Talks & Press

Conversations about AI, distributed systems, and making technology accessible. From SABC News to FabAcademic with Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng.

Talks & Interviews

Session 6.7: How to get AI to teach you writing & research

Co-hosting with Prof Phakeng on a different way to think about AI — using it to strengthen your own thinking rather than replace it. We explore how AI can challenge your assumptions, improve your writing, and deepen your understanding of a research problem.

FabAcademic Unfiltered [Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng]·Jun 14, 2026

Session 6.5: You describe it. AI builds it — the Extern AI journey

Joining Prof Phakeng in conversation with Luncedo Simelane, a 21-year-old entrepreneur who built Extern AI, a platform that lets people create software and AI solutions without coding — with a live demonstration of how it works.

FabAcademic Unfiltered [Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng]·Jun 1, 2026

Session 6.3: A 20-year-old builds an AI tender system

Co-hosting with Prof Phakeng alongside Sange Zwane, a 20-year-old student entrepreneur who built an AI-powered tender system. A conversation about possibility — what happens when exposure meets talent and young Africans start building with AI.

FabAcademic Unfiltered [Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng]·May 18, 2026

Session 6.2: Building AI accounting software for informal traders

A conversation with Karabo, an award-winning AI champion, professional accountant, and founder of AEGL, who used AI to build a platform for informal traders — people often overlooked, yet who form the backbone of our economies.

FabAcademic Unfiltered [Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng]·May 4, 2026

Session 6 Launch: From learning AI to building with it

Launching Season 6 with Prof Phakeng — a season focused on real case studies of people building meaningful things with AI. We reconnect with Tshepo from Lebowakgomo, who returns to share the progress of his platform STACU.

FabAcademic Unfiltered [Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng]·Apr 27, 2026

Session 5.13: From learning to building with AI

Exploring how to move from being a consumer of AI to a creator in an AI-native creative economy. We use South Africa as a case study, but the conversation is relevant to anyone who wants to turn AI knowledge into real opportunities.

FabAcademic Unfiltered [Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng]·Apr 20, 2026

Session 5.12: Your free digital assistant

A live, practical demonstration of using AI as your digital assistant — no theory, no jargon. I show how Claude Cowork can handle your admin for you, freeing up time to focus on high-value work.

FabAcademic Unfiltered [Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng]·Apr 13, 2026

Session 5.11: AI as a knowledge equaliser

A real case study on how ordinary people from marginalised communities are already using AI to learn new skills, create opportunities, and transform their lives — no theory, no hype, just evidence.

FabAcademic Unfiltered [Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng]·Mar 30, 2026

Session 5.10: Learning a new skill with AI 2.0

Continuing the series on using AI to accelerate learning — this session explores advanced techniques for acquiring new skills with AI tools.

FabAcademic Unfiltered [Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng]·Mar 22, 2026

Session 5.8: How to use AI to learn a new skill - data analytics

A hands-on session showing how to use AI to learn data analytics from scratch — breaking down the learning process into practical, AI-assisted steps.

FabAcademic Unfiltered [Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng]·Mar 8, 2026

Session 5.7: Your AI Skill Coach - Building Agents to Accelerate Your Career

Building AI agents that act as personal skill coaches — helping you identify gaps, create learning plans, and accelerate your career development.

FabAcademic Unfiltered [Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng]·Mar 1, 2026

Building your personal AI Assistant to get jobs, scholarships & study opportunities

If you are still manually searching for jobs in 2026, you are already behind. Today we build a personal AI assistant that finds jobs, tracks scholarships and helps you apply properly.

FabAcademic Unfiltered [Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng]·Feb 22, 2026

Building AI Agents for township businesses with no coding knowledge

AI doesn't need to be complicated to be powerful. In this session I'm joined by Thabang, an AI & Data Scientist who is making AI simple, practical, and accessible for all.

FabAcademic Unfiltered [Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng]·Feb 15, 2026

Session 5.4: AI Agents for online shopping

AI is evolving fast. The next phase is AI agents that can work for you. If you want to understand the future of online shopping, business operations and decision-making then this conversation is relevant for you.

FabAcademic Unfiltered [Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng]·Feb 8, 2026
View Notes

Scientists have discovered 300,000 new galaxies

Scientists have discovered 300,000 new galaxies in a recent study. This discovery has significant implications for our understanding of the universe.

SABC News Interview·Mar 10, 2019

Frenzy Interview Preview: "We talked all things Space"

In this interview with Frenzy, we discussed all things space, including the latest discoveries, the future of space exploration, and how AI is being used to analyze space data.

Crazy TV Interview·Feb 2, 2019

Follow me Turtle Bot Project

Our follow me turtle bot project, used python and ROS to design turtle-bot that follows an object. This was done at the Witwatersrand University school of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics.

Wits University Honours Project·Dec 16, 2017

Press & Publications