AI in Kenya is moving from hype to deployment.
That was my biggest takeaway from this follow-up Pure Digital Passion Podcast conversation with Simon Bransfield-Garth and Shikoli Makatiani of Akili AI.
Our first conversation with Simon explored his journey from working on neural networks at Cambridge in the mid-1980s, to Symbian, mobile security, off-grid solar in Africa, and eventually Akili AI.
This second conversation gets into the real work.
How do you put AI to work inside a Kenyan bank, microfinance institution, cooperative, customer service workflow, or regulated financial services process?
We unpacked:
✅ Shadow AI — the AI already inside your organization even when leadership thinks nothing has been deployed
✅ Why the real value is not in the AI model but in what you build around it
✅ Why AI is not just another digital transformation tool but a decision-layer technology
✅ Why Shikoli starts with one question: “Show me the pain owner”
✅ How AI can reduce customer service friction, surface insights, and reduce cognitive load
✅ What agentic AI actually means when real money, customer data, and regulated workflows are involved
✅ Why AI governance, risk registers, staff training, and human oversight are now board-level issues
✅ How Akili Snapshot, Akili Assured, and Akili Passport fit into the AI readiness journey
✅ Why “good enough is good enough” for many practical African AI use cases
For me, this conversation captures where AI in Kenya and Africa is now heading.
The first phase was curiosity. The second phase was experimentation. The next phase is practical deployment, governance, accountability, and measurable business value.
Watch The Podcast:
youtu.be/oZazhafRfGg
Listen To The Podcast:
open.spotify.com/episode/3fN…
#AkiliAI #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #AIGovernance #AgenticAI #ShadowAI #FinancialServices #ResponsibleAI #DigitalTransformation
@Akiliai @smakatiani
