TechTrends Media today hosted the TechTrends AI Breakfast Forum at Hyatt Place Nairobi. The forum convene senior executives, AI experts, and policymakers to examine what it will practically take for AI to deliver inclusive growth in Kenya and across Africa. Held under the theme “AI-Powered Transformation: Unlocking Africa’s Next Growth Frontier.” The forum centered on two imperatives. Right, inclusive datasets representative, high-quality data that reflects Kenya’s diversity. Secondly, skills that solve Kenyan problems from data annotation and model development to deployment, governance, and change management within enterprises.
Delivering the keynote, Annepeace Alwala, Vice President, Global Service Delivery at Sama, emphasized AI’s role in inclusive growth and why data quality is non-negotiable. “Africa is at a pivotal point where technology and innovation can accelerate development like never before,” said Alwala. “AI offers us a unique opportunity to leapfrog barriers, improve productivity, and create new jobs for our people.” She added, “Our teams from Kibera are proof that African talent powers global innovation training the data behind autonomous vehicles. AI cannot breathe without people; data is its oxygen. If the data is flawed, the model won’t work.”
The Skills Pipeline: Building Talent for Real-World AI
Industry leaders from Samsung Electronics East Africa, AI Kenya, iTel Mobile, and CyberPro shared use cases. They were across enterprise automation, cybersecurity, and affordable access. They linked each to the need for trusted data and practical skills pipelines. Ryan Mule, Product Manager, Samsung Electronics East Africa, emphasized business value today, not hype: “AI is not about some futuristic tools but about addressing the daily business issues in the present day such as improving workforce productivity and enhancing cybersecurity.”
On expanding meaningful participation. Ryan Zhang of iTel Mobile highlighted the full inclusion stack. “Digital inclusion requires more than just devices it demands affordable data, localized solutions, and stronger digital literacy.”
From Intent to Execution: Industry Voices, Recognition & Next Steps
A centerpiece of the program, TechTrends Live, featured interactive podcast panels with Alfred Ongere [CEO, AI Kenya], Benta Kamau [CyberPro], Joseph Henry Okal [Glidex], and Ryan Zhang [iTel Mobile], exploring enterprise adoption, responsible AI frameworks, and the skills and policies needed for Kenya to compete in an AI-driven economy.
The forum also recognized ecosystem contributors in an Awards & Recognition Ceremony, followed by a networking lunch connecting decision-makers, innovators, and media. Nixon Kanali, Founder of TechTrends Media and host of The TechTrends Podcast, said the forum is about turning intent into execution: “Our mission with the AI Breakfast Forum is to demystify AI and show how it can practically transform businesses, SMEs, and communities in Kenya and across Africa.”
For AI to Work in Kenya, We Need:
Inclusive, high-quality datasets: Representative local data for training and evaluation; robust data governance and privacy; and ethical data supply chains that fairly compensate data workers.
Skills to solve real problems: Scalable talent pathways from data annotation and MLOps to product management and AI governance embedded in enterprises, public institutions, and startups.
AI Case Studies by Sama
Smarter Agriculture: Precision Weed Detection [Computer Vision]
Challenge: Farmers need to reduce herbicide use and protect yields without costly manual scouting.
Solution: Sama annotated high-resolution field imagery to train a computer-vision model that distinguishes crops from multiple weed species at the leaf level. The model powers targeted spraying and variable-rate applications.
Impact: Fewer inputs, healthier fields, and more consistent yields while cutting blanket herbicide passes.
Orbisk: Cutting Food Waste with Vision-Powered Kitchen Monitoring
Challenge: Commercial kitchens struggle to track exactly what and how much food is discarded, making waste reduction hard to manage.
Solution: Sama labeled millions of images from Orbisk’s smart bin cameras food type, portion size, container context so CV models can automatically identify items and quantify waste.
Impact: Kitchens get clear, daily insights on what’s wasted and when, enabling menu tweaks and purchasing changes that measurably reduce waste and cost.
Vulcan/EarthRanger: AI-Assisted Anti-Poaching Intelligence
Challenge: Rangers need real-time situational awareness across vast protected areas to deter poaching.
Solution: Sama created high-quality annotations for wildlife imagery and multi-sensor signals [e.g., people, vehicles, smoke/fire cues]. These labels train models that flag high-risk events and correlate detections, triggering timely alerts inside EarthRanger.
Impact: Faster ranger response, improved patrol routing, and better protection for elephants and other wildlife.
