Terrence Taylor Of African Institute of Future Technologies On The Digital Divide and Why & How We Should Close It

An Interview With Monica Sanders

Believe in yourself: I have studied the founders I have worked for at Discovery (SA), Google and Meta and it’s crystal clear to me that a huge part of their success was believing in themselves enough to pursue their world-changing ideas as a start-up.

Digital inequality reinforces existing social disparities, demanding considerable efforts to acknowledge and address this pressing issue. In this interview series, we are talking to business leaders, policymakers, think tanks and experts on this topic to share their insights and stories about “How Companies and Policymakers Are Taking Action and Can Further Contribute to Closing the Digital Divide.” As part of this series, I had the pleasure to interview Terrence Taylor.

Terrence Taylor is the Founder of the African Institute of Future Technologies, which aims to train one million to one billion individuals in advanced technologies such as AI, robotics, and genetics, preparing Africa to lead by 2050. Born in Sierra Leone and raised in Maryland, Taylor’s career began on Wall Street and culminated as CFO for the Internet startup Africa.com in 2001. He transitioned to leadership development at Turner, Harper & Associates in Johannesburg before establishing his own global consultancy. Taylor has worked with Ecobank, Standard Bank, Discovery Limited, and Google, creating impactful leadership development programs and building an internal Organization Development consultancy.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to ‘get to know you’. Can you tell us a bit about how you grew up?

I came to the US when I was 9 from Freetown, Sierra Leone. I did well in school academically and athletically. I went to and triple-majored at Brown University. Worked on Wall Street. Graduated HBS at 26 with an MBA. Lived and worked in India, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, and Indonesia and trained in Turkey, the Philippines, Britain, and Ireland with Citibank. Was CFO for Internet startup Africa.com, worked at Google for 5 and a half year and at Meta for 2 and a half. I co-founded the African Institute of Future Technologies (The AIFT), with Greg Serandos, to pursue our vision of building 1 billion African tech entrepreneurs who learn, apply, and monetize the latest technologies — starting with Generative AI — to transform their lives and make Africa leapfrog. My wife and I bought an equity stake in the African Academy of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) which I have just become the Executive Chair of. AAAI assists companies in integrating AI into their strategy, operations, and products. It aims to help organizations advance and excel in the digital age.

On the personal side, I have lived and worked in Africa for 16 years. During this time, I was based out of South Africa and Togo and traveled to and did business in 17 African countries. I am a husband, father, brother, mentor, mentee, friend, etc. I am a nerd who loves learning, I doom-scroll all the time, especially the news feed. I love movies and deeply enjoy having movie nights and our family tradition of eating whatever you want on Fridays.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. It resonated deeply with me as it taught me that when my why is strong enough, I will discover or endure the how. I have used this insight to motivate myself to go from a middle-distance runner to complete the Comrades Marathon. This quote also stays top of mind as I start the ultra-marathon of building the AIFT and AAAI.

Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life or your work?

Khalil Gibran’s poem “On Children”: the entire poem. I am struck and excited by the conviction that I mustn’t burden my children with my dreams but rather guide them to discover and pursue their own dreams. The poem confirms a cultural belief Sierra Leoneans have that children are gifts from God.

Ok, thank you. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. How would you define the Digital Divide? Can you explain or give an example?

Simple. The gap or difference between those who have and may take for granted and those who don’t have access to, use, and/or benefit from gadgets, tools, and platforms that make it possible to participate in and benefit from technology like smartphones and gadgets, apps, the Internet and increasingly generative AI through tools like ChatGPT.

Can you tell our readers a bit about your experience working with initiatives to close the digital divide? Can you share a story with us?

Yes. As of May 17th, 2024, I am focusing the rest of my professional life on closing the digital divide for Africa through initiatives like the AIFT and AAAI. These organizations separately and jointly will play a pivotal role in ensuring Africans don’t get left behind or locked out of the many benefits of technology that make the digital era possible.

This may be obvious to you, but it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you articulate to our readers a few reasons why it is so important to create change in this area?

Yep. Today technologies like generative AI are mainly available to people on the right side of the digital divide — mainly people in the West and parts of Asia. People on the wrong side of the digital divide, i.e. those like the majority of Africans, who don’t have access, are likely to get left behind economically and socially. This could be catastrophic economically, socially, and psychologically. We are seeing the transformative power of technology and I strongly believe that the world would be better when Africans and others who are at risk of being left behind can participate.

What specific actions has your company or organization taken to address the digital divide, and how do you ensure that your efforts are making a positive impact in the communities you serve?

The AIFT is an organization that’s being founded to provide free education on the latest technologies, starting with AI, to 800 million Africans by 2050. AAAI is an organization that’s a year old and has been providing free webinars and paid masterclasses on AI to educate African businesses on AI and prepare them to build and integrate AI applications. Both organizations are founded to ensure Africans don’t get left behind digitally and instead can contribute to Africa leapfrogging technologically. Both organizations are poised to contribute positively to Africa’s leapfrogging technologically. AAAI has already helped over 1,000 Africans learn about AI through its webinars and Masterclasses. Plus, in under 1 year, it has established a growing newsletter with over 1,000 subscribers. For the AIFT, my co-founder Greg Serandos and I are forming strategic partnerships with key organizations in education, employment creation and Silicon Valley to enable us to launch the institute as early as January 2025.

What are some of the challenges that individuals or communities face when trying to bridge the digital divide?

Awareness, Access, and Action.

First, being aware of what’s available and more importantly, what’s coming in terms of technology and disruptive changes (negative and positive). Access to tools, platforms, and compute — the data centers and chips that allow generative AI models to process requests and provide real-time solutions! Action: ability and agency to act: this is why The AIFT’s vision is to build 1 billion African tech entrepreneurs. We will provide the education needed to raise awareness. The skills and practical know-how needed to apply the latest technologies and build a portfolio of work. Action: economic agency through monetizing knowledge and skills as freelancers, independent contractors, or founders of the next Meta’s, Google, Open AIs or Nvidias.

What role do you see technology companies playing in closing the digital divide, and what steps can they take to ensure that their products and services are accessible to all?

A leading role and a collaborative role. Leading from ensuring gadgets, software, models/algorithms, and platforms are open-sourced or affordable for all. A collaborating role with business schools, governments, and social sector organizations to ensure that needed governance and compliance exist while providing resources for communities to participate in technology enhanced.

Because of investment coming from the federal government, we have funding for great access to infrastructure and digital skills training. In your view, what other policy changes are needed to address the digital divide? How can companies and policymakers work together to implement these changes?

I believe the right governance and compliance frameworks are crucial for ensuring companies and governments collaborate on open sourcing or at a minimum making technologies like Genarative AI affordable and accessible across all communities globally.

We are already in Web3.0. What should we be doing as leaders to ensure the next iteration(s) of the Web are green, accessible and beneficial to as many people as possible?

I honestly don’t know about making the web green beyond reducing the need for ridiculous amounts of electricity to power generative AI compute. To make Web 3.0 accessible and beneficial to as many folks as possible, we must work together to achieve the vision of a more open, decentralized, and consumer/user centric Internet.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why?

1. Believe in yourself: I have studied the founders I have worked for at Discovery (SA), Google and Meta and it’s crystal clear to me that a huge part of their success was believing in themselves enough to pursue their world-changing ideas as a start-up.
2. Dream Big, Start small: I have been a big dreamer since at least 2013, it’s taken me until May 17, 2024 to start small on my biggest dream: building the AIFT.
3. Let your faith be stronger than your fear: for decades my fear was stronger than my faith. It took seeing up close how Google and Meta build several products/services that touch billions of lives and finally understanding that the ancestors, God, the Universe and the Universal Creative Mind (I believe in all 4!) have been channelling ideas like the AIFT through me.
4. Entrepreneurship is more fun than scary: I always imagined that being an entrepreneur would be scary without having the security of a paycheck. Yet I am finding that entrepreneurship is energizing and that there are pretty powerful ways to make money through side hustles which pay the bills and then some.
5. Don’t try to figure out how you are going to achieve your vision. Just start: I have seen how excited potential strategic partners and folks in my network are about AIFT achieving our vision. Most of them are excited even though Greg and I don’t have every single detail about how to build the AIFT figured out yet.

What role can individuals play in closing the digital divide, and what steps can they take to support these efforts?

Start with what the great philosopher Chuck D said and I quote “Get involved, get into it.” Then, help others do the same. Finally, strive to create economically viable businesses to provide services/products that help people learn, apply, and monetize technology.

How can our readers follow you online?

LinkedIn, AAAI website, the AIFT website (coming soon) and YouTube: @TayloredTips

This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!

About the Interviewer: Monica Sanders JD, LL.M, is the founder of “The Undivide Project”, an organization dedicated to creating climate resilience in underserved communities using good tech and the power of the Internet. She holds faculty roles at the Georgetown University Law Center and the Tulane University Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy. Professor Sanders also serves on several UN agency working groups. As an attorney, Monica has held senior roles in all three branches of government, private industry, and nonprofits. In her previous life, she was a journalist for seven years and the recipient of several awards, including an Emmy. Now the New Orleans native spends her time in solidarity with and championing change for those on the frontlines of climate change and digital divestment. Learn more about how to join her at: www.theundivideproject.org