Nazareen Ebrahim has built a career where technology, communication, and ethics meet. As the founder of Naz Consulting and AI Ethics Lead at Socially Acceptable, she’s part strategist, part storyteller, and fully committed to making sure Africa’s voice is not just heard but leads. In 2024, she was named one of the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics, a recognition of her growing influence in one of the world’s most urgent conversations.
Nazareen Ebrahim is one of the speakers at the summit. Source: Supplied.
At the AI Empowered (AIE) Summit this August at the CTICC in Cape Town, Ebrahim joins the speaker line-up to share her unique perspective.
(See how you can win tickets to attend at the end of this article.)
What inspired you to start Naz Consulting, and how has your vision for the company evolved over time?
I was a geeky 19 year old tomboy on campus sitting outside the library with my geek crowd. We talked about what we'd like to do when we finished university. Without skipping a beat, I said that I wanted to start a media and communications company. This was in the days before social media. I consulted, bootstrapped and worked with freelancers for a long time. Just before COVID-19 hit, I started to build a team. The dream is to build into Africa's premier technology communications consultancy.
Why is it important for women to take part in this conversation around AI and marketing and why now?
Women have always contributed significantly in all sectors and industries from research and development to innovation, invention, design and progressive leadership. But the status quo has been to undermine a woman's achievement as less significant. The need to amplify women's voices in the age of AI is of paramount importance to further define the importance of this industrial age. The leadership skills and technical prowess presented by women in shaping this technology will anchor the necessity for the AI ethics and tech for good initiatives.
What do you think is getting lost in the way AI is currently being discussed in the marketing world?
The practicality of it. AI is thrown around loosely as an all-encompassing technology designed to be the aha moment of the world. It is in fact humans who direct this as we have done so in every other industrial age. Human beings need to ask the questions, train appropriately for the changes, be open and curious to learning and see AI for what it is: to amplify and optimise our efforts but never to replace our values.
For marketing professionals attending the summit, what’s one mindset shift you hope they walk away with after your session?
With the confidence to ask the right questions and to be open to changing for relevance in this new and fast changing world. Creativity is found in every facet of life. Marketers have usually held the crown for creativity. Now is the time to embrace the fullness of this industrial age. We are no longer marketers. We are business optimisation technologists - BOTS.
What role do you believe African marketers can play in shaping how AI is developed and applied globally?
We can play the role of providing world class and leading research that presents as accurate a view of our continent, cultures and peoples. We don't need the West to tell us who we are. AI is a lifecycle comprising multiple components. Models, Data and Training and Resources. Are we allowing ourselves to continue to be led by the West and the oriental East or being owners and builders of the technologies that guide and shape humanity?
Want to be part of the conversation? As a special offer to our readers, you could stand a chance to attend the AI Empowered Summit, inspired by EO Cape Town, taking place on 7–8 August 2025 at the CTICC. We’re giving away two double tickets to this thought-provoking event where innovators like Nazareen Ebrahim will share their insights on the future of AI, ethics, marketing, and beyond. Contact info@aiempowered.co.za to enter.
