Africa’s largest Artificial Intelligence & Intelligent Automation event, AI Expo Africa, will be running its highly acclaimed conference and trade show at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa, on 30-31 October 2024.
Now entering its 7th year, the annual AI Expo Africa event unites regional and international thought leaders, suppliers, and start-ups to discuss and showcase the latest AI and Smart Tech innovations, from the biggest global brands to the smallest and newest local SMMEs.
The core focus of the show is on real-world applications that can be deployed today with an audience comprised of Enterprise and Government buyers, deployment and service providers, start-ups, educators, NGOs, investors, and ecosystem builders.
Nonnie Kubeka, Executive Director of the Gauteng Convention & Event Bureau, stated, “We are happy to welcome the growing AI tech ecosystem to the Gauteng Region. Last year, AI Expo Africa hosted 48 SMMEs at the event, and the gathering helps connect buyers and suppliers around one of the fastest-growing sectors of the economy. AI is impacting all industries and certain aspects of society, so it’s key we as a region, and a nation, have a focus on this sector as it’s a key pillar of our ICT activities, and we want to showcase the local ecosystem to a regional and international audience.”
With a community of over 50,000 practitioners, the show format is built upon the phenomenal success of the previous six annual events that have cemented AI Expo Africa as the largest AI business gathering of its kind, attended by Enterprise buyers, Governments, practitioners, decision makers, international trade missions, vendors, and SMMEs.
Dr. Nick Bradshaw, Founder of AI Expo Africa and Chairperson of the South African AI Association, stated, “This is our 7th Anniversary Edition and the biggest show to date, with over 100 companies in the expo hall, many of which are local and regional SMMEs. The current buzz around generative AI, data centres, national AI strategies, security, and AI4Good are just some of the themes our 60+ speakers and 1700 delegates will discuss. We are also extremely happy to welcome thought leaders from the likes of Supermicro, Nvidia, Huawei, Google, and a visiting delegation from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) AI for Good who will be running an Africa-based startup pitching session at the show, as well as outlining the plans for the inaugural ITU AI for Good Impact Africa Summit.”
Frederic Werner, Head of Strategic Engagement at the United Nations ITU, holds strategic and operational responsibility for the ITU’s AI for Good community engagement, stated, “We are again very excited to be joining the 7th Edition of AI Expo Africa this year as we are running our AI for Good Innovation Factory Africa Challenge at the show and will be announcing the launch of the first official AI for Good Impact Africa regional event to be co-hosted with AI Expo Africa in 2025. We engage with over 1000 companies, 194 member states, and 150+ universities to help drive international standards and policy around the responsible use of AI and related technologies and how they can be applied to help solve the UN SDG goals and wider challenges faced by humanity. We are increasing our efforts across the Africa region and our new AI for Good Impact Africa regional event in 2025 will be another big step in the right direction.”
