building automation in isolation and went inside consulting full-time, sitting in the bank, sitting with the people who actually run the operation That’s where I learned the workflows that never appear on a process diagram: the exceptions, the tribal knowledge, the “human middleware” quietly holding everything together until it breaks under scale

The hard part of automation was never the code. It was understanding the real work. I took those lessons straight back into Roboteur and then watched the rest of the industry start advertising for someone to do precisely what I’d been doing for years. The curve had caught up, and handed my job a title.

From instinct to system

On my own, all of this was instinct and lived practice hard to teach, harder to scale. Working with our accelerator partner, Praxxeum, we distilled the principles, philosophies and methods into something repeatable That became the rebrand to The Everything Automation Company: not a slogan, but a transferable system for turning one practitioner ’s tacit knowledge into something a whole team can run

The hero factory

Where it’s heading is a platform that can carry a piece of work from raw transcript all the way through to insight and reporting, with every step in between managed and harnessed by AI-first design. I don’t think of it as a tool that replaces the team I think of it as a hero factory the conditions under which a single practitioner can hold an entire lifecycle that used to need a department.

The part I didn’t expect

Here’s the thing nobody warns you about You’d assume that getting better at automation means needing people less. I’ve found the exact opposite. The better we get at solving real business problems with AI, the more it becomes about the people our clients, our partners, the teams we grow alongside The automation was never the point. It just cleared the space for the part that always mattered: working together, and building something bigger than any of us could alone

OUT AND ABOUT: SAUCECODE – GONGS AND DINNER PLATES

Saucecode, The Everything Automation company have been receiving awards, gongs and dinner plates from the industry of late. Their South African Grown Automation Platform ROBOTEUR, long established in enterprises like Nedbank, The Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and Cine Centre, has escaped the coup and gathering interest on other continents.

First up was May 2026’S recognition by CIOREVIEW Magazine Europe who awarded Saucecode as TOP NEXT GENERATION HYPER AUTOMATION AND AI SOLUTIONS IN UK 2026.

CIOReview Says: “Enterprise leaders evaluating next-generation hyper automation and AI solutions in the UK face a familiar tension between ambition and execution. Many automation initiatives

stall not because of a lack of vision, but because existing platforms struggle to adapt to fragmented system landscape, rigid architectures and dependency-heavy integrations.” Furthermore: ”Traditional robotic process automation tools often deliver incremental efficiency gains yet fall short when workflows demand contextual decision making, real- time adaptability and deployment within constrained environments.”

“In this context, Saucecode offers a compelling option with its Roboteur. AI platform. It approaches automation as a modular, tactical system designed to address limitations observe3d in earlier RPA model, particularly the reliance on external tools and the lack of built-in intelligence.”

https://www.ciorevieweurope.com/ saucecode-2026

The Editorial attestation states: “This recognition is determined through a bona fide editorial process based on the CrossIndustry Partner Value Assessment Model and its defined methodology. It draws on independent editorial research, subscriber nominations and industry input, and highlights excellence in cross-industry business impact, solution relevance and problem-solving fit, execution reliability and market confidence among enterprise stakeholders.”

Followed swiftly by Barry Buck, Saucecode’s CTO being shortlisted and

finally awarded for recognition: The Most Influential CTO Revamping Their Industries, 2026 at the Global Excellence & Leadership Awards (GELA) 2026, that took place June 6th, 2026, in Cape Town.

Says Barry, “The organisations actually winning aren’t transforming – they’re continuously replacing inefficient processes with intelligent ones, week after week, without ceremony. There’s no steering committee. There’s a Tuesday where things were one way, and a Friday where they’re another. Saucecode’s contribution is to install the execution layer that makes that replacement continuous instead of episodic.

And his philosophy: “The industry is saturated with people who write about innovation but have never shipped a system that survives a Monday morning. Credibility comes from production code, not LinkedIn posts. Pick a technology that genuinely interests you, deploy it against a real problem, and ship something – even if it’s small.

Then write about it. Not to build a brand, but to clarify your own thinking. Explaining a technology to someone else is the fastest way to find the gaps in your understanding.”

www.saucecode.tech

Communications and Digital Technologies

Minister Solly Malatsi has announced the withdrawal of the Draft National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy following an internal process.

"Following revelations that the Draft National Artificial Intelligence Policy published for public comment contains various fictitious sources in its reference list, we initiated internal questions, which have now confirmed that this was the case.

"This failure is not a mere technical issue but has compromised the integrity and credibility of the draft policy. As such, I am withdrawing the Draft National Artificial Intelligence Policy,” the Minister said.

MINISTER ANNOUNCES WITHDRAWAL OF DRAFT AI POLICY

The draft AI policy was approved by Cabinet on 25 March 2026 (combined with the Special Sitting of Cabinet on 01 April 2026), for public comment. In the Government Gazette dated 10 April, the public had until 10 June 2026 to comment on the bill. / Read original story here /

“ The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies did not deliver on the standard that is acceptable for an institution entrusted with the role to lead South Africa ‘s digital policy environment. The most plausible explanation is that AI-generated citations were included without proper verification. ”

The document extends the initial AI policy framework by embedding principles of intergenerational equity, ensuring that AIdriven innovation prioritises the well-being of current and future generations.

Speaking at the launch of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) lab and a Centre of Specialisation in Mpumalanga for artisan training earlier this month, Deputy President Paul Mashatile said the government is developing a comprehensive response through the policy. He added at the time that the policy will establish national priorities, norms, and sector-specific strategies across manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, transport, and trade.

On Sunday, Minister Malatsi said the withdrawal comes as South Africans deserve better.

“The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies did not deliver on the standard that is acceptable for an institution entrusted with the role to lead South Africa ‘s digital policy environment. The most plausible explanation is that AI-generated citations were included without proper verification.

“This should not have happened. In fact, this unacceptable lapse proves why vigilant human oversight over the use of artificial intelligence is critical. It’s a lesson we take with humility. I want to reassure the country that we are treating this matter with the gravity it deserves. There will be consequence management for those responsible for drafting and quality assurance,” said the Minister.

- SAnews.gov.za

TELKOM LAUNCHING NEW R100 MILLION AI INSTITUTE

/ Read original story here /

Telkom has pledged R100 million to create the Telkom AI Institute, which aims to equip South Africans with artificial intelligence and digital skills. The partially stateowned company said that the investment will foster local innovation and accelerate inclusive participation in the digital economy. The pledge was announced in Geneva as part of the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) Partner2Connect (P2C) Digital Coalition.

The coalition has surpassed $82 billion in global commitments to connect the world, with Telkom among the few African companies recognised in the recent round of pledges. Telkom said the nation’s digital divide is not simply a question of network coverage, as AI is reshaping economies faster than most skills can keep pace.

It said that a second, hard-to-close gap will emerge, a digital divide where everyone is connected but only a few know how to use digital connections to build a livelihood. “Connectivity without capability only gets South Africa halfway there,” said Serame Taukobong, Group CEO, Telkom.

“We have spent years building the networks that connect this country. The Telkom AI Institute is our commitment to ensuring that connectivity translates into skills, jobs and opportunity.” The institute will focus on practical, job-ready AI and digital skills training, with a focus on reaching young people, small businesses, and communities currently underserved in South Africa’s digital economy.

The pledge also forms part of Telkom’s broader Vision 2030 ambition, which looks to move beyond an infrastructure provider to becoming an active builder of the country’s skills base.

What is Activate South Africa 2026?

This landmark forum on 26-27th August explores how South Africa can harness AI to improve service delivery, education, and the everyday lives of its people, while establishing the policies, infrastructure, and frameworks needed for ethical AI adoption.

Convened by the SA AI Association, the creators of Africa’s largest AI ecosystem event (AI Expo Africa), Activate SA focuses on 10 core topics addressing the challenges and opportunities required to make Responsible AI accessible to all.

Our mission is to foster collaboration between government, industry, and civil society to build the policies, infrastructure, and skills needed for ethical AI adoption. Our vision is a South Africa where AI drives innovation, improves service delivery, and creates opportunities that are inclusive, transparent, and sustainable.

Who should attend & how to join Activate SA?

A private, senior-level gathering of 400 executives, innovators, and ecosystem leaders shaping South Africa’s AI future.

CLiCK HERE FOR TiCKETS

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Your contact in South Africa

Interface Systems S.A. (Pty) Ltd

1st Floor, Block B, St Andrews Office Park 6 Meadowbrook Lane, Epsom Downs Phc +27-(0)11-706-8281

Adri du Plessis : adridp@interfacesystems.co.za

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Google has announced a series of new investments in artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, digital skills and startup development across Africa

GOOGLE EXPANDS AFRICA INVESTMENT

Google has announced a series of new investments in artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, digital skills and startup development across Africa Google has announced a series of new investments in artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, digital skills and startup development across Africa, marking the company’s most comprehensive expansion of its technology ecosystem on the continent to date.

The announcements were made during Google’s inaugural Cloud Summit Africa, held in Johannesburg under the theme Building for Africa with Google Cloud. The company also revealed that it has surpassed the US$1 billion investment commitment it made to Africa over five years. The summit brought together more than 2,500 business leaders, developers, technology professionals and public sector officials, including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who described the event as further evidence of Africa’s growing importance within the global cloud computing landscape.

The new initiatives span infrastructure, artificial intelligence, startup support and digital skills development.

Among the headline announcements was Google’s plan to establish a Digital Exchange Port in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. The facility will serve as the first of four connectivity hubs the company intends to build across Africa and is expected to strengthen international internet routing by linking the continent directly to Australia through Google’s Umoja subsea cable and an additional subsea route.

/ Read original story here /

Google also announced plans to establish Africa’s first Applied AI Lab in Accra, Ghana. The facility, which will operate from the Accra AI Community Centre, will be developed through Google’s AI Futures Fund in collaboration with Google Research and venture capital partners. The lab will provide African startups with access to Google’s latest AI models while connecting founders with researchers to accelerate the development of AI-powered businesses. Applications for the programme opened during the summit and will remain open until 31 August.

The company further announced that applications for the 2026 South African edition of the Google for Startups Accelerator will open on 21 July. Fifteen startups will be selected to receive mentorship, an AI-focused training curriculum and equity-free funding as part of Google’s wider commitment to support 50 African startups between 2024 and 2028.

Beyond startups, Google unveiled several initiatives aimed at strengthening digital skills across the continent. These include a partnership with The Akuna Group, founded by actor Idris Elba, supported through more than US$1 million in Google.org funding to provide AI-focused creative education for underrepresented African creators.

The company will also establish a R3 million digital innovation centre at South West Gauteng TVET College in Soweto while expanding AI education programmes for universities across six African countries.

Speaking during the summit, James Manyika, Google’s Senior Vice President for Research, Labs, Technology and Society, said the investments are intended to strengthen Africa’s position in the emerging AI economy.

“We’re investing in infrastructure, Africanled innovation, and education and skill building,” said Manyika, adding that Africa must develop its own AI capabilities to avoid being left behind as artificial intelligence transforms economies worldwide.

The latest announcements build on Google’s existing investments across the continent, including the launch of its Johannesburg cloud region in 2025 and the US$37 million committed last year towards AI research and digital skills initiatives in Africa.

President Ramaphosa welcomed Google’s expanded investment during both the summit and in his weekly newsletter published on 6 July, where he highlighted the growing interest from global technology companies in South Africa.

He referenced investments by Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Mastercard alongside Google’s latest commitments, noting their contribution to strengthening the country’s digital economy.

Ramaphosa also stressed the importance of ensuring that Africa develops its own digital capabilities alongside attracting foreign investment.

“In the digital age, sovereignty is measured not only by territorial borders,” he wrote. “It is increasingly measured by a nation’s ability to secure its data, develop its own digital capabilities and exercise meaningful control over the technologies on which its economy depends.”

According to Google, its Johannesburg cloud region alone could contribute approximately $103.7 billion (R1.7 trillion) to South Africa’s economy by 2030 while supporting an estimated 315,000 jobs.

While Google did not disclose the individual value of each new initiative announced at the summit, the latest investments signal a broader strategy that extends beyond cloud infrastructure into artificial intelligence research, startup development and digital skills. Together, they position the company to play a larger role in shaping Africa’s digital economy as demand for AI technologies and cloud services continues to grow.

How People‑Centred AI

Unlocks the Next Level of Human Potential by

Werner Tenten

AIhasblownopenhumanpotentialin organisationsinawaynoprevious technologywavehas.Leaderssuddenlyhave theabilitytoextendthecapabilitiesoftheir peopleatascaleandspeedthatfelt impossibleafewyearsago–iftheychoose touseAIthatway.Therealquestionisno longer'IsAIpowerful?'–itclearlyis–but 'Willweuseittoexpandorerodewhatis alreadypowerfulinourpeopleandculture?'

Over the last decade, I have watched AI and automation leave too many skeletons behind: expensive tools no one uses, pilots that never scale, trust broken with agents and customers, cultures more anxious than inspired. The patterns of failure are familiar –shopping for tools before understanding impact, buying into hype without grounding decisions in data, and underestimating how deeply this will reshape work and skills over the next two to three years. Most of it is preventable.

But, I am not here to impress you about what I have learned. I am here to impress you about you and your team – about what is possible when AI is designed around the strengths of your people, not instead of them. Thatiswherepeople‑centredAIcomesin.

People‑centred AI starts with a commitment that technology must serve people, relationships and long‑term capability, not just short‑term efficiency.

When AI is designed this way, it becomes a catalyst for unlocking new levels of creativity, judgement and contribution in your teams, instead of squeezing more out of them.

In Africa, there is language for this already: Ubuntu – 'a person is a person through other persons.' It reminds us that intelligence is relational; it lives between people, not only inside systems. When Ubuntu is applied to AI, leaders begin to ask different questions: Who benefits? How will this change the way customers, agents and leaders relate to each other? Does this system strengthen our ability to flourish together, or quietly hollow it out?

My work with Get AI is simply to create the space, language and structure for CX, contact centre and BPO leaders to answer those questions well – starting in South Africa, across Africa, and into the world.

Over more than 25 years in technology and over a decade of AI deployments, I have seen that leaders who succeed with AI in CX and BPO think clearly about a handful of things, in a deliberate order. You do not need to memorise the details. You just need to know there is a people‑centred way to do this.

"TherealopportunityisnotAIinsteadofpeople.ItisAIthathelpspeopleleadbetter,serve better,andbuildstrongerbusinesses."

A Simple Way to Think About People-Centred AI

The Get AI Human-Centred Framework for CX, Contact Centres & BPOs

AtGetAI,thishasbeendistilledintoapracticalhuman-centredAIframeworkforCX,contact centres and BPOs. Think of it less as a checklist andmoreasawayofseeingwherehuman potentialcanbeunlocked.

1 / Startwithyourhumanfoundation

Clarifywhat'people-centred'reallymeans

Your values, boundaries and non-negotiables. Decide what must stay human by design, and where AI can assist or automate. Use Ubuntu as a lens: every AI decision should enhance relationships, not erode them.

2 / Separatedatafromhype

Grounddecisionsinevidence,notheadlines

Ask which AI use cases are already working in environments like yours, which are emerging, and which are still experiments. Nothing wrong with experiments if you want a competitive advantage but understanding the risks associated and how to manage them is key. Look for proof at your scale and context, not only global stories.

3 / Seearoundthecornerforyourworkforce

LookhonestlyathowAIwillchangework

What does it mean for your agents, supervisors and leaders over the next two to three years. Done well, AI takes away repetitive tasks and frees people to focus on higher-value work that uses their empathy, creativity and problem-solving skills – the very capabilities that make them irreplaceable.

Do not fall for the typical capacity vacuum trap that has been repeating itself through every industrial revolution.

"SouthAfrica'sUbuntu-shaped understandingpositionsittoleadthe globalconversationonhuman-centred AI."

4 / Understand your systems, data and risk Putguardrailsinplace

Check how AI will connect with the systems and data you already have, and what needs to be strengthened. Put guardrails in place for quality, escalation, bias, privacy and compliance 3 especially where AI touches customers and frontline teams.

5 / Choose your approaches and pilots wisely

Startsmall,butnotvague

Start small, but not vague. Design pilots that test clear hypotheses about value and human impact, with success metrics you can explain in the boardroom and on the floor. Treat AI as part of an integrated workforce, not a bolt-on gadget.

6 / Bring it together into a living plan

Acoherent,evolvingroadmap

Pull all of this into a coherent, evolving roadmap and governance model 3 across CX, operations, IT, data, HR, risk and legal. Keep revisiting the people-centred lens as AI matures in your organisation.

Metcalfe'sLaw:everynewconnectionmultipliesthe value of thewhole.Inpeople-centredAI,everyempoweredagent, every connectedsystem,everystrengthenedrelationship compounds4notjustefficiency,buttrust,capabilityand collectiveintelligence.

Donewell,AItakesawayrepetitivetasksandfreespeopletofocusonhigher-valuework4thevery capabilitiesthatmakethemirreplaceable.

This is the backbone of the Get AI Human-Centred Framework. It is built from real deployments, failures and lessons over more than a decade, combined with current research and a distinctly African perspective on what 'good' looks like. It exists to help you unlock the next level of human potential in your organisation 3 and turn that potential into better experiences, stronger teams and more resilient businesses.

Youarewelcometojoinus.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Werner Tenten is the Founder, Publisher & PeopleCentred AI Advisor at Get AI, equipping CX, contact centre and BPO leaders with independent insight, community, programmes, and resources to bridge the gap between AI innovation and practical execution 4 elevating human experience across teams, agents, and customers.

getai.cc werner1010.ai

MICROSOFT SCOUT: THE INVISIBLE OPERATOR

/ By Deon Van Zyl /

Microsoft is no longer positioning AI as a helper. It wants it to be a worker.

On June 2, 2026, Microsoft introduced Scout, a new category of always-on agent it calls an "Autopilot," designed to operate inside Microsoft 365 and execute tasks independently. The announcement frames a clear departure from reactive assistants toward systems that actively manage work in motion.

The shift from Copilot to Scout

For the past few years, Copilot defined Microsoft's AI strategy. It could summarize, generate, and analyse, but it always waited for input. Scout breaks that model completely.

Instead of responding to prompts, Scout continuously observes activity across Microsoft 365 apps and begins acting without being explicitly told. Autopilots stay active in the background, understand how work gets done across your apps and systems, and act without needing to be prompted each time. Because they operate with their own identity, they can carry out tasks within the permissions and policies you and your organization set.

Copilot reacts to what you ask. Scout decides what needs doing.

Built on OpenClaw, but heavily constrained

Microsoft confirms that Scout is based on OpenClaw, the same AI assistant that took the AI market by storm earlier this year. Unlike OpenClaw, the Microsoft agent has been built on enterprise-grade security principles and controls. Each Autopilot agent has its own Entra identity and can be configured to access only specific data or services within the Microsoft 365 cloud environment.

That flexibility comes with a problem. OpenClaw's ability to operate across personal and enterprise systems creates a serious attack surface when deployed without strict boundaries. OpenClaw has drawn scrutiny due to apparent security flaws, but Microsoft promises Scout is built with enterprise-grade security and controls so it can be trusted in an organization from day one.

OpenClaw is an extremely fast-moving open-source project, which is why Microsoft decided to take the existing technology and build sandbox-style protections around it to prevent unpredictable behaviour. The goal is not just capability, it is predictability.

A controlled version of autonomy

Microsoft Scout adds the enterprise solution built on Microsoft 365: the identity, credential, and access controls that turn open-source capability into something organizations can safely run. Every agent operates under its own governed Entra identity, not a shared, anonymous service account, so the work it does is attributable to a known actor the directory already understands.

Sensitive actions can require a human to sign off before they proceed, and data protection policies from Microsoft Purview, including sensitivity labels and loss prevention, are enforced in the moment, before anything is sent or written.

Where OpenClaw maximizes freedom, Scout maximizes governance.

What Scout does in practice

Scout connects to apps such as Teams, Outlook, OneDrive, and SharePoint, and accesses data from chat, email, calendar, and contacts. It can reduce mundane tasks that office workers face, such as coordinating and scheduling meeting times with colleagues, or blocking time in a user's calendar based on upcoming work commitments. It can also spot risks like stalled decisions, so they can be addressed before they become blockers. Over time, Scout builds context powered by Work IQ, learning how a user works, what they care about, and what needs to happen next. Rather than waiting for commands, it interprets ongoing work patterns and takes action based on them.

Users no longer manage tasks directly. They manage outcomes while the system handles execution.

Already in use, and watching the competition

Around 3,000 Microsoft employees are currently using the Autopilot tool to manage work-related tasks, including attending meetings, handling paperwork, and booking travel.

Scout is available as an experimental release through Microsoft's Frontier program, giving customers a chance to explore how it can fit into their own workflows. Access requires Frontier enrolment, Intune policy configuration, and an opt-in attestation.

The launch follows Google's recent announcement of Spark, an autonomous agent that runs within the Google Workspace application suite, itself also built on OpenClaw. One is embedded in Microsoft's ecosystem, the other in Google's. The race to make autonomous agents a standard feature of enterprise software is fully underway.

Why this matters

Scout signals a transition from AI as an interface to AI as infrastructure. Security analysts warn that Scout amplifies whatever data governance problems already exist inside an organization, with the difference being that instead of simply surfacing sensitive data to users, it can potentially act on it.

Entire categories of administrative work begin to disappear into background automation. Executives no longer schedule their own coordination cycles. Project managers no longer manually chase status updates. Coordination becomes ambient, continuously adjusted by the system without explicit intervention.

This changes what productivity software is. Tools are no longer used to perform tasks. They define intent while execution happens elsewhere. And if that model succeeds, the question stops being whether AI can help complete tasks faster. It becomes whether humans are still the primary operators of business processes at all.

Microsoft might be betting that the answer is no.

“

Sensitive actions can require a human to sign off before they proceed, and data protection policies from Microsoft Purview, including sensitivity labels and loss prevention, are enforced in the moment, before anything is sent or written. ”

“ This changes what productivity software is. Tools are no longer used to perform tasks. They define intent while execution happens elsewhere. And if that model succeeds, the question stops being whether AI can help complete tasks faster. It becomes whether humans are still the primary operators of business processes at all. ”

Deon is a sophisticated technical IT professional with a solid history of effectively bridging the gap between Development, Security, Automation, and Artificial Intelligence. His track record of over 25 years, has a footprint that spans major corporations, academic institutions, and government.

Taking Your Vision and Making it a Symphony

You have the vision - the melody of a smarter, more innovative, more efficient business. But a melody on its own can’t fill the concert hall. To create something extraordinary, it needs to become a symphony with each player aligned, each part in tune.

That’s where Bonisa AI comes in: the partner that brings every element together, turning your idea into a performance that delivers real impact, from first note to final ovation.

Bonisa AI brings together the right instruments: expertise, insight, and technology, to turn your strategic score into a flawless performance:

Your Partner in the Performance:

Bonisa AI

We are a team of mentors, backed by decades of experience and multiple PhDs, dedicated to guiding your project. We ensure your business knowledge is perfectly harmonised with data and technology to craft a winning solution.

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Carys, our intelligent AI engine, acts as a "copilot tutor," translating your strategic vision into a robust, auditable score (code).

The Elements of Your AI Symphony

This intelligent blueprint augments your existing team, providing specialist data science capability in a box, combining automation with human oversight and essential contextualization. It’s far more than a simple Business Intelligence tool or a mere AI chatbot, it is a data science team in a box.

“ “

It's far more than a simple Business Intelligence tool...it's a data science team in a box.

From Vision to Ovation

With Bonisa AI, you don't have to conduct every instrument yourself. We craft your solution by perfectly harmonizing your business knowledge, diverse data, best-in-class software, and expert skills. You compose the score and we help you deliver the performance.

The Conductor: Altair® AI Suite

Every great symphony needs a conductor — and in the world of AI, that’s Altair’s AI Suite. Built on the Altair® RapidMiner® platform, it brings order and rhythm to the complexity of data, models, and deployment. From uncovering hidden insights with Altair® Monarch®, to composing predictive and generative models in Altair® AI Studio, to ensuring secure, scalable performance through Altair® AI Hub — it unites every stage of the process. The result is an accessible, end-to-end ecosystem that puts the power of AI into your hands and turns data into clear, confident decisions.

The Concert Hall: Siemens Mendix

Every great symphony needs the right auditorium. The Siemens Mendix low-code platform provides that modern, secure environment — the place where everything comes together. It enables teams to build, manage, and evolve AI applications quickly and confidently, ensuring each performance runs securely and in perfect sync with the rhythm of your business.

Contact our team to bring your visionary symphony to life.

/ Read original story here /

HIGHER EDUCATION, GOOGLE TO SIGN AI AND DIGITAL SKILLS AGREEMENT

The signing ceremony will take place at Google’s Johannesburg offices in Bryanston on Monday, 30 March 2026, and will be facilitated by Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe.

The landmark agreement is expected to advance digital skills, integrate AI into higher education institutions, and support workforce development in South Africa.

This marks the fourth successful publicprivate partnership for student and youth skills development concluded by the Deputy Minister.

According to the department, the MoU will prioritise access to training initiatives, including 5 000 Google Career Certificate scholarships in fields such as AI Essentials, Cybersecurity and Data Analytics, among others.

“ According to the department, the MoU will prioritise access to training initiatives, including 5000 Google Career Certificate scholarships in fields such as AI Essentials, Cybersecurity and Data Analytics, among others.

The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) is set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Google aimed at advancing digital skills development and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in South Africa’s education sector.

The scholarships will target students, educators, and IT staff in selected public universities, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), and Community Education and Training (CET) colleges, with a particular focus on rural and township communities.

“Google will offer AI training for educators through programmes like Generative AI for Educators and collaborate on a trainthe-trainer model to enable broader skills dissemination,” the department explained.

The partnership will also focus on curriculum development, with Google facilitating access to AI and technology

curricula, co-creating localised content, and supporting integration at institutional level.

In addition, the agreement includes technology support measures such as deploying ChromeOS Flex to revitalise existing hardware, providing strategic hardware advisory services, and strengthening institutional IT capacity through advanced training.

The MoU further provides for collaboration on policy and governance, including the sharing of expertise on AI policy development and access to relevant Google AI tools for public institutions.

The signing ceremony will be led by the Deputy Minister and attended by students, departmental officials, and senior Google executives. The event will also feature demonstrations of Google’s AI programmes. – SAnews.gov.za

ESTABLISHING AN INSTITUTE FOR AFRICA'S AI REVOLUTION

/ By Kehad Snydewel – kehad@green.com.na /

There is a global technological transformation underway, with AI at its heart. Namibia is perfectly positioned to be a frontrunner if it plans wisely. With a large young demographic eager to engage with the global digital economy, the nation represents the ideal ecosystem for serving as a benchmark for African AI development. By establishing an artificial intelligence institute right here in Namibia, the country can leverage its unique position to pioneer scalable, inclusive tech solutions that resonate far beyond its borders. Our country would act as an AI lab for the rest of Africa.

Namibia offers an incredibly favorable framework for technical growth. Blessed with political stability, world-class infrastructure, a strategic geographic location, and progressive national development plans, such as the target to create 500,000 jobs by 2030 under the Sixth National Development Plan (NDP6). The country provides a stable, forward-thinking testing ground. While larger nations grapple with regulatory gridlocks, Namibia is well-positioned to build a responsible, ethical AI framework tailored specifically to national laws and African cultural contexts.

Crucially, Namibia's greatest advantage lies in its youth. Rather than trailing behind older technology lifecycles, Namibia's young population has the unique opportunity to make a complete digital leap straight into AI training. By bypassing traditional legacy IT systems, this emerging workforce can be equipped from the ground up to leverage and implement AI directly into their everyday work and activities. By bringing together higher education hubs like the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) and the University of Namibia (UNAM), the country can cultivate an unmatched regional launchpad of highly skilled, AI-native talent. Investing in a dedicated AI training institute in Namibia holds the potential to spark something even greater: the creation

of the "Silicon Valley of Southern Africa." Perhaps something even greater: the creation of the "Silicon Valley of Southern Africa." Perhaps a Silicon Savanah, if you will. This hub would not just serve national interests but act as a beacon of innovation benefiting the entire Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and the African continent.

Ultimately, this is about achieving digital sovereignty. True continental independence in the 2020s requires technology that is built by Africans, for Africans. There is absolutely no reason why the continent cannot build its own foundational models. An African Claude or an African ChatGPT; trained on local languages, cultures, and unique socioeconomic realities. To stop relying on foreign tech giants and make the continent truly self-reliant, the foundation must be laid now.

Building this reality requires large investments and synchronized execution. It demands strong governmental intent, substantial long-term funding, and deep collaboration with private sector companies already driving the IT sector forward. A prime example of this necessary synergy is Green Enterprise Solutions, one of Namibia's largest ICT companies. Through our Work Integrated Learning (WIL) initiative, we already cultivate local programmers and software engineers. Scaling up this model to an institutional, AIcentric level is exactly how academic research transforms into viable industrial applications.

Because these major infrastructure and training investments will yield dividends tha benefit all of Africa, funding cannot rely on isolated national budgets alone. Long-term, foundational backing should come from pan-African development organizations dedicated to the continent's shared economic prosperity and future. With unified governmental intent, active private sector collaboration, and the right pan-African backing, Namibia can unlock the next frontier of African self-reliance.

About Green Enterprise Solutions (Pty) Ltd

Green Enterprise Solutions (Pty) Ltd was founded in 2010 and is celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2025. It is a truly Namibian company providing information and communication technology (ICT) services to corporate Namibia. Green is owned and managed by previously disadvantaged Namibians. Our long-term objective is to sustain a Namibian business which makes positive contributions to all our stakeholders. Our vision is guided by Namibia’s national development plans namely Vision 2030 and the National Development Plan 6 (NDP6) of the Republic of Namibia. Our operations focus National Development Plan 6 (NDP6) of the Republic of Namibia. Our operations focus on services such as applications, networking, security, operating environments, storage and data centre technologies, consulting, integration and managed services to create customised client solutions.

For more information: Georgena Lombard Email: georgena.lombard@green.com.na

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