TheArtificialFuture.
Over three weeks in Lagos, curious people and working builders came together for a hackathon, workshops, and a conference — all answering the same question: what does AI look like when Africans are the ones building it?
An event by Young People In TechLagos, May 30 – June 13.
The room, the builds, the day.
Workshops ran through the spring. The hackathon occupied the first week of June. The conference closed the programme at The Civic Centre. The photo album holds the frames from those weeks.
A programme built to put young Africans at the centre of AI.
Not as observers, but as builders.
There are a lot of young Africans paying close attention to AI right now. Some are curious, many are ambitious, and a lot of people are already trying to figure out where they fit. However, there are not nearly enough spaces built to actually empower them.
The Artificial Future was a space built to empower these people. Over several weeks, participants took part in workshops, collaborated in a live hackathon, and joined a conference where Africa's most ambitious thinkers shared what they are seeing and building.
Open to everyone.
Whether you are a student, a developer, a founder, a researcher, a policy maker, or an investor — you belong in that room. You did not need to arrive as an expert. Since 2022, across every event we have run, the most interesting things happen when curious, ambitious people share a room. This was that room.
Three distinct experiences.
One connected programme.
The Workshops
Practical sessions led by people building at the forefront of AI. They ran for people in the hackathon and for people who came to learn.
See the workshops →The Hackathon
A full week to build something that did not exist before. Teams picked a challenge and worked on it with mentors they could actually talk to.
See what teams built →The Conference
A full day of talks, panels, and conversations with leading voices in AI from across Africa and beyond. Open to anyone — hackathon participation was not required.
See the day →These workshops expanded what people thought was possible.
The sessions are still listed below.
Led by people living day-to-day as AI builders. Online. Free.
AI at work: A PM's practical guide
Subomi Salami
Subomi is a Senior PM at Microsoft AI and she's been figuring out, in real time, what it means to manage AI products and use AI to do her job better. In this session, she shares the honest account of that journey, including the tools she uses daily, the skills she's building, and how to think about evaluating AI output.
A Deep Dive into MCPs: What They Are, What They Unlock, and How to Use Them
Andrew Nduati
MCPs are one of the most important shifts happening in AI right now, and most people have no idea what they are. Andrew breaks it down using Paystack's MCP server as a live, real-world example, showing what MCPs unlock and how to think about building with them.
The DIY Stack: Personalized Software in the Age of AI
Jeremiah Nnadi
In this session, I'll show how you can now design, prototype, test, integrate, and ship your own tools. The space is so matured that you can create software built for your goals, running on a stack you actually own and operate. Using a personal finance app I built (Kolo) as a case study, we'll walk through each stage of the build: turning an idea into a designed interface, a working prototype, tested code, real data integrations, and a maintained product (with AI at most steps). The goal isn't to teach you to build a finance app. It's to show what's possible when you stop outsourcing software to other people. You don't need a team, a big budget, or a traditional engineering background. All that's really essential is a problem you care about, a careful process, and a willingness to actually interact with technical workflows.
Exploring Agents: How to build them safely — from infrastructure to impact
Bola Banjo
Agents are the next frontier in AI but building them safely is hard. Bola walks through what makes agents powerful, what makes them risky, and how Cencori's infrastructure approach lets builders create safe, scalable agents without reinventing the wheel.
Problem areas,
not prescriptive
briefs.
Helping to make money reach more people.
Fintech in Africa is not a solved problem. There are still processes that need to be optimised for scale, people without bank accounts, informal traders outside financial infrastructure, and legacy institutions sitting on data AI could help unlock.
AI that actually speaks the way Africans speak.
Most AI tools were not built with Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Pidgin, Swahili, or Arabic in mind. Build something genuinely useful to people in their own language.
Learning on a continent where access is unequal.
Inconsistent connectivity. Overstretched teachers. Learners who need to work while they study. Build tools designed around real African constraints.
Healthcare that works around African infrastructure.
Hospitals that cannot always be relied on. Supply chains under pressure. Communities where care does not reach. Build around weak infrastructure — not despite it.
A format that gives you
time to build something real.
The week ran across two weekends so teams could build the way working teams do. Sessions were in Lagos and online.
Opening Ceremony + Team Formation + Workshop
Kick off at an amazing location, meet your team, and learn a few things together
Build Sprint + Workshops
Focused building time with expert-led sessions to accelerate your prototype
Deep Build + Mentor Office Hours
Heads-down building with structured mentorship. In-person collaboration sessions around Lagos.
Deep Build + More Workshops
More time building and learning together before the final sprint
Final Sprint + Submissions + Closing Ceremony
Polish, prepare, and submit. We'll say goodbye until the conference.
A day that actually mattered.
The Artificial Future Conference was a standalone day of talks, panels, and conversations about the state and future of AI in Africa and globally.
The most ambitious hackathon projects were showcased that day. The best teams presented in front of a live audience, and prizes were awarded on the day.
It was open to anyone. You did not need to have been in the hackathon to attend. Tickets were paid and capacity was limited.
Get the impact report →Conference Details
June 13, 2026
Venue
The Civic Centre, Lagos Island, Nigeria
Main Stage
Keynotes from leading voices in African AI
Breakout Sessions
Workshops, roundtables, and panels
Demo Day
Top hackathon teams pitched live
Networking
Dedicated breaks and a closing reception
The people who taught,
mentored, and took the stage.
Workshop leads are on this page. Mentors sat with teams through the build week. The conference brought a wider set of voices to The Civic Centre on June 13.
Builders, students, and the room around them.
The programme had different ways in. This is what each of them included.
Teams and builders
- 01People registered solo, then formed teams of 2 to 4
- 02Opening session on May 30 was for team formation
- 03The build week included mentor office hours
- 04Teams could join from Lagos or remotely
Student builders and attendees
- 01Students could join the hackathon with no prior AI experience
- 02A student conference pass asked for ID at the door
- 03Workshops stayed open whether or not you were on a team
- 04The point was a room lecturers do not usually put you in
Guests and investors
- 01June 13 at The Civic Centre was a paid conference day
- 02General attendees did not need to have built anything
- 03Hackathon teams presented the work from the week
- 04Investor passes included the demo day and the mixer
Get the story of what happened.
The impact report covers who came, what got built, and what the three weeks in Lagos added up to. Leave your email and we will send it when it is ready.
What the programme was.
The organisations making
The Artificial Future possible.
These organisations made the programme possible.
Interested in partnering with The Artificial Future?
Capital, technology, utility, and people partnerships available.