Where does SA stand on machine learning?

While the South African market has become more aware of machine learning – as well as its capabilities and the value it can add to a business – machine learning uptake and local industry development lags behind several developed markets (not by months, but years). This is according to DataProphet MD Frans Cronje who highlights that tertiary courses promoting machine learning have only recently become available in South Africa. "It will therefore take time to develop the talent required to'catch up' with competing markets such as the United States," he says. As a subset of artificial intelligence which explores the development of algorithms that learn from available data, machine learning is the science of getting computers to act without being explicitly programmed. Having been in the market for more than two years and with a growing team specialising in producing bleeding-edge machine learning solutions, DataProphet is one of the most well-established companies purely focused on developing and implementing machine learning solutions in the country.