Embedded – Details, episodes & analysis

In this third episode of a special series of the Embedded podcast, host Zain Verjee speaks with Hon. Paula Ingabire about Rwanda's strategic approach to artificial intelligence. As the Minister of ICT and Innovation, Ingabire shares insights on how Rwanda is positioning itself as a leader in Africa's AI landscape, focusing on talent development, investment attraction, and ethical frameworks. The conversation explores Rwanda's partnerships with educational institutions, the launch of their AI scaling hub, and how the country is addressing the urban-rural divide through technology. Recorded at the Global AI Summit on Africa in partnership with The Rwanda Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, this episode offers a glimpse into Rwanda's vision for becoming a testing ground for AI solutions tailored to African contexts.

Key Highlights:

🌍 Rwanda's approach to leading Africa's AI development through strategic partnerships and collaborations

🎓 Building talent through programs like Carnegie Mellon University, Africa Institute for Mathematical Sciences, and the Coding Academy for 13-year-olds

💰 The launch of the AI scaling hub with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support proven AI solutions

🔍 Rwanda's ethical framework emphasizing transparency, privacy, and cultural context in AI development

🏘️ How Rwanda is using AI to bridge the urban-rural divide, particularly in healthcare delivery

👩‍💻 The importance of women not just using AI solutions but leading in their design and implementation

🚀 The role of local startups in ensuring cultural context and nuances are incorporated into AI solutions

About Our Guest:

Hon. Paula Ingabire serves as the Minister of ICT and Innovation in the Government of Rwanda, where she champions the country's digital transformation strategy. Before her ministerial appointment, she headed the ICT Business Development Department at the Rwanda Development Board, leading the implementation of national programs in eGovernment and Cyber Security. She coordinated the Kigali Innovation City Project, designed to strengthen a pan-African innovation ecosystem in Rwanda, and was instrumental in creating Smart Africa, an initiative leveraging broadband infrastructure for Africa's socio-economic growth.

Minister Ingabire is a thoughtful advocate for responsible AI development in Africa. Under her leadership, Rwanda launched its National AI Policy in 2023, focusing on "creating critical building blocks for AI integration while mitigating associated risks." The policy takes a practical, sector-specific approach, identifying areas with the highest economic impact potential, including agriculture, public administration, education, healthcare, manufacturing, and financial services.

Her approach to AI governance is distinctive in that Rwanda is not only creating regulatory frameworks but actively experimenting with AI applications in the public sector. As she explained, "We want to be able to lead the way. We can't only put on a hat of regulations and policymaking. We also want to be able to experiment with the potential of AI across different fields."

Connect With Embedded:

Website: www.therundown.studio

Twitter/X: @Rundown_Studio_

LinkedIn: The Rundown Studio

Connect With Zain Verjee:

Twitter/X: @Zain_Verjee

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zain-verjee-97747467

Connect With The Rwanda Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution & The Global AI Summit on Africa:

LinkedIn: https://rw.linkedin.com/company/c4ir-rw

Twitter/X: @c4IR_rw

Website: https://c4ir.rw/

The Global AI Summit on Africa: https://c4ir.rw/global-ai-summit-on-africa

Connect With Minister Paula Ingabire:

• @rwandaICT across all platforms

• @Ministry of ICT & Innovation, Rwanda on LinkedIn

• @MusoniPaula on X

• @PaulaIngabire on LinkedIn

Featuring Prof. Vukosi Marivate, Professor of Computer Science & Co-founder of Lelapa AI

In this second episode of a special series of the Embedded podcast, host Zain Verjee speaks with Prof. Vukosi Marivate about the critical role of language in creating AI systems that serve African communities authentically. As a leading figure in machine learning and natural language processing in Africa, Prof. Marivate shares insights on developing AI for low-resource languages, preserving cultural context, and ensuring ethical approaches to data collection. The conversation explores how grassroots initiatives like Masakhane Research Foundation and companies like Lelapa AI are working to ensure African languages aren't left behind in the AI revolution. Produced in partnership with The Rwanda Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and recorded at the Global AI Summit on Africa from April 3rd-4th, 2025.

Key Highlights:

🔍 The challenge of building AI that understands cultural nuances and local language variations

🗣️ Creating datasets for low-resource African languages through community engagement and ethical data collection

🌍 How language models must reflect cultural contexts to serve areas like healthcare and education effectively

🤖 The release of "Lelapa LLM" - the first language model specifically built for African languages

💼 Why entrepreneurs need to engage with each other to strengthen the African AI ecosystem

⚖️ Ethical considerations and data sovereignty in AI development across the continent

💡 The critical gap in R&D investment on the continent compared to global standards

🔄 Building models from scratch to maintain control rather than relying on constantly changing Western models

About Our Guest:

Prof. Vukosi Marivate is a Professor of Computer Science and holds the ABSA UP Chair of Data Science at the University of Pretoria. He specializes in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence with a focus on Natural Language Processing. As the co-founder of Lelapa AI, a socially-grounded, Africa-centric AI research and product lab, he works to create "AI for Africans by Africans." Prof. Marivate also leads the Data Science for Social Impact research group at the University of Pretoria and is a chief investigator for the Masakhane Research Foundation, which develops NLP technologies for African languages. His work spans from building language models that preserve linguistic diversity to creating ethical frameworks for AI development in African contexts.

Connect With Embedded:

Website: www.therundown.studio

Twitter/X: @Rundown_Studio_

LinkedIn: The Rundown Studio

Connect With Zain Verjee:

Twitter/X: @Zain_Verjee

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zain-verjee-97747467

Connect With The Rwanda Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution & The Global AI Summit on Africa:

LinkedIn: https://rw.linkedin.com/company/c4ir-rw

Twitter/X: @c4IR_rw

Website: https://c4ir.rw/

The Global AI Summit on Africa: https://c4ir.rw/global-ai-summit-on-africa

Connect With Prof. Vukosi Marivate:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vukosi-marivate/

Twitter/X: @vukosi

Masakhane Research Foundation: https://www.masakhane.io/

Lelapa AI: https://lelapa.ai/

In our debut episode of the Embedded podcast, host Zain Verjee is joined by Aneesh Raman, LinkedIn's Chief Economic Opportunity Officer, for a discussion about the future of work in the AI era.  He discusses the trends he's been witnessing since the AI boom and breaks down some of the skills and qualities that will be most valuable for employers in an AI economy.   How can AI be leveraged to create more efficient and personalised systems to match opportunity more effectively with with skills?  What will the impact of AI be on jobs?  And how can we create a more equitable work environment, addressing existing biases and lowering barriers to entrepreneurship for marginalised groups? We tackle the crunchy questions on Embedded.

Episode Timestamps

00:00 - Introduction and welcome

• Introduction of Aneesh Raman

• Background at CNN and current role at LinkedIn

01:02 - AI's Impact on Work: The Four Transformations

• Disruption in the workplace

• Job transformation statistics

• Evolution of new job categories

• Emergence of new economy

03:45 - The Rise of Soft Skills

• Why human skills matter

• AI's limitations with EQ

• Future of empathy training

• Importance of curiosity and compassion

05:11 - Redefining Skills in Communications

• Moving beyond job titles

• Value of communication skills

• Importance of storytelling

• Building your story of self

06:57 - The Future of Hiring

• Changes in recruitment

• Evolution of credential systems

• AI as both force and tool for change

• Timeline for systemic changes

09:19 - AI and Equity

• Status quo problems

• Opportunity for systemic reset

• Rise of relationship economy

• Value of marginalized groups' skills

13:11 - AI in Emerging Markets

• Focus on Africa

• Infrastructure challenges

• Connectivity solutions

• Personalized learning opportunities

16:46 - The Future of Journalism

• Challenges for newsrooms

• Evolution from reporting to analysis

• Role of solutions journalism

• Impact of misinformation

22:38 - Personal Reflections

24:31 - Closing Thoughts

About Our Guest

A former CNN war correspondent and speechwriter to President Barack Obama, Raman is an experienced communicator, focusing his career in recent years on the expansion of economic opportunity. He is currently Chief Economic Opportunity Officer at LinkedIn. His focus now seems to be expanding economic opportunities through new skills and creating better workforces. At LinkedIn, Raman is leading an effort to help build a more efficient and equitable labour market by engaging with leaders from the public and private sector. His work centres around making skills-first thinking mainstream in talent management, which is a priority for LinkedIn.

Connect With Aneesh

LinkedIn: Aneesh Raman

Aneesh’s Previous Work

• NYT Opinion: When Your Technical Skills Are Eclipsed, Your Humanity Will Matter More Than Ever

• Fortune: LinkedIn’s resident workplace expert says the push for upskilling must have an emotional component

• Business Insider Africa: Obama's best career advice was to follow your passions rather than a job title, an ex-White House speechwriter said

• LinkedIn VP warns humans to keep learning in AI era

Connect With Embedded

• Website: www.therundown.studio

• Twitter: @EmbeddedPod

• LinkedIn: 

• Host: @Zain_Verjee

Next Episode

Join us next week for "Ethics by Design: Building Equitable AI Systems" with Rashida Richardson, Senior Counsel at Mastercard, as we explore the crucial intersection of AI ethics and system design.

Embedded is a production of The Rundown Studio. For more insights on AI's impact on emerging markets, visit www.therundown.studio

#AI #FutureOfWork #EmergingMarkets #Skills #LinkedIn #AfricanTech #WorkforceTransformation

Featuring Tonee Ndungu, Founder of Kytabu.

In this first episode of a special series of the Embedded podcast, host Zain Verjee sits down with Tonee Ndungu, a pioneering EdTech entrepreneur who is transforming education across Africa through AI-powered learning tools. From his personal journey with dyslexia to founding Kytabu, Tonee shares insights on how AI is reshaping education on the continent and creating opportunities for millions of students. The conversation explores the development of wearable AI assistants for both students and teachers, strategies for building African language models, and how entrepreneurs can leverage AI to build billion-dollar businesses from the continent despite infrastructure challenges. Produced in partnership with The Rwanda Centre for the Fourth Industrial and recorded at the Global AI Summit on Africa from April 3rd -4th, 2025. 

Key Highlights:

🧠 How Tonee's experience with dyslexia and ADHD inspired his educational innovations

🎧 The pivotal moment when technology (a Sony Walkman) transformed his learning journey

🤖 Kytabu's AI-powered tools: Somanasi (AI tutor for students) and Hodari (AI assistant for teachers)

👓 The development of wearable AI devices for education that doesn't require constant internet connectivity

🌍 Strategies for creating African language models and addressing cultural context in AI

💡 The 3 requirements for building African language models: recorded voices, contextualization, and scale

🔍 Ethical considerations in AI adoption for education in Africa

🚀 How the changing AI landscape creates opportunities for African entrepreneurs

About Our Guest:

Tonee Ndungu is a pioneering entrepreneur in the EdTech space with over 18 years of experience. As the founder of Kytabu (meaning "book" in Swahili), he has dedicated his career to transforming education across Africa. Drawing from his personal experiences with dyslexia, Tonee developed innovative learning solutions that adapt to different learning styles. Prior to Kytabu, he helped establish the foundation for Kenya's tech ecosystem, contributing to what became known as the "Silicon Savannah." His current focus is integrating AI technology into education to empower both teachers and students across the continent.

Connect With Embedded:

Website: www.therundown.studio

Twitter/X: @Rundown_Studio_

LinkedIn: The Rundown Studio

Connect With Zain Verjee:

Twitter/X: @Zain_Verjee

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/zain-verjee-97747467

Connect With The Rwanda Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution & The Global AI Summit on Africa:

LinkedIn: https://rw.linkedin.com/company/c4ir-rw

Twitter/X: @c4IR_rw

Website: https://c4ir.rw/

The Global AI Summit on Africa: https://c4ir.rw/global-ai-summit-on-africa

Connect With Tonee Ndungu:

LinkedIn: https://ke.linkedin.com/in/toneendungu

Twitter/X: @ToneeNdungu

Website: https://toneendungu.com/

Embedded is a production of The Rundown Studio. For more insights on AI's impact on emerging markets, visit www.therundown.studio

In this episode of Embedded, host Zain Verjee explores the intersection of AI, immersive media, and authentic cultural storytelling with pioneering director Michaela Ternasky-Holland. As one of the first directors to work with OpenAI's Sora platform, Michaela shares her journey from Disney performer to Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, and how she uses emerging technologies to preserve cultural narratives while avoiding exploitation. The conversation delves into her concept of "compassionate storytelling," the technical aspects of working with generative AI, and how these tools can be used to reclaim cultural histories that have been erased or forgotten. From her work with Philippine mythology to practical prompt engineering techniques, Michaela offers valuable insights for creators in emerging markets looking to harness AI for authentic storytelling.

Key Highlights

🧩 Using smaller, focused AI models for specific cultural contexts

Featured Projects & Insights

• Creating "Thank you, mom" with OpenAI's Sora in just three weeks

• Using stable diffusion to visualize Filipino Americans in historical contexts that weren't documented

• Developing a paper craft style that acknowledged the AI-generated nature of the content

• Building AI prompts from simple to complex rather than starting with technical details

• Using consistent visual elements (like color) to maintain character identity in AI-generated scenes

• The importance of collaborative teams when working with emerging technologies

About Our Guest

Michaela Ternasky-Holland is an Emmy Award-winning and Peabody-nominated director who has pioneered the use of AI and immersive storytelling. She was one of the first directors to work with OpenAI's Sora platform, and her work has been recognized at major festivals including Tribeca, the Venice International Film Festival, and South by Southwest. With a background that spans from Disney performance to virtual reality and AI filmmaking, Michaela brings a unique perspective on using technology for authentic cultural storytelling. She developed the concept of "compassionate storytelling" as an ethical framework for creating content that honors both collaborators and audiences.

Connect With Embedded

• Website: www.therundown.studio

• Twitter: @Rundown_Studio_

• LinkedIn: The Rundown Studio

• Substack: https://rundownstudio.substack.com/

• Host: @Zain_Verjee

Embedded is a production of The Rundown Studio. For more insights on AI's impact on emerging markets, visit www.therundown.studio

In this episode of Embedded, host Zain Verjee speaks with Dr. Chinasa T. Okolo, a Governance Studies Fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for Technology Innovation. As a computer science expert specializing in the impact of AI on the Global South, Dr. Okolo shares her experience consulting with the African Union on their Artificial Intelligence Continental Strategy. The conversation explores the unique challenges Africa faces with AI adoption, the importance of data sovereignty, tackling misinformation, and building AI systems that truly represent African values and contexts. From healthcare applications to language models, Dr. Okolo offers insights on how Africa can chart its own course in AI development while addressing persistent issues of bias and representation.

Key Highlights

• 🌍 African Union's Continental AI Strategy development and implementation challenges

• 💡 The case for building smaller, domain-specific AI models suited to African contexts

• 🔐 Data sovereignty issues and the need for robust data protection frameworks

• 🏥 AI applications in healthcare and the importance of human relationships

• 🔄 Addressing bias and ensuring proper representation of African cultures in AI

• ⚖️ The role of regulation and fact-checking in combating AI-generated misinformation

Episode Timestamps

00:00 - Introduction and welcome

00:53 - Unique AI challenges in Africa

03:10 - The African Union AI Continental Strategy experience

05:00 - Human capital development in AI

07:15 - Implementation challenges and governance issues

09:30 - International partnerships and diaspora contributions

10:44 - AI applications in healthcare and frontline workers

12:27 - Addressing racial and cultural bias in AI

15:00 - Building authentic African datasets

17:00 - Small vs. large language models for African contexts

20:00 - Data nationalism and protection strategies

22:10 - Combating misinformation and disinformation

23:50 - Fact-checking organizations and initiatives

25:00 - Digital literacy and AI education

26:10 - Advice for communications specialists

About Our Guest

Dr. Chinasa T. Okolo is a Governance Studies Fellow at the Brookings Institution in the Center for Technology Innovation. Her expertise spans computer science with a focus on AI's impact in the Global South. As a Consulting Expert with the African Union, she contributed to the development of the AU-AI Continental Strategy, which aims to promote responsible AI adoption, development, and governance across African Union member states. Dr. Okolo also serves as an Ethics Advisor to the Equiano Institute, a research lab focused on steering safe and trustworthy AI in Africa. Her research examines the intersection of healthcare, AI ethics, and governance in emerging economies.

Resources Mentioned

• African Union Continental AI Strategy

• Malabo Convention (data protection framework)

• Nigerian National AI Strategy

• African fact-checking organizations

• African Center for Strategic Studies

Connect With Embedded

• Website:www.therundown.studio

• Twitter: @Rundown_Studio_

• LinkedIn:The Rundown Studio

• Substack:https://rundownstudio.substack.com/

• Host: @Zain_Verjee

Embedded is a production of The Rundown Studio. For more insights on AI's impact on emerging markets, visit www.therundown.studio

In this episode of Embedded, host Zain Verjee explores how generative AI can empower entrepreneurs in emerging markets to scale smarter, faster, and more inclusively. Prof. Rembrand Koning shares insights from his groundbreaking work at Harvard's Tech for All Lab, where they're studying how entrepreneurs can harness AI to benefit humanity. From WhatsApp-integrated AI advisors to partnerships in Southeast Asia, discover how AI could democratize access to business mentorship and transform entrepreneurship in emerging markets.

Key Highlights

• 🚀 Women are 25% less likely than men to use AI tools globally

• 💡 Tech for All Lab's innovative WhatsApp integration for AI business advice

• 📱 Grab partnership reaching millions of small businesses in Southeast Asia

• 🌍 Focus on making AI accessible through existing platforms and interfaces

• 🤝 The power of human + AI combinations in business mentorship

• 🔍 Research-backed approach to measuring AI's real economic impact

Episode Timestamps

00:06 - Introduction and welcome

01:30 - Tech for All Lab's mission and focus

02:10 - Importance of research in AI development

04:40 - Gender gap in AI adoption

05:33 - Tool design and accessibility

10:00 - The Grab partnership

17:17 - Surprising findings from research

21:29 - Human + AI combination

24:37 - Local context and language

28:49 - Final advice for entrepreneurs

Key Quotes

"We're going to see $1 billion companies run by one person, and my bet is that one person is not going to be in San Francisco, that one person is going to be in Nairobi or Jakarta."

"People + AI, that is the magic sauce... What we're really going to want is both the AI and then the person who's giving them that scaffolding to really get the most out of these tools."

"We know mentorship and advice and learning from others can make such a difference. Finally, we have the technology to democratize it."

"You're going to see all sorts of really exciting new businesses in these places that are going to transform economies and transform lives."

About Our Guest

Rembrand Koning is the Mary V. and Mark A. Stevens Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. As Co-Director and Co-Founder of The Tech for All Lab at Harvard's Digital, Data, and Design (D^3) Institute, he leads research on how entrepreneurs can harness AI to benefit humanity. 

Resources Mentioned

AI, entrepreneurship and development:https://voxdev.org/topic/firms/ai-entrepreneurship-and-development

Global Evidence on Gender Gaps and Generative AI:https://osf.io/preprints/osf/h6a7c_v1

The Uneven Impact of Generative AI on Entrepreneurial Performance:https://osf.io/preprints/osf/hdjpk_v1

More About Prof. Rembrand Koning:www.remkoning.com

AI For A Billion Entrepreneurs:https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rem-koning_ai-for-a-billion-entrepreneurs-activity-7273315762860179456-YEKm?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

More About The Tech For All Lab:https://d3.harvard.edu/labs/tech-for-all-lab/

Learning For Individuals:https://d3.harvard.edu/learning-programs-for-individuals/

Connect With Embedded

• Website: www.therundown.studio

• Twitter: @Rundown_Studio_

• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/zvgtherundown/

• Host: @Zain_Verjee

In this episode of Embedded, host Zain Verjee speaks with Asme Teka Hadgu, co-founder and CTO of Lesan AI, about the critical challenge of language accessibility in artificial intelligence. Based in Berlin, Lesan AI is pioneering machine translation for Ethiopian languages, notably outperforming tech giants in Amharic and Tigrinya translations. Asme discusses their unique approach to data collection, working directly with communities to preserve linguistic authenticity, and the broader implications of language barriers in AI development. The conversation explores how AI can be leveraged to preserve and revitalize languages while ensuring ethical development and cultural preservation.

Key Highlights

🌍 Lesan AI's innovative approach to machine translation for African languages

📊 Over 9 million translations completed for Ethiopian languages

🤖 Limitations of current AI models like ChatGPT for African languages

👥 Community-centered approach to data collection

🔐 Ethical considerations in language technology development

🌿 Preservation of cultural context and linguistic nuance

Episode Timestamps

00:00 - Introduction and welcome

01:20 - Personal Journey and Mission

02:51 - Language Barriers in AI

04:51 - Lesan AI's Approach

09:16 - Speech Recognition Project

13:26 - Technology Access Challenges

16:19 - Language Models Discussion

18:05 - AI Language Limitations

20:19 - Data Privacy and Ethics

24:43 - Bias Prevention and Cultural Context

25:55 - Advice for African Innovators

About Our Guest

Asme Teka Hadgu is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Lesan AI, a Berlin-based startup revolutionizing machine translation for Ethiopian languages. With a background in computer science and a deep commitment to education, Asme leads the development of translation tools that outperform major tech companies in Amharic and Tigrinya translations.

Connect With Embedded

Website: www.therundown.studio

Twitter / X: @Rundown_Studio_

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zvgtherundown/

Host: @Zain_Verjee

Episode Description

An Embedded x TechCabal crossover. Our host, Zain spoke to two African entrepreneurs whose startups are doing incredible things with AI on the continent. Megan Yates from Zindi and Clinton Oduor from Amini share their insights into how AI is solving local problems, from supporting smallholder farmers to building data ecosystems that support innovation and learning. Building AI in Africa won't be easy, and in this episode we discuss what needs to be done around data protection, AI regulation, and skilling up.

Key Highlights

• 🌍 Data nationalism and its importance for Africa's future

• 💡 Building small, focused AI models vs. large language models

• 🌱 Using AI to support smallholder farmers and environmental monitoring

• 📊 Creating data science opportunities for 60,000+ African practitioners

🔄 The importance of local context in AI development

Episode Timestamps

• Introduction and welcome

• Understanding data nationalism

• Data collection challenges and solutions

• Skills needed for the AI era

• Building local AI solutions

• The case for small language models

• Innovation and opportunities in African AI

• Making AI accessible across Africa

• Ethical frameworks for data collection

Key Quotes

"Data is the new currency. Data is the new gold, data is the new cobalt. Data is so important that whoever owns data will command and control the highest and the best terms and they will dictate the direction of the world." - Zain Verjee

"We don't want a situation where people are coming to the continent and solving problems that we have... they don't understand the local context at all." - Megan Yates

"Sometimes we just don't need a general purpose model. Sometimes we just need some sort of a translation model for just one language to solve one problem." - Clinton Oduor

"The problem is like, where do we get this data to feed these algorithms that already exist, that people have already proved that they work really well." - Clinton Oduor

"African tech people want to be working on the continent... there's so many entrepreneurs. What I love from Zindi is that people have actually often used prize money that they've won through challenges to start their own businesses." - Megan Yates

Featured Insights

• The importance of building Africa-centric AI solutions

• Why small language models might be better suited for African contexts

• The role of data sovereignty in technological independence

• How AI can support agricultural development

• Building local talent through competitions and challenges

About Our Guests

Megan Yates, Co-Founder of Zindi Africa

Co-founder of Zindi Africa. Zindi is one of the top data science and artificial intelligence competition platforms on the continent. They host the continent's largest community of over 60,000 data and AI practitioners and are solving some of the world's toughest challenges using data and machine learning. They also help companies attract and hire top talent, upskill their own teams, and crowd-source fast tailored AI solutions to their problems. Since its founding, Zindi has hosted more than 300 data science challenges across various industries and technical areas. These challenges have a dual purpose: they provide data scientists with practical experience and exposure to real-world problems, while also delivering innovative solutions to businesses and organisations. and they’ve partnered with some big names like microsoft, google deepmind, and nvidia and have distributed over $500,000 in prizes to winning data scientists.

Clinton Oduor, Head of Data Science at Amini

Clinton Oduor, a machine learning engineer and head of data science at Amini, and based in Nairobi. The company’s mission is to build the single source of trusted environmental data in Africa and “to enable the resilience of one billion people by 2030”. Amini mainly pulls data from satellites and integrates it with other datasets, including sensor, research and ground data to offer insights on biodiversity, soil or crop health, or to track farming progress and practices (regenerative) like water or fertiliser use.

Resources Mentioned

• Zindi Africa Platform

• Amini's Environmental Data Platform

• African Data Protection Regulations

• Small Language Models Development

• Local AI Infrastructure Projects

Connect With Our Guests

• Zindi Africa: https://zindi.africa/

• Amini: https://www.amini.ai/

Connect With Embedded

• Website: www.therundown.studio

• Twitter: @Rundown_Studio_

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/100120001/

• Host: @Zain_Verjee (Twitter)

Subscribe to The Rundown Studio's Substack: https://rundownstudio.substack.com/

Zain Verjee sits down with Wakanyi Hoffman, Storyteller and Indigenous Knowledge Scholar, to explore a much needed crossover:  Ubuntu ethics and Artificial Intelligence. In this episode we deep dive into the continent's rich storytelling traditions and how we can embed the values and concept of Ubuntu to provide an ethical framework for building AI systems. One in which indigenous communities can take ownership of their own stories. Through the lens of Ubuntu ethics, they discuss how indigenous knowledge systems could provide the ethical framework needed for truly inclusive AI development, particularly in Africa. The conversation reveals practical approaches to incorporating African values and storytelling traditions into AI systems while addressing crucial questions about data sovereignty and digital colonization.

Guest Bio

Wakanyi Hoffman is an author, African Indigenous Knowledge scholar, and global speaker of Ubuntu philosophy. She is a “global nomad”, currently splitting her time between the Netherlands and Germany. Wakanyi is currently the PhD lead researcher for African Sustainable AI at Inclusive AI Lab, which is under Centre for Global Challenges at Utrecht University. At The New Institute in Hamburg, Wakanyi is involved in the program "Conceptions of Human Flourishing".  Wakanyi is also a Kenya Education Fund board member dedicated to offering high school education to marginalized, gifted children. Additionally, her advisory role at The Contentment Foundation underscores her dedication to global well-being. She is also a valued board member at Seeds of Wisdom, championing indigenous elders’ wisdom and knowledge exchange. Her initiatives include founding African Folktales Project to bridge gaps between indigenous and contemporary African societies.

Key Highlights

• 🌍 Ubuntu's principles and their application to AI ethics

• 📚 The critical importance of preserving indigenous stories in AI training data

• 💡 Development of the Ubuntu AI bot and Compassion Bot

• 🔄 Data sovereignty and preventing digital colonization

• 🌱 Building Africa-centric AI systems and frameworks

  
  

  Episode Timestamps

  00:00 - Introduction and welcome 

  01:21 - Introduction to Ubuntu ethics and AI 

  03:13 - Defining Ubuntu protocols and principles 

  04:28 - African representation in AI training data 

  06:38 - Indigenous storytelling and AI 

  08:51 - Ubuntu AI bot development 

  12:04 - The five principles of Ubuntu 

  15:06 - Data sovereignty and African AI development 

  18:14 - Including marginalized communities 

  19:44 - The Compassion Bot project 

  22:22 - State of AI in Africa 

  24:43 - Addressing fears about AI 

  26:43 - Closing thoughts on African storytelling

  
  Featured Research & Projects

  • Ubuntu AI Bot Development

  • Service Space AI Compassion Bot

  • African Folktales Project

  • Indigenous AI Systems Project

  • Ubuntu Ethics for Business Framework

    
    

    Connect With Wakanyi

    Website: https://www.wakanyihoffman.com/

    Linkedin: https://nl.linkedin.com/in/wakanyi-hoffman-77a9671a4

    Her AI bot: https://www.awakin.ai/

    
    Connect With Embedded

    • Website: www.therundown.studio

    • Twitter: @Rundown_Studio_

    • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/zvgtherundown/

    • Substack: https://rundownstudio.substack.com/ 

    • Host: @Zain_Verjee (Twitter / X) and https://www.linkedin.com/in/zain-verjee-97747467/ 

    
    

    Resources 

    • AI Bot embedded with Ubuntu Ethics: https://www.awakin.ai/

    • Indigenous AI Systems

    • African Folktales Project

    • Conceptions of Human Flourishing