Media and publications
Coverage, interviews and commentary from South African and pan-African media.
Nedbank N*ovation Data and Analytics Masters: finding South Africa's top data talent
Nedbank ran a national data challenge to find and hire South Africa's most advanced data practitioners, with us as facilitation and platform partner. 1,200+ registrations and 50 finalists ended in fast-tracked hiring for top performers.
impact.com AI Hackathon: 250+ engineers, one day in Cape Town
impact.com brought 250+ engineers, product managers and technical leaders to Cape Town for its largest AI-focused engineering event, with us as facilitation and platform partner. Teams built against real product challenges on the tools they use every day.
Otinga launches: an AI-powered innovation partner for enterprises
Otinga launches as an AI-powered innovation partner for large enterprises, built to replace one-off innovation events with structured programmes tied to strategy and measurable value. The coverage also introduces our Hackathon Platform, which carries winning ideas past the event with owners and next steps.
Night School: opportunities and risks of AI
Francois van der Merwe joins SAfm's Night School to talk through the opportunities and risks of AI. A useful listen for leaders weighing where AI can add value and where it needs guardrails.
EU AI gigafactory push: SA businesses more exposed than they think
Francois van der Merwe reads Europe's AI gigafactory push as a sovereignty decision and argues that where your AI compute sits belongs in this year's continuity planning. A timely prompt for boards whose AI dependence has outgrown their risk registers.
The AI bubble may build lasting value but businesses must avoid owning the wrong assets
Francois van der Merwe argues AI will build lasting value even if valuations correct, but GPUs age far faster than 1990s fibre, so owning the wrong assets is the real risk. Practical guidance for boards on depreciation, renting versus buying, and a 24-month return bar.
Microsoft's $2.5bn Frontier Company bodes well for SA AI adoption
Francois van der Merwe sees Microsoft's $2.5bn Frontier Company as a sign of more hands-on support for South African firms already on its stack. The lesson for leaders: returns come from tying AI to business outcomes and building delivery skills locally, not from buying licences.
HOT Business with Jeremy Maggs
On HOT Business with Jeremy Maggs, Francois van der Merwe explains why adopting AI should not automatically mean cutting jobs. A useful listen for leaders planning AI programmes who want productivity gains without losing the people who know the work.
Prompt injection is the new phishing
Francois van der Merwe argues prompt injection makes social engineering automated, personalised and able to act, so AI agents need two threat models: the uninformed agent and the compromised one. For security leaders, the answer is a monitored environment with clear visibility, not blocking alone.
The FOMO tax
In Brainstorm's print feature, Francois van der Merwe explains why GenAI budgets keep growing while few organisations can say what they got back: they skip the fundamentals before choosing a model or vendor. A pointed read for leaders signing off AI spend.
Reframing innovation for businesses through hackathons
Francois van der Merwe explains why innovation should start with a business case and a defined outcome, and why results need tracking from day one. A practical read for leaders who need innovation spend to show a return.
Context is everything: why every executive's most important job has just changed
Francois van der Merwe argues that when intelligence, code and labour are abundant, an organisation's context becomes its last real advantage. His advice: make that knowledge usable by AI agents, starting with a canonical customer model and a commercial value for your data.
For media enquiries
We are happy to talk about enterprise AI adoption, innovation programmes, hackathon formats and what South African organisations are actually doing with AI.