Building the Future of AI on Arm at AI Expo Africa 2024
At AI Expo Africa 2024, Arm brought together AI developers, enthusiasts, and industry leaders through immersive workshops, insightful talks, exclusive networking opportunities, and an engaging booth experience. The event is Africa’s largest AI conference and trade show, with over 2,000 delegates from all over the African continent.
Arm has been attending AI Expo Africa for the past three years, and this year we noted a significant uptick in AI applications running on Arm and a definite thirst for knowledge in how to best to deploy and accelerate AI on Arm. Held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, Arm’s presence at the event left a strong impact on the AI developer ecosystem, fostering connections and sparking innovation, with a range of expert insights from Arm tech leaders and Ambassadors from the Arm Developer Program.
Arm Ambassadors are a group of experts and community leaders developing on Arm who support and help lead the Developer Program through a host of Arm-endorsed activities like the various talks, workshops and engagements at AI Expo Africa. At the event, there were Arm Ambassadors from Ghana, Kenya, Switzerland and, of course, South Africa in attendance.
Day 1: Workshops and live demos
Arm kicked off with a high-energy workshop that saw an incredible turnout. Shola Akinrolie, Senior Manager for the Arm Developer Program, opened the session with a keynote introduction, setting the stage for a deep dive into Arm’s AI technology and its community-driven initiatives.
Distinguished Arm Ambassador Peter Ing then took the spotlight, showing how to run AI models at the edge on the Arm Compute Platform. He demonstrated the Llama 3.2 1B model running on a Samsung mobile device, showcasing real-time AI inference capabilities and illustrating how Arm is creating new opportunities for running small language models on the edge. The live demo left the audience captivated by the performance and efficiency of the Arm Compute Platform.
Another standout session was led by Distinguished Arm Ambassador Dominica Abena Oforiwaa Amanfo, who shared her expertise on the Grove Vision AI V2 microcontroller (MCU), which is powered by a dual-core Arm Cortex-M55 CPU and Ethos-U55 NPU NN unit. Dominica highlighted the TinyML’s capabilities, as well as its compatibility with PyTorch and ExecuTorch. This showcased the reach and versatility of low-power, high impact AI innovations that are powered by Arm.
The Arm booth: A hub of innovation
At AI Expo Africa, the Arm booth was bustling with energy, drawing hundreds of developers eager to experience Arm’s technology first-hand. The team engaged with visitors in discussions and hands-on demos. The booth was packed with excitement, from insightful tech exchanges to exclusive SWAG giveaways, including a highly sought-after Raspberry Pi MCU!
To end the day, Arm hosted an exclusive Arm Developer Networking Dinner. The evening was filled with lively discussions led by Arm’s Director of Software Technologies Rod Crawford and Arm Developer Program Ambassadors, as they shared their insights on AI’s future and the impact of edge computing across various industries.
Day 2: Inspiring talks and networking
On day two of the event, Arm’s Rod Crawford, captivated the audience with a powerful talk on “Empowering AI from Cloud to Edge.” Rod shared how Arm supports developers in harnessing the full potential of AI, from efficient cloud computing to high-performance, edge-based AI solutions. This means developers can create more powerful applications that work better and faster.
The tallk demonstrated how both generative AI and classic AI workloads could run across the entire spectrum of computing on Arm, from powerful cloud services to mobile and IoT devices. Through Arm Kleidi, Arm is engaging with leading AI frameworks, like MediaPipe, ExecuTorch and PyTorch, to ensure developers can seamlessly take advantage of AI acceleration on Arm CPUs without any changes to their code. Rod’s insights were met with enthusiasm as developers learned how Arm’s technologies accelerate AI deployment, even for the most demanding applications.
The final day wrapped up with a high-spirited “Innovation Coffee” session, offering attendees a relaxed environment to connect and reflect on Arm’s advancements. Stay tuned for highlights of this session on the Arm Software Developers YouTube channel.
A heartfelt thanks
Arm extends its deepest gratitude to everyone who contributed to and joined us at AI Expo Africa. Special thanks to the Arm team—Rod Crawford, Gemma Platt, and Stephen Ozoigbo—as well as the incredible Arm Developer Program Ambassadors Peter Ing, Dominica Amanfo, Derrick Sosoo, Brenda Mboya, and Tshega Mampshika for their hard work and passion. We also appreciate Marvin Rotermund, Nomalungelo Maphanga, Stephania Obaa Yaa Bempomaa, and Mia Muylaert for their energy and support at the booth.
Here are what some of the Arm Developer Program Ambassadors had to say about the event:
Brenda Mboya: “One of my favorite moments at the event was seeing the lightbulb go off for attendees who visited the Arm booth and realized how integral Arm has been in their lives. It was an honor to engage with young people interested in utilizing Arm-based technology in their school initiatives and I am glad that I was able to direct them to sign-up to be part of the Arm Developer Program.”
Derrick Sosoo: “Arm’s presence at AI Expo Africa 2024 marked a significant shift towards building strong connections with developers through immersive experiences. Our engaging workshops, insightful talks, Arm Developer meetup, and interactive booth showcase left an indelible mark on attendees.”
Dominica Amanfo: “We witnessed overwhelming interest from visitors eager to learn about AI on Arm and our Developer Program. I’m particularly grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with fellow Arm Ambassadors alongside our dedicated support team at the booth, which included students from the DUT Arm (E³)NGAGE Student Club.”
The future of AI is built on Arm
By uniting innovators, developers, and enthusiasts, Arm is leading the charge in shaping the future of AI. Together, we’re building a community that will drive the future of AI on Arm, empowering developers worldwide to innovate and bring cutting-edge technology to life.
Learn more about Arm’s developer initiatives and join the journey at Arm Developer Program.
Any re-use permitted for informational and non-commercial or personal use only.
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