AIS Leadership Summit: Forging Resilient Futures: Tech-Enabled, Human-Led
AIS's flagship event of the year, a half-day Leadership Summit exploring the powerful intersection of digital innovation and visionary leadership, with eight speakers from across the African innovation ecosystem and CMU-Africa's academic leadership.
What happened
On Saturday, 28 February 2026, AIS hosted its flagship event of the academic year, the AIS Leadership Summit at Carnegie Mellon University Africa, under the theme "Forging Resilient Futures: Tech-Enabled, Human-Led."
The Summit was a half-day of high-impact strategy and networking with leaders shaping the future of the continent, exploring the powerful intersection of digital innovation and visionary leadership.
Meet our distinguished speakers
Our lineup featured a diverse group of experts from industry and academia:
- Phionah Ingabire, Entrepreneurship Consultant, Allan & Gill Gray
- Millicent Malinga, Lima Aja
- Victor Olufemi, Echo
- Elie Habimana, Norrsken East Africa
- Stephen David, AIS, CMU-Africa
- Léandre Berwa, SLS Energy
- Dr. Jesse Thornburg, CMU-Africa
- Prof. Keith Straughan, CMU-Africa
What was covered
As Africa navigates a rapidly evolving landscape, the Summit explored the powerful intersection of technology and human leadership, how the continent's next generation of innovators can build ventures that are simultaneously technically advanced and deeply human-centered. Sessions covered:
- Resilience in entrepreneurship across multiple economic cycles
- The role of technology in solving distinctly African challenges
- The leadership qualities required to scale ventures across the continent
- Career pathways at the intersection of academia, industry, and startups
Event details
- Date: Saturday, 28th February, 2026
- Time: 12:30 PM to 5:00 PM
- Location: Carnegie Mellon University Africa, Kigali
Impact
The Leadership Summit was one of the largest single events AIS has organised to date, a signal of the club's growing capacity to convene senior industry leaders alongside faculty and students in a structured, high-impact format.