Podcast Summary: "The Man Who Built Africa's Largest AI Firm"

Podcast: Business Daily
Host: Ed Butler, BBC World Service
Guest: Karim Beguir, Co-founder of InstaDeep
Date: January 30, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode features an in-depth conversation with Karim Beguir, a Tunisian entrepreneur who co-founded InstaDeep—Africa’s largest AI company. The host, Ed Butler, explores Karim’s journey from his roots in the Tunisian desert to building a pioneering AI firm that would make history with the continent’s largest tech exit. The discussion covers startup challenges, breakthroughs in AI, global recognition, and the company’s integral role during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as Karim’s mission to equip Africa’s youth with digital and AI skills.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Early Life and Formative Influences

• Background: Karim was born in France but raised in Tataouine, a town in southern Tunisia that inspired the fictional Tatooine in Star Wars.
  • [02:41] “The whole family moved when I was one year old to the Tunisian desert, literally Tatooine...as remote as it gets, even in Tunisia.”
• Family Values: Karim attributes his outlook and values to his father’s decision to return to his birthplace and serve the community.
  • [02:56] “My dad could have made easier choices...but he was from Tatooine and he wanted to give back.”

2. Academic Beginnings and Shift to Entrepreneurship

• Studies: Karim excelled in applied mathematics, studying in Tunisia, France (École Polytechnique), and the US.
• Finance Career: Initially pursued investment banking, as that was where applied maths found real-world application in the early 2000s.
  • [03:33] “These were the early 2000s…if you were into applied math…most interesting jobs were in investment banks.”
• Rediscovery of AI: Fascination with neural networks led him back to AI as deep learning research re-emerged.
  • [04:37] “Back when I was in New York, I had studied neural networks. I had found them intriguing.”

3. Founding InstaDeep: Humble Beginnings in a Challenging Environment

• Co-founder Partnership: Met Zohra Slim, who was essential to the venture’s origins.
  • [06:06] “The trigger for me was meeting my co founder, Zora Slim…startups are about people. They’re not about like having this magical idea or business plan.”
• Startup Realities:
  • Started with “two laptops, $2,000 and a lot of enthusiasm.”
  • Went without a salary for four years.
  • Early years involved selling generic software systems and websites due to a lack of AI market awareness in Tunisia.
  • [07:39] “The first years were tough. We took zero salary, four years, me and Zora.”
• Breakthrough Moments:
  • Debuted advanced visual AI at Mobile World Congress 2017, earning global recognition.
  • Invitation from Facebook (Meta) and Mark Zuckerberg, validating their global potential.
    • [07:39] “A journalist from PCMAG…was very impressed…we ended up in the 20 most intriguing startups…ultimately...an email from the leadership of Facebook Meta saying, hey, actually Mark Zuckerberg would like to meet you.”

4. Scaling Up & AI Research Achievements

• Pioneering AI Research:
  • Inspired by AlphaGo’s reinforcement learning, sought to adapt self-learning systems for industrial and logistics optimization.
    • [09:42] “It’s like…play multiple, multiple games. And starting from zero, the system…would become essentially the very best player in history if you throw compute at it.”
  • Chose to publish their breakthrough research rather than patenting, which sparked global collaborations.
    • [10:38] “I did it for fundamental reasons…and then I realized actually it was a very good move because suddenly people got interested into what we are doing.”

5. Contribution During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• AI for Public Health:
  • Collaborated with BioNTech on personalized cancer vaccines; shifted focus to COVID-19 variant tracking in 2020.
  • InstaDeep’s early use of large language models (LLMs) for detecting COVID variants enabled early warning for dangerous variants like Delta and Omicron.
    • [11:23] “Apparently we were the first team or one of the very first teams in the world to deploy large language model technology…to actually the COVID variants.”
    • [12:31] “The important thing was to catch early signal before anything else. And so AI turned out to be actually a powerful tool in the fight against the pandemic.”

6. Record-Breaking Exit & Continuing Growth

• Acquisition by BioNTech:
  • InstaDeep acquired for $680 million in 2023, marking the largest African tech exit and largest AI exit outside the US.
  • InstaDeep’s presence now spans London, Europe, the US, Middle East, and Africa.
  • [14:55] “If you had told me what would happen with Instadeep, starting with a bootstrap, two laptops, $2,000 to creating the largest exit in African tech history...I’d have said you must be dreaming. Yet it happened.”

7. Project Tatooine: Giving Back

• Mission:
  • Launched Project Tatooine to train young Africans in AI/digital fields, inspired by his own roots and InstaDeep’s journey.
  • Partnership with EdTech firms (e.g., GoMyCode) to subsidize courses and expand access.
    • [16:00] “What about we actually subsidize those classes, make them affordable…Let’s go all the way. If you have willingness to learn…then the world is yours.”
  • Over 1,000 students, with plans for Africa-wide expansion.
    • [16:35] “So we are now exceeded 1,000 students and the ultimate goal is…”

8. Africa’s New Place in Global AI and a Vision for Abundance

• Breaking Barriers:
  • Aims to shatter mental barriers for African talent, showing success need not be restricted by geography.
    • [16:43] “It’s about breaking that sort of like glass wall…that I cannot be successful. If I am in Africa…Of course it’s still true, but it’s a lot less true than before because of the Internet, but also now because of AI.”
  • AI now gives anyone with internet new leverage—“a team of geniuses working for you.”
    • [17:49] “You could be in a remote town in Africa, but you would have essentially a team of geniuses working for you. Because modern AI…the IQ of the very best systems, is now reaching 150 IQ.”

9. Serious Concerns and Optimism for AI’s Future

• AI as a Tool for Abundance or Threat:
  • Karim is optimistic about AI’s potential but stresses the need for education and inclusion to avoid technological divides.
    • [18:15] “We are now making a transition from a world built on zero sum mentality…to a world where, effectively, energy and intelligence is going to be unlimited.”
  • Acknowledges risks and need for AI safety but sees a net positive impact.
    • [19:51] “AI is a very powerful technology…think about, like, nuclear power can be used for good or bad reasons…but ultimately nuclear power was probably a net positive…And I suspect it will be the same in AI.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On InstaDeep’s Humble Origins:

  • "If you had told me what would happen with Instadeep, starting with a bootstrap, two laptops, $2,000 to creating the largest exit in African tech history… I’d have said you must be dreaming." — Karim Beguir [01:35, 14:55]

• On the Nature of Startups:

  • "Startups are about people. They're not about like having this magical idea or business plan…it’s a human adventure. Are you ready for it? Do you have the right partners?" — Karim Beguir [06:06]

• On Publishing vs Patenting:

  • "I did it for fundamental reasons. And then I realized actually it was a very good move because suddenly people got interested into what we are doing." — Karim Beguir [10:38]

• On AI for COVID:

  • “Apparently we were the first team or one of the very first teams in the world to deploy large language model technology…to actually the COVID variants.” — Karim Beguir [11:23]

• On AI Opportunity for All:

  • “It's really about the concept and in many ways, Ed, it's about breaking that sort of like glass wall, which is in people's minds, that I cannot be successful. If I am in Africa, I don't have the same opportunity as in Silicon Valley. Of course it's still true, but it's a lot less true than before because of the Internet, but also now because of AI.” — Karim Beguir [16:43]

• On the Future with AI:

  • “We are now making a transition from a world built on zero sum mentality…to a world where, effectively, energy and intelligence is going to be unlimited...there could be abundance for all.” — Karim Beguir [18:15]

Key Timestamps

• [01:35]: Karim recalls the improbable journey from two laptops in Tunisia to a historic AI exit.
• [02:41]: Memories of growing up in Tataouine and family values.
• [06:06]: The birth of InstaDeep and the importance of the co-founder relationship.
• [07:39]: The challenges and breakthroughs of building AI in North Africa.
• [09:42]: Applying reinforcement learning innovations from AlphaGo to real-world industry.
• [11:23]: InstaDeep’s pivotal role in tracking COVID-19 variants using LLMs.
• [14:55]: Introduction and vision behind Project Tatooine.
• [16:43]: Expanding digital and AI learning across Africa and breaking mental barriers.
• [18:15]: A new world vision: 'abundance through AI' and democratizing intelligence.
• [19:51]: Acknowledging both the risks and potential of AI.

Conclusion

In this engaging interview, Karim Beguir candidly shares how vision, resilience, and partnership powered InstaDeep’s extraordinary ascent from the Tunisian desert to the global AI stage. He places special emphasis on the transformative potential of AI, both for Africa’s next generation and for humanity as a whole, advancing a message of optimism, inclusion, and global cooperation in unlocking the benefits of digital innovation.