Daniel van Zyl

Based in South Africa

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I’m not entirely sure what to call myself these days—there are so many titles floating around: machine learning engineer, data scientist, AI developer. I earned my BSc Honours in Computer Science at Stellenbosch University, in which time I became an Equitech Scholar (cohort of 2022), won a machine learning hackathon modeling risky driving behavior, and published a paper in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Now, I’m working on my Master’s at the Center for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI) and recently completed the Equitech Innovation Institute, where I developed a semantic search engine for African legislation.

So, while I may not know what to call myself exactly, in essence, I build cool stuff with AI - and sometimes, it even works. But that’s not my role at Equitech Futures. One of the core missions at Equitech is to make academic knowledge more accessible. As a video correspondent, I script and record short-form educational content on AI and machine learning for social media, breaking down complex topics into engaging, digestible formats. I believe that AI can empower people, not just displace them. I want to be part of proving that.