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Issue 02 · AI Readiness & Capacity Building

From shipping software to building East Africa's AI muscle.

VelocityStack spent five years embedding senior engineers inside African and global teams shipping production software. We are now opening that craft up — a 20-week structured programme that takes Kenyan and Rwandan enterprises from AI curiosity to mission-critical execution, with the governance to do it responsibly.

Apply for Cohort 1Download Programme Profile

Cohort 1 · Nairobi & Kigali · Applications close 30 April 2026

Years engineering
5+
Production launches
45+
Country footprints
KE · RW · global
Programme weeks
20

The gap

48.8% of East African enterprises cite technical expertise shortage as their primary AI barrier.

2025 Africa AI Index. The problem is not ambition — Kenyan and Rwandan companies are eager. The gap is structured knowledge: the kind that takes an organisation from “we should be doing something with AI” to a live pilot with governance and a team that can build on it.

What we hear, in the field

  • "Our CEO bought ChatGPT Enterprise. The team uses it like Google. We have no policy."
  • "We tried an AI consultant from Singapore. They didn't know what M-Pesa Daraja was."
  • "KRA's 2026 iTax enforcement is six months away. We're not ready."

The Curriculum

Three phases. Twenty weeks. Real assets at every step.

Delivered in-person in Nairobi and Kigali, with hybrid and self-paced options. Maximum fifteen companies per cohort so that every session ends with working artefacts your team owns.

Phase 01 · Weeks 1–6

AI Fundamentals

Building the foundation every organisation needs before touching a tool.

  • Demystifying AI & How Models Work

    Clear mental model of LLMs vs rule-based systems — evaluate vendor claims with confidence.

  • Kenyan Regulatory Landscape

    Completed ODPC registration checklist and a drafted Internal AI Usage Policy.

  • Data Hygiene & ROI Mapping

    Data Hygiene Roadmap plus your top 3 AI use cases with estimated ROI.

Phase deliverable — AI Readiness Maturity Baseline (UNESCO RAM framework)

Phase 02 · Weeks 7–14

Applied AI

Hands-on mastery of the three dominant platforms — three parallel tracks, one cohort.

  • Applied Claude — Projects, Skills & Co-work

    Private knowledge-base workspace, reusable SKILL.md playbooks, and multi-step workflow automations.

  • Applied Gemini — Enterprise, Gems & Agent Skills

    Custom Gems for your sector (e.g. "M-Pesa Reconciliation Expert"), cross-platform agent skills.

  • Applied OpenAI — Custom GPTs, Canvas & Reasoning

    API-connected custom GPT, collaborative Canvas workflows, o1/o3 strategic planning pipelines.

Phase deliverable — Sector-specific SKILL.md library (Claude) + Gems library (Gemini) — Finance, Logistics, or Manufacturing track

Phase 03 · Weeks 15–18

Silicon Savannah

Kenya- and Rwanda-specific automation that no global provider teaches.

  • M-Pesa Daraja Automation via MCP

    AI agent connected to Safaricom's Daraja API for account queries and payment automation.

  • KRA iTax AI-Driven Compliance

    Pre-audit workflow using AI to validate e-TIMS records ahead of KRA's 2026 automated enforcement.

  • Localised NLP — Swahili & Sheng

    Fine-tuned customer-facing chatbot that handles regional linguistic nuance with accuracy.

Phase deliverable — Proof-of-concept AI agent integrated with Daraja API or KRA e-TIMS — presentation-ready for your board.

Capstone · Weeks 19–20

Assessment, board presentation, and 12-month roadmap.

Re-run the UNESCO RAM maturity scorecard and measure your gain from baseline. Present your AI pilot to a panel of industry practitioners, a regulator representative, and an investor. Leave with a 12-month roadmap and a VelocityStack AI Readiness Certificate.

You leave with

  • • Live AI pilot (board-presented)
  • • UNESCO RAM report (baseline → graduation)
  • • 12-month internal roadmap
  • • Readiness Certificate

The Moat · Phase 3

What no global provider teaches.

Each Phase 3 module ships a working proof-of-concept you can take to your board. This is the Silicon Savannah block global vendors don't have — and it's the heart of why our cohorts come back.

Mobile money

M-Pesa Daraja via MCP

AI agent connected to Safaricom's Daraja API — account queries, payment automation, and reconciliation, end-to-end. No global provider ships this module.

Tax & compliance

KRA iTax AI compliance

Pre-audit pipeline that validates e-TIMS records before KRA's 2026 automated enforcement kicks in. Built with practitioners, not theorists.

Localisation

Swahili & Sheng NLP

Fine-tuned customer chatbot that handles regional linguistic nuance — not just translated English. Trained on real Kenyan customer-service transcripts.

Transparent pricing

Three tiers. One programme. Co-financing available.

Per-company, per-cohort pricing. Government and NGO rates are available, and we actively facilitate development-partner co-financing with GIZ, the World Bank, and GSMA.

SME

11–200 employees

USD 3,500

per company · per cohort

  • Cohort group sessions (Nairobi or Kigali)
  • Shared sector working group
  • AI Readiness Score report
  • SKILL.md + Gems libraries
  • VelocityStack certificate
Apply for this tier

Mid-Market

Recommended

201–1,000 employees

USD 8,500

per company · per cohort

  • Cohort + on-site workshops
  • Department-track delivery
  • Data Governance audit
  • AI Pilot Design document
  • 12-month roadmap session
  • VelocityStack certificate
Apply for this tier

Enterprise

1,000+ employees

USD 18,000

per company · per cohort

  • Dedicated on-site cohort
  • Custom module sequencing
  • Legal & compliance Q&A panel
  • Board-ready pilot presentation
  • Alumni network access
  • Priority facilitator support
  • VelocityStack certificate
Apply for this tier

Development partner co-financing. VelocityStack actively facilitates cohort funding with GIZ, the World Bank, and GSMA. If your organisation qualifies for a sector or country programme, we'll help structure the application.

Apply

Cohort 1 · Kenya & Rwanda · Q2 2026.

Fifteen companies per country. Applications close 30 April 2026. Tell us where you are and where you want to be — we'll respond within three business days.

Application — ~5 minutes

Apply via our Cohort 1 application form.

Hosted on Google Forms — opens in a new tab. Tell us about your organisation, your sector, and the most pressing AI question you'd bring to the cohort. We review applications in the order they arrive and respond within three business days.

  • Fifteen companies per country
  • Reply within 3 business days
  • Government & NGO rates available
  • GIZ / World Bank / GSMA co-financing
Open application form

Or email [email protected]

Engineering Services

We don't just teach AI — we ship the systems that put it into production.

Fractional CTOs, senior delivery pods, DevOps and platform engineering for teams who need their AI pilots to become real, revenue-generating products.

See engineering services