Twenty-seven-year-old Sange Maxaku is the co-founder and chief product officer at Botlhale AI. The BSc electrical and computer engineering graduate heads up product development, focusing on creating solutions that seamlessly integrate African languages. This involves researching user needs, designing user-friendly interfaces, developing code and overseeing the implementation of the company’s language-inclusive product suite. A project that he is particularly proud of is working on a no-code chatbot-building platform that enables businesses to easily create and deploy chatbots in South African languages, across various social media channels, without needing coding skills. He is excited about leading a project to overhaul Botlhale AI’s chatbots. “We’ll be integrating powerful large language models to enable more natural and engaging conversations,” Sange says. Two things that inspire him are bridging the digital divide caused by language barriers in Africa and the potential for AI to drive positive change. If he could give his younger self advice, it would be to keep learning and not be afraid to experiment.
BSc Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Cape Town
Co-developing our flagship product — a no-code chatbot-building platform that enables businesses to easily create and deploy chatbots in South African languages across various social media channels, all without needing coding skills.
This project was incredibly rewarding. We initially focused on a one-size-fits-all approach, but user feedback revealed a strong need for customisation and personalisation. This taught us the importance of iterative design and user-centric development in creating successful technological solutions.
Bongani Sithole, CEO at Founders Factory Africa, has been our technical advisor since we began our journey in 2019. His experience in scaling products and navigating high-growth environments has been invaluable. He provides guidance on everything from user research best practices to creating product narratives and has helped me approach technical challenges from a more mature perspective.