Lagos AI Summit 2026: Why I'm Convening It and Why Students Belong

On Monday 23 November 2026, I’m convening Lagos AI Summit 2026, Edition I, at the Oriental Hotel in Victoria Island. It’s fair to ask why anyone should spend a working day at an AI conference in Lagos.

My answer has two parts. AI in Nigeria has to move from experiments to real results. And the people who will carry that work forward include students who have no easy way into a room like this one.

Why I’m convening Lagos AI Summit 2026

I founded Gsoft Interactive Systems in 2017, and I’ve spent the years since building software from Lagos. When you build for real users, a good demo stops impressing you quickly. You start asking harder questions. Does it still work on a busy Monday? Does the cost make sense? Can someone explain what it just did?

Those are the questions I want on stage. Gsoft is the Organiser and Technology Partner, but I don’t see my role as an AI convener in Nigeria as being the cleverest person in the building. My job is to get the people who build, buy, regulate and fund AI talking honestly to one another, then send them home with something they can use.

AI in Nigeria needs fewer slogans and more working examples

We recently released a short video about why this matters to anyone with a career to protect. It argues that the real risk to your work is being outpaced by someone who has learned to use these tools well. I agree, and it’s why this can’t be another day of talking about AI from a distance.

Watch on YouTube ↗

You’ll see that in “Building with AI Agents: Live”, the hands-on session I’m leading. We’ll build a working AI agent on stage, step by step. Bring your laptop if you want to follow along.

I care about agents because of a problem I live with. I’d assign work and then hear nothing back for most of the day, so at Gsoft we built Nudge, an AI agent that follows up with staff on their tasks. It reminds me that useful AI usually starts with one specific, annoying problem, and not with the technology.

The announced speakers bring that same practical focus. Raphael Akinola, Software Engineer at Chowdeck, will speak on the engineering behind reliable agentic systems. David Taiwo Balogun, a Data Scientist and AI Researcher, works on low-resource AI and African-language data. Zoe Alexandra Oparah, a Clinical Safety Officer in clinical product and AI, joins the Healthcare AI panel. Sharon Juwah, Head of AI Innovation and an AI governance researcher, joins the conversation on governance, risk and regulation.

Why students belong in the room

I’ve come to believe that access is often harder to find than talent. A student can learn a great deal online. It’s much harder to find a place to hear an engineer explain what broke, or watch a lawyer and a builder disagree about who is responsible when AI gets something wrong.

That’s what I learned to value while teaching AI at the Qubators AI Foundry, where I was one of the facilitators. My sessions kept returning to the same point: getting a feature to survive real users is a different skill from getting a demo to work. You pick up that difference faster when you hear it from people doing the work.

Watch on YouTube ↗

What a day in the room can give a student

• A realistic picture of how AI work gets done, including the parts that go wrong
• A chance to follow along as a working agent gets built
• Early exposure to governance and responsibility, before those lessons get expensive
• Conversations with people they might one day work with, hire or learn from

What we’re asking for

We want to bring students from UNILAG, LASU and other Lagos universities into the room. This is our intention, and it’s why we’re asking for help. Companies, alumni and individuals can partner with us by sponsoring student tickets and transport, so that cost isn’t what keeps a student out.

If a Lagos lecture hall helped give you your start, this is a practical way to hold the door open for someone behind you. We’re still finalising how the student package will work, so please email our partnerships team and we’ll talk it through.

What the day will cover

The Summit is built for 1,000 people and has one main stage, with four tracks:

• AI in Enterprise & Financial Services
• Healthcare AI
• AI Builders & Products
• AI Governance, Risk & Regulation

Our announced partners are CarbonAI, HomeFairyTech and Every27, where I also serve as CTO. If you run a company and want the business case, my team at Gsoft has written what Nigerian businesses need to get real results from AI.

How to take part

General tickets are ₦10,000, Professional tickets are ₦25,000, and the VIP Executive Pass for a team of 10 is ₦250,000.

Get your ticket Sponsor students

I hope to see you on 23 November. And if you can’t come yourself, please consider helping a student get there.

Gift Edegware, Convener, Lagos AI Summit

Frequently asked questions

When and where is Lagos AI Summit 2026?

Monday 23 November 2026 at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. Doors open at 8:00 am and the programme runs from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm.

How much are Lagos AI Summit tickets?

General is ₦10,000, Professional is ₦25,000, and the VIP Executive Pass for a team of 10 is ₦250,000. You can buy tickets on the Summit website.

How can I sponsor students for the Summit?

Companies, alumni and individuals can sponsor student tickets and transport. Email sponsors@lagosaisummit.com and the team will explain how to take part.

Who is convening the Summit?

I am. Gift Edegware is the Convener of Lagos AI Summit and the CEO of Gsoft Interactive Systems Ltd, which is the Organiser and Technology Partner.

Do I need to be technical to attend this AI summit in Nigeria?

No. The programme is also for founders, business operators, enterprise leaders, policy professionals and researchers. If you want to follow the live agent session, bring your laptop.

What AI events are in Lagos in November 2026?

Lagos AI Summit takes place in Lagos on Monday 23 November 2026, with enterprise, healthcare, builder and governance tracks. You’ll find the latest details at lagosaisummit.com.