I assist in the daily operation and strategic decision-making of the organization, as well as running outreach programs, and doing my personal AI Safety research. I am also a lead organizer at the Deep Learning IndabaX South Africa, an annual conference that brings together AI researchers, practitioners, and enthusiasts in Africa. Through these roles, I apply my computer science and psychology background to create impactful collaborations and solve technical problems. Other than this, I'm a regular meditator, as well as a big trail runner, both activities I enjoy doing with community in Cape Town.

An AI safety researcher based in Cape Town South Africa. My work revolves around researching ways to reduce catastrophic risks from transformative AI systems. Currently my work focuses on understanding conceptions of agency and trying to develop mathematical models of agency so that we can better steer AI systems towards behaviours which enhance human agency rather than deplete it. I am also excited about evals that aim to address this problem.

As a graduate of the Michaelis School of Fine Art, I think deeply about visual communication and interactive experiences. In 2025 I Completed a Cooperative AI course which stoked my curiosity about the intersection of interaction design and multi-agent systems. With prior experience in User Experience Design, Art Direction and Project Management, I'm keen to leverage these skills to build the community and brand at AISSA. My aim is to design for cooperative outcomes that support human agency within AI safety.

Imaan Khadir is a community builder with over five years of experience in impact-driven work and social entrepreneurship. She co-leads Effective Altruism South Africa and focuses on AI safety by contributing to projects that build local capacity to navigate AI risks and opportunities, with a particular interest in AI Governance in Africa. With a background in organising events, growing communities, and driving research in the Global South, Imaan is passionate about creating spaces for connection, reflection, and meaningful action. She has a Masters in Development Policy and Practice at the University of Cape Town's Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, served as an AI Governance Teaching Fellow for BlueDot Impact and was a Don Lavoie Fellow at the Mercatus Center.

I am a technical professional transitioning into the field of AI Safety, building on a solid foundation in software development and a BSc in Computer Science & Applied Statistics from UCT. My interest in AI advancements predates this dedicated pivot, involving active participation in AI Safety Cape Town (AISCT) community discussions, paper reading groups, and talks. Currently, I am deepening my expertise through rigorous self-study by following the ARENA curriculum, and exploring agent evaluations and multi-agent simulations as potential project directions. I am keen to apply my growing AI Safety knowledge and development experience to contribute to robust and safe AI systems, and I welcome discussions and collaborations.

My interest in technology lies in its capability to enhance human flourishing. While I began my studies in Data Science, I deliberately pivoted to a "BSc in AI Applications" to concentrate on 'why' of AI's impact, not just the technical 'how'. This focus on the practical & ethical dimensions of AI was the perfect springboard for my current position as Content Lead for AISSA. In this role, I aim to fuel the South Africa's conversation on responsible AI use through our newsletter and LinkedIn presence. I am passionate about bridging the gap between developers and the public, ensuring that as we build more powerful systems, we do so with a clear-eyed view of their human consequences.

Sam Brown is the research lead for small teams who work on evaluating LLM agent behaviour, sharing at NeurIPS workshops and being invited to develop evals for the UK AISI. His PhD in physics included aspects of machine learning and high-performance computing, after which he worked in the startup/university world doing software/data/consulting in the energy and environmental sectors. He has been working in AI safety since 2022 and has co-authored AI Safety work in ICML.

Claude is an Affiliate Research Scientist at AI Safety South Africa, where his research focuses on Multi-Agent AI Safety with frontier models. He holds a PhD from the University of Cape Town (UCT) under the supervision of Associate Professor Jonathan Shock, a journey supported by his role as a Cooperative AI Foundation PhD Fellow. His doctoral research specialised in Offline Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning, specifically investigating how agents can learn to cooperate and coordinate using only static datasets. A frequent contributor to the research community, Claude has published several times at NeurIPS. His academic background is bolstered by five years of industry experience as a Machine Learning Research Engineer at InstaDeep. Claude is dedicated to ensuring that the next generation of advanced AI systems is designed for robust cooperation and safety.

Jaco du Toit is a machine learning engineer and AI safety researcher based in Cape Town. After completing his master's degree and spending a year in industry, he pivoted to focus on AI capability evaluations. He has developed several evals for the UK AI Security Institute through their bounty program and is currently working on evals aimed at autonomous replication and adaptation risks.

Clifford is a governance scholar whose work has focused on the regulation of both existing and emerging harm landscapes (harmscapes). His current work is focused on the use of process regulation through standards to promote AI safety as well as work on the management of risks that AI startups face. Clifford holds professorships at the University of Cape Town, the University of Toronto, and the Australian National University.