Cissé, Moustapha
c. 1985-present · Contribution: 2014-present
AI Researcher & Founder
Founded and led Google's first AI research center in Africa, in Accra, Ghana, from 2018 to 2022, then founded Kera Health, an AI-powered healthcare platform based in Senegal
Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Quick facts
- Born
- c. 1985
- Active since
- 2014
- Category
- AI & Social Media
- Best known for
- Google's Africa AI centerAMMI programKera Health
Impact on the world
Cissé built durable institutions for African AI research, ensuring the continent's languages, health needs, and agriculture are represented in a field that had largely overlooked them. He trained cohorts of researchers who now lead African AI startups.
Sources
- iAfrica.com
4 more sources and references are available to members.
Related visionaries
Aboyeji, Iyinoluwa
1991-present
Co-founded Andela (2014) and Flutterwave (2016), two of the small number of African tech companies to reach “unicorn” billion-dollar valuations, then founded Future Africa, a venture platform that has backed more than 100 African startups
Mohamed, Shakir
c. 1983-present
Co-founded the Deep Learning Indaba in 2017, a grassroots organization that has grown into the largest pan-African AI research and community-building movement, while working as a senior AI research director at Google DeepMind
Evans, Aicha
1969-present
CEO of Zoox, Amazon's self-driving car subsidiary, whom she led through a $1.3 billion acquisition by Amazon in 2020 and to the September 2025 launch of its first public robotaxi service in Las Vegas
Mawakana, Tekedra
1971-present
Co-CEO of Waymo, Alphabet's autonomous-driving technology company, since April 2021, overseeing business strategy and commercial rollout; among the few Black women leading a major U.S. technology company