My AI Expo Africa 2024 experience...

I recently participated in AI Expo Africa 2024, Africa's largest business-focused event for Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotic Process Automation (RPA), and emerging technologies. Held at Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, this event brought together enterprise buyers, suppliers, developers, students, and innovators, showcasing Africa's dynamic tech ecosystem. I visited a few booths: 华为 , Salesforce , 谷歌 , AIForged and AI for Good . To say it was exciting would be an understatement!

Day 1: Engaging with the Developer Community

Our day started with interaction at the Arm booth and many questions from participants about the boards we had on display. The energy at the booth was electric! We witnessed overwhelming interest from visitors eager to learn about AI on Arm and our Developer Program. Our team dedicated time to personally guide each participant through the registration process, ensuring they could begin their journey into the Arm ecosystem.

The day's highlight was our comprehensive workshop:

• Shola Akinrolie delivered an insightful intro to the Arm Developer Program.

• Peter Ing conducted an engaging session on edge AI implementation using Arm architecture, featuring our partnership with PyTorch to enable Executorch on Arm CPUs. He demonstrated Llama 3.2 1B running on a Samsung device, showcasing real-time inference capabilities and illustrating how Arm is creating new opportunities for running small language models?at the edge.

• I presented the Grove Vision AI V2 MCU, powered by Arm Cortex-M55 & Ethos-U55, highlighting its compatibility with PyTorch and Executorch. Two lucky winners each received a board after answering questions about microcontrollers.

The day ended in an exclusive #ArmDeveloper meetup, featuring an engaging fireside chat moderated by Shola Akinrolie, with Rod Crawford , Peter Ing, Tshega Mampshika , Derrick Sosoo and I.

Day 2: Exploring AI's Future

Rod Crawford's keynote session, "Enabling Accelerated AI Everywhere on Arm," painted a compelling vision of Arm's global impact. He illuminated how Arm is making AI technology available to all, whether you're working with large servers or small devices like phones and sensors. This means developers can now create more powerful applications that work faster and better.

The day concluded with an Innovation Coffee session, where we exchanged our insights and experiences at the Expo.

Throughout the event, we handed out many gifts, including Arm-branded swag and microcontrollers from Seeed Studio and Raspberry Pi .

Gratitude and Looking Forward

This enriching experience wouldn't have been possible without the exceptional leadership from the Arm team: Rod Crawford , Gemma Platt , and Stephen Ozoigbo .

I'm particularly grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with fellow Arm Ambassadors Peter Ing , Brenda Mboya , Derrick Sosoo and Tshega Mampshika alongside our dedicated support team at the booth, including Nomalungelo Maphanga , Stephania Obaa Yaa Bempomaa , and students from the DUT Arm (E3)NGAGE Student Club . And, of course, a shoutout to Alex Dodd and Javesh Garg .

Special appreciation goes to Dr Nick Bradshaw , Mia Muylaert, Harris Kubjane and the AI Expo Africa 2024 team and the Sandton Convention Centre staff for being great hosts and orchestrating such an impactful event that truly showcased Africa's technological potential.

Thank you to everyone who visited our booth at Al Expo Africa 2024!

Join the Fun!

Ready to be part of the AI revolution? Join us in building the future #onArm:

• Developer Program Registration: Arm Developer Program
• Explore our resources: Developer Hub
• Arm Education: https://www.arm.com/resources/education

??? Dr Nick Bradshaw, Harris Kubjane , Gemma Paris , Michael Hall , Elan Tanzer, Nomalungelo Maphanga , Tamara Swarbreck, Marvin Rotermund, Bokang Rantsebe, Barbara Bengyel, Stephen Ozoigbo, Gemma Paris, Jayant Roy , Chloe Biscoe, Mary Bennion...