Rosman makes list of 100 most influential in AI

Among the global leaders named in this year’s TIME100 AI list is South Africa’s own Benji Rosman, recognised as one of the 100 most influential people in Artificial intelligence (AI) for his groundbreaking research in machine learning and his role in advancing African AI talent and innovation. 

As co-founder of the Deep Learning Indaba, an annual gathering for Africa’s AI community, and Lelapa AI, a company developing AI for African languages, as well as the founding director of the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) Machine Learning and Neural Discovery (MIND) Institute, Rosman has established himself as a leading figure in South African AI, and is the only South African on this year’s TIME100 AI list. The Wits MIND Institute is an interdisciplinary research hub launched last November with 34 fellows tackling fundamental questions in artificial and natural intelligence. 

When Rosman found out that he was part of this year’s list of the 100 most influential people in AI, he couldn’t believe it. 

“It was surreal and unreal. It’s pretty wild. Very exciting though,” he said. “Being on the list is part of a longer narrative that includes setting up my research lab and then helping co-launch the Deep Learning Indaba, co-launching Lelapa AI, and now MIND.” 

In 2022, Rosman was one of 18 early-career researchers in the world to be selected for the prestigious Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Azrieli Global Scholars programme for 2022-2024, which afforded him unrestricted research support to pursue high-risk, high-reward ideas. In July 2025, he was selected as a fellow of the CIFAR Learning in Machines & Brains programme, which brings together experts from neuroscience, AI, and related fields to explore how biological and artificial systems acquire and process knowledge. 

“It’s amazing to get recognition at the highest level for things that you invest so much into, fight for, and believe in so much,” said Rosman. “That’s really exciting and you know, it just indicates that you’re on the right path.” 

Rosman said that though this recognition by TIME is largely for his work, it also highlights the impressive efforts being made with machine learning and AI in South Africa. 

“Everything I’ve done doesn’t happen in a vacuum. All of it comes from working with amazing teams of people, from the various people at Wits and in my research lab and in our research community who have been working together for a long time, all the support I get from everybody around me. Nothing’s possible without all of that together,” he said. 

Rosman said MIND’s fellows range from AI researchers to neuroanatomists, philosophers, and policy experts, tackling moonshot projects, from elephant communication to robot-human interaction. With plans to bring in scholars from across Africa and beyond, the goal is to make MIND, and ultimately Africa, an intellectual hub that inspires similar institutes across the continent. 

He believes being on this prestigious list will open doors to being able to connect with more people around the world and convince them that there are big things happening in the digital space in Africa. 

“It’s also a way to help start new conversations, bring more people on board, and grow initiatives,” he said.