{"id":1021599,"date":"2024-05-15T11:48:54","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T18:48:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/?post_type=msr-research-lab&#038;p=1021599"},"modified":"2026-04-29T00:55:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T07:55:24","slug":"microsoft-research-lab-africa-nairobi","status":"publish","type":"msr-research-lab","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/lab\/microsoft-research-lab-africa-nairobi\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft Research Lab &#8211; Africa, Nairobi"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"mb-3 moray-highlight\">\n\t<div class=\"card-img-overlay mx-lg-0\">\n\t\t<div class=\"card-background  has-background- card-background--full-bleed\">\n\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/MSRAfrica_Nairobi_header_1920x720.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"MSR Africa Lab - photo of the Nairobi skyline\" style=\"object-position: 49% 61%\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/MSRAfrica_Nairobi_header_1920x720.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/MSRAfrica_Nairobi_header_1920x720-300x113.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/MSRAfrica_Nairobi_header_1920x720-1024x384.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/MSRAfrica_Nairobi_header_1920x720-768x288.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/MSRAfrica_Nairobi_header_1920x720-1536x576.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/MSRAfrica_Nairobi_header_1920x720-1600x600.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/MSRAfrica_Nairobi_header_1920x720-240x90.jpg 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<!-- Foreground -->\n\t\t<div class=\"card-foreground d-flex mt-md-n5 my-lg-5 px-g px-lg-0\">\n\t\t\t<!-- Container -->\n\t\t\t<div class=\"container d-flex mt-md-n5 my-lg-5 \">\n\t\t\t\t<!-- Card wrapper -->\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"w-100 w-lg-col-5\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<!-- Card -->\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"card material-md-card py-5 px-md-5\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"card-body \">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"microsoft-research-lab-africa-nairobi\">Microsoft Research Lab &#8211; Africa, Nairobi<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"building-globally-equitable-ai-models-and-tools\">Building Globally Equitable AI Models and Tools<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/DSC05292-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"farmers onboarding to AI advisory app\" class=\"wp-image-1137980\" style=\"aspect-ratio:16\/9;object-fit:cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/DSC05292-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/DSC05292-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/DSC05292-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/DSC05292-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/DSC05292-240x160.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/DSC05292.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"addressing-real-workplace-needs\">Developing small language models to serve under represented populations<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"811\" height=\"541\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Picture-1.jpg\" alt=\"health worker sharing info with patient\" class=\"wp-image-1137982\" style=\"aspect-ratio:16\/9;object-fit:cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Picture-1.jpg 811w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Picture-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Picture-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Picture-1-240x160.jpg 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 811px) 100vw, 811px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"addressing-real-workplace-needs\">Leveraging large language models in low-data scenarios<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1439\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GU3A6710-edited-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"researchers reviewing code\" class=\"wp-image-1138242\" style=\"aspect-ratio:16\/9;object-fit:cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GU3A6710-edited-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GU3A6710-edited-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GU3A6710-edited-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GU3A6710-edited-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GU3A6710-edited-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GU3A6710-edited-2048x1151.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GU3A6710-edited-1066x600.jpg 1066w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GU3A6710-edited-655x368.jpg 655w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GU3A6710-edited-240x135.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GU3A6710-edited-640x360.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GU3A6710-edited-960x540.jpg 960w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GU3A6710-edited-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GU3A6710-edited-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"addressing-real-workplace-needs\">Fine-tuning models to enhance flood forecasting<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1400\" height=\"788\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/IMG_2364-1.jpg\" alt=\"Seminar hosted by MSR Africa: Powering inclusive AI for Africa's future\" class=\"wp-image-1139150\" style=\"aspect-ratio:16\/9;object-fit:cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/IMG_2364-1.jpg 1400w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/IMG_2364-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/IMG_2364-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/IMG_2364-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/IMG_2364-1-1066x600.jpg 1066w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/IMG_2364-1-655x368.jpg 655w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/IMG_2364-1-240x135.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/IMG_2364-1-640x360.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/IMG_2364-1-960x540.jpg 960w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/IMG_2364-1-1280x720.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"addressing-real-workplace-needs\">Powering inclusive AI for Africa&#8217;s future<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:75px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-video  has-vertical-margin-small  has-vertical-padding-none  is-stacked-on-mobile\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media video-wrapper\"><div class=\"yt-consent-placeholder\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Video playback requires cookie consent\" data-video-id=\"e82uG-7aHvY\" data-poster=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/e82uG-7aHvY\/maxresdefault.jpg\"><iframe class=\"media-text__video\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/e82uG-7aHvY?enablejsapi=1&rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><\/iframe><div class=\"yt-consent-placeholder__overlay\"><button class=\"yt-consent-placeholder__play\"><svg width=\"42\" height=\"42\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><circle fill=\"#000\" opacity=\".556\" cx=\"21\" cy=\"21\" r=\"21\"\/><path stroke=\"#FFF\" d=\"M27.5 22l-12 8.5v-17z\"\/><\/g><\/svg><span class=\"yt-consent-placeholder__label\">Video playback requires cookie consent<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/div><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"mari-is-now-microsoft-research-africa\">MARI is now Microsoft Research Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>MARI\u2019s (Microsoft Africa Research Institute) mission to understand, build, and deploy innovative cloud and AI technologies which not only address core opportunities in Africa and contribute to solving local challenges at scale, but which contribute to creating a more productive future of work globally remain a core focus as the team now operates as Microsoft Research Africa, Nairobi.\u202fThe move to Microsoft Research a reflection of the important foundational work the team does, and Microsoft Research Africa will continue to foster a close relationship between research and product.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>At MSR Africa in Nairobi, one of our key goals is to support inclusive empowerment for individuals, organizations, communities, and countries to access pathways to growth and opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We seek to continue to build partnerships with both local and global researchers who have the interest, knowledge, expertise, and experience of working in the ecosystem in order to collectively understand and solve some of the challenges facing the communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"our-approach\">Our approach<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We endeavour to do this by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Supporting in the strengthening of research capacity within universities in Africa.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Engaging in collaborative research.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>To achieve this, we have several approaches that we are using to build collaborated relationships:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Mentoring, curriculum development and review.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Seminars, trainings, workshops, and collaborative conferences.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Summer schools and visiting scholar program. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"microsoft-research-africa-phd-fellowship\">Microsoft Research Africa PhD Fellowship<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2022,&nbsp;MSR Africa selected 3 PhD students at African Universities, as awardees of the Microsoft PhD fellowships.&nbsp;This was the first time awards have gone to students studying for doctorates at universities in Africa.&nbsp;In 2023 another 3 PhD students from Universities across Africa were awarded as Microsoft Research Africa as Fellows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Throughout the period of the fellowship, Microsoft worked closely with researchers on topics of mutual interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"our-2023-fellows\">Our 2023 Fellows<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><a class=\"msr-external-link glyph-append glyph-append-open-in-new-tab glyph-append-xsmall\" href=\"http:\/\/fci.must.ac.ug\/member\/tezira-wanyana\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tezira&nbsp;Wanyana<span class=\"sr-only\"> (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>,&nbsp;<a class=\"msr-external-link glyph-append glyph-append-open-in-new-tab glyph-append-xsmall\" href=\"https:\/\/denden047.github.io\/index_en.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Naoya Muramatsu<span class=\"sr-only\"> (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>,&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class=\"msr-external-link glyph-append glyph-append-open-in-new-tab glyph-append-xsmall\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/hasnae-zerouaoui-98a5b090\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hasnae Zerouaoui<span class=\"sr-only\"> (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>&nbsp;were awarded as the Microsoft Research PhD fellows for the Africa region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"our-2022-fellows\">Our 2022 Fellows<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Meet&nbsp;<a class=\"msr-external-link glyph-append glyph-append-open-in-new-tab glyph-append-xsmall\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mwigereri-dorcas-497b51b4\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dorcas Gicuku<span class=\"sr-only\"> (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>,&nbsp;<a class=\"msr-external-link glyph-append glyph-append-open-in-new-tab glyph-append-xsmall\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/aojsoft\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Olalekan Joseph Akintande<span class=\"sr-only\"> (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>, and <a class=\"msr-external-link glyph-append glyph-append-open-in-new-tab glyph-append-xsmall\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/sofia-bourhim-43924a10b\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sofia Bourhim<span class=\"sr-only\"> (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>\u2014our first cohort of PhD fellows at MSR Africa. This first cohort completed their 3-month internship in&nbsp;July&nbsp;undertaking cutting edge research in climate,&nbsp;artificial intelligence&nbsp;& fairness, and recommender systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"join-us-for-the-microsoft-research-africa-ai-for-good-grand-seminarthursday-april-30th-from-2pm-to-5pm-eat\">Join us for the Microsoft Research Africa & AI For Good Grand Seminar<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"join-us-for-the-microsoft-research-africa-ai-for-good-grand-seminarthursday-april-30th-from-2pm-to-5pm-eat\">Thursday April 30th from 2pm to 5pm EAT<br><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>This seminar explores how language and voice AI systems can be built and scaled for African contexts\u2014from community-driven data collection and multilingual foundation models&nbsp;to robust deployment and real-world applications across sectors such as agriculture, health, and public services.&nbsp;&nbsp;We will discuss technical advances, evaluation challenges, and ecosystem partnerships&nbsp;needed to ensure these technologies work for Africa\u2019s linguistic diversity and development priorities.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a data-bi-type=\"button\" class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Microsoft-Grand-Seminar-2026-\u2013-April-30-_-Language-Voice-AI-for-Africa.ics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Add to calendar<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"seminar-schedule\">Seminar Schedule:\u00a0<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-vertical-margin-small  has-vertical-padding-none  is-stacked-on-mobile\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"569\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-11-1024x569.png\" alt=\"banner image of speaker Prof Vukosi Marivate with his name, University of Pretoria affiliation and mention of his keynote address\" class=\"wp-image-1170085 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-11-1024x569.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-11-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-11-768x427.png 768w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-11-1536x853.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-11-2048x1138.png 2048w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-11-240x133.png 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p id=\"what-do-our-benchmarks-actually-measure-evaluation-challenges-for-african-language-ai\"><strong>What Do Our Benchmarks Actually Measure?\u00a0Evaluation\u00a0Challenges for African Language AI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This talk will examine the growing gap between advances in language modeling and the evaluation methods used to assess them, drawing on emerging analyses of African language benchmarks to argue that rethinking evaluation is essential for enabling multilingual AI. Future frameworks must better reflect linguistic diversity, community priorities, and the complex sociotechnical contexts in which these languages are used.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-vertical-margin-small  has-vertical-padding-none  has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p id=\"building-the-substrate-the-foundry-model-for-african-ai-innovation\"><strong>Building the Substrate: The Foundry Model for African AI Innovation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This talk outlines the &#8220;Foundry Model,&#8221; a collaborative framework where empowered research organizations and local experts co-author the essential tools of the trade. Drawing on the origin story and success of a recent large-scale speech and language initiative (&#8216;Waxal&#8217;), we demonstrate how community-led data engineering, paired with global research mentorship, creates a multiplier effect. We move beyond the &#8220;builder&#8221; vs. &#8220;user&#8221; dichotomy to explore how we can collectively forge a digital commons that empowers every startup and researcher to build the next generation of Africa&#8217;s context-aware technology.<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"569\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-13-1024x569.png\" alt=\"banner image of speaker Tavonga Siyavora with his name, Google affiliation and mention of his invited talk\" class=\"wp-image-1170087 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-13-1024x569.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-13-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-13-768x427.png 768w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-13-1536x853.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-13-2048x1138.png 2048w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-13-240x133.png 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-vertical-margin-small  has-vertical-padding-none  is-stacked-on-mobile\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"569\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-12-1024x569.png\" alt=\"banner image of speaker Dr Tobi Olatunji with his name, Intron Inc affiliation and mention of his featured keynote\" class=\"wp-image-1170088 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-12-1024x569.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-12-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-12-768x427.png 768w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-12-1536x853.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-12-2048x1138.png 2048w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-12-240x133.png 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p><strong>Problem Driven Development: The unglamorous road to real world African Voice AI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite rapid progress in speech AI, many systems still fail in African real-world settings where diverse accents, local names, multilingual speech, code-switching, noise, and domain-specific terminology collide. In this talk, I present the \u201cugly road\u201d to production-grade voice AI through a problem-driven development lens: how failures observed across healthcare, enterprise, and everyday African conversations repeatedly became the starting point for new ideas, new datasets, better benchmarks, algorithms, and architectures, stronger models, and a series of published research. Rather than chasing global leaderboards, robust voice AI for Africa is built through disciplined error analysis, locally grounded evaluation, and tight feedback loops between deployment, data, and modeling.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-vertical-margin-small  has-vertical-padding-none  has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p><strong>Bringing Swahili to Life<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Korir will share lessons from building Sauti, MsingiAI\u2019s open-source Swahili TTS system, highlighting what it takes to move from data to deployment for a low-resource African language. This includes approaches to data, including curating WAXAL-compatible Kenyan Swahili speech, dealing with code-switching and dialectal variation, and the modeling choices that let us distill efficient, deployable voices that can run close to users. Ultimately, Korir will share what it takes to ship responsibly, and why open, Africa-led voice AI is the only sustainable path to language technology that truly serves the continent.<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"569\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-14-1024x569.png\" alt=\"banner image of speaker Kiplangat Korir with his name, MsingiAI affiliation and mention of his lightning talk\" class=\"wp-image-1170089 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-14-1024x569.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-14-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-14-768x427.png 768w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-14-1536x853.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-14-2048x1138.png 2048w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-14-240x133.png 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-vertical-margin-small  has-vertical-padding-none  is-stacked-on-mobile\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"569\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-15-1-1024x569.png\" alt=\"banner image of speaker John Quinn with his name, Sunbird AI affiliation and mention of his lightning talk\" class=\"wp-image-1170130 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-15-1-1024x569.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-15-1-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-15-1-768x427.png 768w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-15-1-1536x853.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-15-1-2048x1138.png 2048w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-15-1-240x133.png 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p><strong>Multilingual Speech LLMs in Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John will give some updates on Sunbird AI&#8217;s work with speech-language models for East African languages, aimed at optimising both latency and accuracy. From deployments across Uganda, he&#8217;ll build up an interesting picture of what people want to do with such models, and what opportunities we are seeing for further model iteration, debugging, and community collaboration.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"406\" src=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-20-1-1024x406.png\" alt=\"banner image of panelists including Muchai Mercy (Microsoft),  George Musumba (KICTANet), Joyce Nabende Nakatumba (Makerere University),  Yann Le Beux (YUX and Kitala AI)  \" class=\"wp-image-1170092\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-20-1-1024x406.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-20-1-300x119.png 300w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-20-1-768x304.png 768w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-20-1-1536x608.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-20-1-2048x811.png 2048w, https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Microsoft-GrandSeminar-Promo-20-1-240x95.png 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<footer class=\"single-lab__footer bg-gray-100 py-4 py-md-5\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:75%\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"leadership\">Leadership<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"single-lab__block-footer-section\">\n\t<ul class=\"m-0 list-unstyled\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"mb-0\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-lab__footer-leader d-flex mb-2\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-lab__footer-leader-avatar\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/people\/jaoneil\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-1by1 rounded-circle\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img alt='Portrait of Jacki O'Neill' src='\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Jacki-ONeill_360x360.jpg' srcset='\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Jacki-ONeill_360x360.jpg 2x' class='avatar avatar-180 photo avatar m-0 img-object-cover embed-responsive-item' height='180' width='180' 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Westlands,\n\t\t\t\t\t<br\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNairobi\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<br\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKenya\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\t<\/div>\n<\/footer>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1021830,"template":"","meta":{"msr-url-field":"","msr-podcast-episode":"","msrModifiedDate":"","msrModifiedDateEnabled":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","msr_email":"","msr_address_1":"Dunhill Towers, 7th Floor","msr_address_2":"Waiyaki Way, 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Abdulhamid","user_id":40894,"people_section":"Section name 0","alias":"nabdulhamid"},{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Maxamed Axmed","user_id":40888,"people_section":"Section name 0","alias":"maxmed"},{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Mercy Muchai","user_id":40846,"people_section":"Section name 0","alias":"mercymuchai"},{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Stephanie Nyairo","user_id":40282,"people_section":"Section name 0","alias":"snyairo"},{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Millicent Ochieng","user_id":40678,"people_section":"Section name 0","alias":"mochieng"},{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Samuel Chege Maina","user_id":40321,"people_section":"Section name 0","alias":"samuelmaina"},{"type":"guest","display_name":"Ignatius Ezeani","user_id":1125384,"people_section":"Section name 0","alias":""}],"related-publications":[1040349,1166782,1156834,1140686,1138239,1137454,1135028,1104315,1104276,1087683,1041708,1040355,802930,1040334,1014651,1014642,977172,970176,963351,872082,858348,848614,840415,839002],"related-downloads":[],"related-videos":[1137996,1163101,1162959,1159644,1157260,1155818,1151426,1148521,1145822,1143866,1140941,1139012,831706,1137837,1068546,1067070,1043604,1043595,1043106,1027740,1023555],"related-posts":[978693,987282,1021077,1025451,1043418,1138612,1160691,1167876],"related-events":[1140561,1148327,1143426,818893],"related-groups":[],"related-projects":[1119384,1136532,1048029,979767,1048035,1048017,1057734,1068003,1048011,677004,819724,676995],"related-opportunities":[],"related-articles":[1034994,1035000],"tab-content":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-research-lab\/1021599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-research-lab"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/msr-research-lab"}],"version-history":[{"count":182,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-research-lab\/1021599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1170133,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-research-lab\/1021599\/revisions\/1170133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1021830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1021599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"msr-locale","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-locale?post=1021599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}