Safaricom’s flagship engineering summit, Decode 4.0, has officially kicked off in Nairobi today. This is a three-day event that brings together developers, innovators and global technology partners including Microsoft, Google, Dell Technologies, and Huawei to explore the next phase of Kenya’s digital growth.
The theme this year is “Made for Kenya” and celebrates the ingenuity, creativity and resilience that has positioned Kenya as a leader in technology and digital innovation.
The event is expected to engage over 100,000 participants both physically and virtually. Now in its fourth edition, Decode has evolved to a platform for building, experimenting and scaling real-world solutions. It does this by incorporating builder labs, code labs and mentorship sessions that form a core part of the experience.
“Decode gives that energy a place to come alive,” said Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa. “By bringing developers, creators, and problem-solvers together, we are creating solutions that can scale across Africa and beyond.”
Artificial Intelligence has taken centre stage this year, from keynote sessions to hands-on labs. AI is being positioned as a foundational layer for Kenya’s next phase of economic transformation alongside fintech and creative tech.
One of the key messages came from Safaricom executive Dilip Pal, who framed AI as the defining force of the future.
“The future has a name—Artificial Intelligence.”
His message was not just about the hype but focused on execution as well.
“The question is not whether AI will change Kenya, but whether we are ready for it.”
At the event, the theme throughout was the shift from experimentation to real-world deployment. Pal used a simple but powerful analogy to explain the current state of AI adoption:
“We have the ingredients. But the kitchen must be ready.”
In other words, while the technology exists, many organizations still lack the data infrastructure, governance frameworks and skilled talent required to fully take advantage of AI.
All this aligns very well with Safaricom’s broader push to position itself not just as a telco, but as a technology company powering digital ecosystems across the region.
Safaricom says the summit is part of a broader effort to build digital talent pipelines, with ongoing initiatives such as Decode Cafés, mentorship programs and community-based learning experiences planned beyond the event.
We will be covering Decode 4.0 for the next couple of days and you can follow us on Social Media to learn more. Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn and Telegram.
Also Read: Safaricom Calls for Faster Cloud Adoption at Decode 3.0