AI specialist Jade Abbott from Lelapa AI is developing artificial intelligence capable of communicating in African languages.
In the heart of South Africa's tech scene, Jade Abbott, co-founder and CTO of Lelapa AI, is making waves in the world of language models and artificial intelligence (AI).
Born and raised in South Africa, Abbott grew up without the ability to speak her native languages. This unique upbringing has shaped her leadership approach, fostering an atmosphere where people feel included and energized. Her passion for language and technology was ignited at a young age, spending hours asking questions on the computer that no one around her could answer.
Abbott's fascination with machines that could talk back was sparked by shows like Star Trek. Her initial dream was to build a robot pal, but she later realised her true calling was understanding how language and intelligence could live inside a machine. This realisation led her to focus on building tools that can bridge one of Africa's deepest divides – communication.
Lelapa AI, the company Abbott co-founded, focuses on building language tools that make African tech more accessible and inclusive. With real-world impact in education, healthcare, and civic engagement, their models support translation, voice interfaces, and local-language access to digital services. The focus markets of Lelapa AI are South Africa and Nigeria.
Abbott's work at Lelapa AI involves identifying, collecting, and curating linguistic data for training models that can handle the complexities of various African languages. Her curiosity has positioned her as a leading voice in Africa's race to build local language artificial intelligence.
Abbott's conviction is that if Africa can solve language barriers, it can unlock every other application of AI. This belief stems from her personal experience, as her work at Lelapa AI is a response to the absence of her native languages in her upbringing.
In her advice to the next generation, Abbott encourages finding personal alignment – the intersection of what they love, what they are good at, what the world needs, and what they can be paid for. She believes that success is not necessarily getting a Google job or moving overseas, but rather plotting one's own path and staying in the work even when it's hard.
Abbott has found resilience in networks like the Deep Learning Indaba, a pan-African AI gathering. If you're interested in AI and its potential for Africa, mark your calendars for Moonshot, returning to Lagos on October 15-16. Featuring Africa's top founders, creatives, and tech leaders, early bird tickets are available with a 20% discount.
In a world where technology is increasingly shaping our lives, Jade Abbott is a testament to the power of curiosity, resilience, and determination. Her work at Lelapa AI is not just about building AI; it's about bridging divides, fostering inclusion, and unlocking the potential of Africa's diverse languages.
