AI Expo Africa returns to Cape Town

Africa’s largest business focused Artificial Intelligence (AI) event takes place in Cape Town on 4 – 5 September 2019.

The 2019 AI Expo Africa builds on the phenomenal success of the inaugural event held in Cape Town in 2018, which cemented it as the largest gathering with over 700 CxOs, investors, buyers, suppliers, innovators, SMBs and global brands in the region focusing on real world AI and Data Science business applications.

The business audience is comprised of enterprise decision makers/CxOs, allied to AI Cloud platform providers, Tier 1/2 deployment & service providers, AI start-ups and innovators, investors, educators, government and AI ecosystem community builders.

AI Expo Africa 2019 will have four main tracks and eight skills workshops.  Delegates will learn about real enterprise case studies and the application of AI and Data Science in business today, available technology and cloud platforms, deployment challenges, ethical considerations allied to the vibrant innovation and start up ecosystem driving the industry in Africa.

AI Expo Africa 2019 includes a stellar line-up of local, regional and global Artificial Intelligence thought leaders, helping cement Cape Town’s reputation as the AI Hub in Africa.

Here are some of the highlights:

70+ speakers – Line-Up of Global & African AI Thought Leaders, including Kay Firth-Butterfield (World Economic Forum – Head of Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Bayo Adekanmbi (Chief Technology Officer, MTN Nigeria), Simon See (Nvidia AI Technology Centre), Karim Beguir (CEO & Co-Founder Instadeep) and Sharron L McPherson (Centre for Disruptive Technologies)

50+ vendors including world leaders in the AI space, like UIPath, SAP, IBM, Microsoft, Blue Prism, PWC, Deloitte, EY, Hitachi Vantara and AWS will share their knowledge of AI alongside African start-ups and entrepreneurs, all with the shared goal of harnessing AI for the greater economic and social benefit of Africa.

The AWS AI Innovation Cafe – 17 Artificial Intelligence start-ups from Africa – Entrepreneurs will get the opportunity to showcase their skills and services alongside global leaders in this space.  This new feature gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to network with business leaders from all sectors, with an eye to providing solutions to these sectors for 4IR implementation.

French AI Business and Trade Delegation – This year’s event will feature a large French AI delegation organised by The French Embassy in South Africa and Business France, to promote mutual co-operation and business opportunities in the AI sector.

World-Champion Soccer-playing Robots – Rhoban, one of the French companies showcasing its products at AI Expo Africa 2019, are the current RoboWorldCup Champs, and a few robots will be on display at Africa’s largest AI trade show.

WITS University Announcement – Wits will announce a major research initiative at AI Expo Africa, that is intended to bring about a step change in scientific research and commercialisation in Africa.

Africa’s first-ever AI Art & Music Challenge – The winners of Africa’s first AI Art and Music Challenge will be announced. The challenge was conceived to showcase the creative and technical abilities of African AI entrepreneurs and data scientists.

The MTN Innovation Wall – A new initiative aiming to showcase applied AI R&D from Universities applicable to industry and that could attract investment or form the seeds of new start-ups in our region.  Building links between industry, investors and academia for the long term is a key goal of AI Expo Africa and a major cornerstone to SME growth in our region.