[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"conference-blog-articles":3},{"list":4,"total":347},[5,58,105,147,171,195,224,251,284,321],{"id":6,"author":7,"authors":20,"title":22,"subTitle":16,"excerpt":23,"slug":24,"body":25,"categories":26,"tags":32,"featuredMedia":41,"publishedAt":49,"publishedAtGMT":50,"updatedAt":49,"updatedAtGMT":50,"type":51,"listicle":52,"disableContentGate":53,"disableListicleNumbers":53,"canonicalUrl":16,"socialThumbnail":16,"readingTime":54,"customFields":55,"additional":56,"acf":57},277210,{"id":8,"avatar":9,"firstName":10,"lastName":11,"displayName":12,"email":13,"username":12,"normalizedUsername":14,"description":15,"htmlBio":16,"twitter":17,"facebook":18,"instagram":16,"registeredAt":19},100,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2020\u002F10\u002FS-3-scaled.jpeg","Shanique","Yates","Shanique Yates","shanique.yates@blavity.com","shanique-yates","Shanique Liz Yates is an Atlanta-based journalist and content creator with a passion for storytelling across business, culture, entertainment, and news. Her work can be found across platforms like aspireTV, REVOLT, Madamenoire, and more!","","https:\u002F\u002Ftwitter.com\u002Fastoldbysly","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.facebook.com\u002Fshanique.lizyates\u002F","2020-08-17T14:58:23+00:00",[21],{"id":8,"avatar":9,"firstName":10,"lastName":11,"displayName":12,"email":13,"username":12,"normalizedUsername":14,"description":15,"htmlBio":16,"twitter":17,"facebook":18,"instagram":16,"registeredAt":19},"‘How Much Money Do We Need To Make It Until Friday?’: The Gathering Spot’s Founders On Surviving The First 2 Years And Reaching 10","During the 2026 AFROTECH Conference, The Gathering Spot founders Ryan Wilson and TK Petersen talk about building from the ground up.","he-gathering-spots-founders-on-surviving-the-first-2-years-and-reaching-10","\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fthe-gathering-spots-ryan-wilson-on-afrotech\">Ryan Wilson\u003C\u002Fa> and TK Petersen, the founders of The Gathering Spot, spoke about building the club into a decade-old business at the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fandrew-yang-was-offered-a-million-dollar-check-to-start-something-with-ai\">2026 AFROTECH™ Conference\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">Founded in 2016, The Gathering Spot is celebrating 10 years in business. The founders took the conference main stage in a year when AFROTECH™ is also marking its 10th anniversary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">The panel, moderated by Arielle Clay Poteau, was titled “Third Spaces & Building Real Community with The Gathering Spot.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“I think the ignorance is part of the superpower, particularly in the beginning, because if you knew how arduous and rugged the path was, rationally most people wouldn’t do that because there are just so many other ways to go about life when you really know the cost, time, and stress that it comes with,” said Petersen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">Petersen added, “But once you’re down that path, you jump into the water.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch3 dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"4\">Where does one get the energy to build?\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“That energy is the moat, right?” said Wilson. “It certainly wasn’t capital for us. Our first round was a little over $3 million, which was more money than we thought we could raise. It was a number that grew. We thought it was going to be a million. It was two. It was three. But even though we have always been competing with people and with companies that are better capitalized than us, our spirit for this thing, like how we care about what we’re trying to do has always kept us competitive.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch3 dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"4\">Trusting the vision when you can’t see the results just yet\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“I used to call TK on Mondays,” Wilson reflected. “This was a real practice for the first two years of business. I would call him on Monday morning. I’d get in my car, and I would say, ‘TK, how much money do we need to make it until Friday?’ How do we survive until Friday?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch3 dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"4\">Dispelling the negative connotation that surrounds networking\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">Wilson and Petersen founded The Gathering Spot as a community-building initiative that helps people from various professional backgrounds thrive and connect, with the hope that the connections made within the club can extend beyond it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“Most deals, and, like they say, most relationships that advance aren’t a direct relationship where I went to college with a partner at this law firm, so they hired me. I play recreational flag football with this guy who babysits for the law firm, and they needed someone, so now I’m doing the electrical rewiring for the richest guy in the city, and it’s things like that, or even when I think about when I started college, one of the pieces of advice that they give you is ‘Go to office hours. Get to know your professor,’ and that’s the truth. Like, if you go to office hours just after midterms or finals, and you’re like, ‘I wasn’t really understanding the stuff, can you help me out?’ They’re like, ‘I’m sorry it didn’t work out.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“But if you went every Tuesday all semester, having conversations, this is real life, I really should not have passed calculus at Georgetown. And then the professor was like, ‘I’m gonna try real hard. It’s not a requirement for you; the curve saves you.’ Those are the things that can happen.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">At the end of the conversation, an audience member asked what city The Gathering Spot will expand to next. The company currently has physical club locations in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, along with a newly opened rooftop and pool space in West Midtown Atlanta called The Retreat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">Wilson and Petersen said they’re scouting a city with the right infrastructure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n",[27],{"id":28,"name":29,"slug":30,"description":16,"image":31},1332,"Business","business",null,[33,37],{"id":34,"name":35,"slug":36,"description":16,"image":16},16112,"Afrotech 2026","afrotech-2026",{"id":38,"name":39,"slug":40,"description":16,"image":16},8304,"AfroTech Conference","afrotech-conference",{"url":42,"thumbnail":42,"credit":43,"title":44,"alt":16,"type":45,"width":46,"height":47,"mimeType":48},"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FBenjaminEsakof_ThirdSpaces_ATC26_Halo-5743-1-scaled.webp","Benjamin Esakof\u002FHalo Creative Studios for AfroTech","BenjaminEsakof_ThirdSpaces_ATC26_Halo-5743 (1)","image",320,213,"image\u002Fwebp","2026-11-05T20:13:36-05:00","2026-11-06 01:13:36","default",[],false,3,{"disableConnatixPlayer":53},{"disableAd":53,"disableConnatixPlayer":53,"enabledComments":53,"headScript":31,"hidePhotoAttribution":53},{"reviewer_name":16},{"id":59,"author":60,"authors":73,"title":75,"subTitle":16,"excerpt":76,"slug":77,"body":78,"categories":79,"tags":84,"featuredMedia":93,"publishedAt":99,"publishedAtGMT":100,"updatedAt":99,"updatedAtGMT":100,"type":51,"listicle":101,"disableContentGate":53,"disableListicleNumbers":53,"canonicalUrl":16,"socialThumbnail":16,"readingTime":54,"customFields":102,"additional":103,"acf":104},276910,{"id":61,"avatar":62,"firstName":63,"lastName":64,"displayName":65,"email":66,"username":67,"normalizedUsername":68,"description":69,"htmlBio":16,"twitter":70,"facebook":16,"instagram":71,"registeredAt":72},119,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2021\u002F08\u002Fupdated-headshot-scaled.jpg","Samantha","Dorisca","Samantha Dorisca","samantha.dorisca@blavity.com","SamanthaDorisca","samanthadorisca","Samantha Dorisca is a Houston-based journalist and photographer whose mission is to impact communities through the gift of storytelling using the written word or visual media. She completed her B.A at The University of Texas at Austin and is pursuing a M.A at The University of Memphis. Her work can be found on platforms such as Houstonia Magazine, Girls' Life Magazine, and Blacque Magazine. Samantha mainly reports on tech, trends, and entrepreneurship.","https:\u002F\u002Ftwitter.com\u002Fsammiedormedia","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.instagram.com\u002Fsammiedormedia\u002F","2021-08-16T13:14:58+00:00",[74],{"id":61,"avatar":62,"firstName":63,"lastName":64,"displayName":65,"email":66,"username":67,"normalizedUsername":68,"description":69,"htmlBio":16,"twitter":70,"facebook":16,"instagram":71,"registeredAt":72},"LinkedIn Is Addressing AI Slop And Finding Ways To Drive Authentic Engagements, Says Senior Product Manager Travis Hutchinson","LinkedIn Senior Product Manager Travis Hutchinson says the platform is addressing AI slop while finding ways to drive authentic engagements.","linkedin-senior-product-manager-travis-hutchinson-interview","\u003Cp>Travis Hutchinson’s mission is to keep media and education from being “divorced from one another.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fmichelle-alozie-is-also-a-cancer-research-technician\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Yale University\u003C\u002Fa> graduate and Brooklyn, NY, native studied behavioral economics to understand how people make decisions and, when \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fthai-randolph-built-the-infrastructure-for-creators-pursuing-ip-opportunities\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology\u003C\u002Fa> is added to the equation, how they “decide about what their experience is like overall,” he told AFROTECH™.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In 2019, he began working as a product manager at Instagram, initially focusing on “how do we create representations of human beings,” he said while speaking on a panel at the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fthai-randolph-built-the-infrastructure-for-creators-pursuing-ip-opportunities\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2026 AFROTECH™ Conference.\u003C\u002Fa> He specifically worked on Explore Relevance and multimodal video understanding for Meta AI. He was also part of the team that launched Reels, which he described as a “phenomenal opportunity.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cfigure id=\"attachment_277196\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-277196\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-277196\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FDanielCavazos_LinkedInFeed_ATC26_Halo-4815-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FDanielCavazos_LinkedInFeed_ATC26_Halo-4815-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FDanielCavazos_LinkedInFeed_ATC26_Halo-4815-scaled.jpg 320w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FDanielCavazos_LinkedInFeed_ATC26_Halo-4815-scaled.jpg 1200w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FDanielCavazos_LinkedInFeed_ATC26_Halo-4815-scaled.jpg 160w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FDanielCavazos_LinkedInFeed_ATC26_Halo-4815-scaled.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FDanielCavazos_LinkedInFeed_ATC26_Halo-4815-scaled.jpg 1536w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FDanielCavazos_LinkedInFeed_ATC26_Halo-4815-scaled.jpg 2048w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FDanielCavazos_LinkedInFeed_ATC26_Halo-4815-scaled.jpg 1568w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FDanielCavazos_LinkedInFeed_ATC26_Halo-4815-scaled.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-277196\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: Daniel Cavazos\u002FHalo Creative Studios for AfroTech\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\u003Cp>“We essentially launched Reels from zero, and I was sitting with \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fjaneen-uzzell-nsbe-ceo-afrotech\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">engineers\u003C\u002Fa> building out, ‘Hey, you know, what does the relevance stack look like? What signals are we using?’ … That was such a really, really cool opportunity. So I think it got me really interested in machine learning and the way that machine learning is essentially behind everything now,” he explained to AFROTECH™.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I think that’s why I work in relevance, which is like, ‘Hey, what’s appropriate? What are things that are maybe not appropriate? And for like whom and what, how do you think about all of these things coming together?'” he added.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Chr \u002F>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Hutchinson spoke Wednesday in the LinkedIn-led session “Getting Discovered In The LinkedIn Feed” at the AFROTECH™ Conference, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in Houston. The conference runs through Friday, Nov. 6, and \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotechconference.com\u002F\">tickets are still available\u003C\u002Fa> for the rest of the week.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Chr \u002F>\n\u003Cp>In 2022, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fcurrent-and-former-athletes-linkedin-to-strengthen-their-personal-brand\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LinkedIn\u003C\u002Fa> recruited Hutchinson, impressed by his understanding of the recommendation space and machine learning. He also noted that he joined the company to explore content trust and safety more deeply. In 2025, his role transitioned back to traditional relevance. His current title is senior product manager focused on conversations, AI, and growth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My task is, how do we make comments to be the most relevant experience overall. So, let’s say [someone] comes to the platform. What kind of comments should [they] be seeing. When should [they] be engaging with the comments [and] conversations? When we have the opportunity to show people comments, we know that they tend to have a significantly better experience overall. So getting people to engage in the conversation and actually use social media, not as media where you’re just like looking at things but to actually engage in conversations, that’s like my favorite part of the job,” he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nearly 700 million comments are viewed daily, according to insights shared on the AFROTECH™ panel presented by LinkedIn. More than a quarter of Black professionals credit commenting, sharing, and joining professional conversations with access to additional opportunities — the highest among any other racial or ethnic group surveyed, according to LinkedIn data.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is how people land roles and jobs,” \u003Cspan style=\"font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">Hutchinson’s explained. “C\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">ommenting on someone’s post, and then somebody sees something, and they reach out to you and get to make a relationship. I focus on what’s the machine learning underneath what comments we show you.”\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Other areas Hutchinson has worked on with his team include LinkedIn’s newest feature, pinned comments, which was developed in response to \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fsensori-co-founders-raise-nearly-1m-in-oversubscribed-pre-seed-round\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">creator\u003C\u002Fa> feedback.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-276963 size-medium\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FPinnedComments-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"320\" height=\"657\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FPinnedComments-copy.jpg 887w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FPinnedComments-copy.jpg 320w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FPinnedComments-copy.jpg 78w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FPinnedComments-copy.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FPinnedComments-copy.jpg 749w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FPinnedComments-copy.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Additionally, the platform is working to mitigate \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fchristelle-mombo-zigah-stylemycrown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AI\u003C\u002Fa> slop to keep authentic conversations at the forefront of the feed. He said LinkedIn has made several architectural improvements for this reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We call that just a general quality push, and it’s been really kind of helpful overall. And we’re seeing massive strides on the platform overall,” he acknowledged. “The \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Falabama-hbcu-student-awarded-grand-prize-for-networking-platform\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">industry\u003C\u002Fa> standard is you focus on classifiers and feed ranking … to make sure that people are seeing high-quality posts and comments.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Speaking to the importance of representation and ensuring diverse groups are among the builders in tech, he acknowledged its importance in mitigating biases and ensuring “all our algorithms cover a bunch of different bases.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He added, “Being a Black person in this space and, and thinking about kind of those problems, creates a much more robust experience for most of our end users.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n",[80],{"id":81,"name":82,"slug":83,"description":16,"image":31},46,"Technology","technology",[85,86,90],{"id":38,"name":39,"slug":40,"description":16,"image":16},{"id":87,"name":88,"slug":89,"description":16,"image":16},297,"AI","ai",{"id":91,"name":92,"slug":92,"description":16,"image":16},396,"linkedin",{"url":94,"thumbnail":94,"credit":95,"title":96,"alt":16,"type":45,"width":46,"height":97,"mimeType":98},"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FTravis-Hutchinson.jpg","Daniel Cavazos\u002FHalo Creative Studios for AfroTech\n","Travis Hutchinson",180,"image\u002Fjpeg","2026-11-05T20:11:58-05:00","2026-11-06 01:11:58",[],{"disableConnatixPlayer":53},{"disableAd":53,"disableConnatixPlayer":53,"enabledComments":53,"headScript":31,"hidePhotoAttribution":53},{"reviewer_name":16},{"id":106,"author":107,"authors":108,"title":110,"subTitle":16,"excerpt":111,"slug":112,"body":113,"categories":114,"tags":120,"featuredMedia":132,"publishedAt":138,"publishedAtGMT":139,"updatedAt":140,"updatedAtGMT":141,"type":51,"listicle":142,"disableContentGate":53,"disableListicleNumbers":53,"canonicalUrl":16,"socialThumbnail":16,"readingTime":143,"customFields":144,"additional":145,"acf":146},277018,{"id":61,"avatar":62,"firstName":63,"lastName":64,"displayName":65,"email":66,"username":67,"normalizedUsername":68,"description":69,"htmlBio":16,"twitter":70,"facebook":16,"instagram":71,"registeredAt":72},[109],{"id":61,"avatar":62,"firstName":63,"lastName":64,"displayName":65,"email":66,"username":67,"normalizedUsername":68,"description":69,"htmlBio":16,"twitter":70,"facebook":16,"instagram":71,"registeredAt":72},"Andrew Yang Was Offered A Million-Dollar Check To 'Start Something With AI In The Name' — 'There's Too Much Money And Not Enough Discernment Going Into That Space'","Noble Mobile Co-Founder and CEO Andrew Yang was offered a million-dollar check to \"start something with AI in the name.\"","andrew-yang-was-offered-a-million-dollar-check-to-start-something-with-ai","\u003Cp>Andrew Yang got right to the chase during the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fin-ai-era-timnit-gebru-says-not-to-accept-the-devaluing-of-black-people\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2026 AFROTECH™ Conference.\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Yang was \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">a\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan class=\"xt0psk2 x1ghz6dp x1717udv x1wty727 x4gjf66 x15eiy0f x1lziwak x15472z4 x1qlqyl8 x15bjb6t x1s688f x14rh7hd xdj266r\" data-d-component=\"text\" data-d-inline=\"\">\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">2020\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Democratic\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">presidential\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">candidate\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">and\u003C\u002Fspan> is \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">co-founder\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">and\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">CEO\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">of\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Noble\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Mobile, which \u003Cspan class=\"xt0psk2 x1ghz6dp x1717udv x1wty727 x4gjf66 x15eiy0f x1lziwak x15472z4 x1qlqyl8 x15bjb6t x1s688f x14rh7hd xdj266r\" data-d-component=\"text\" data-d-inline=\"\">provides customers with\u003C\u002Fspan> unlimited data for about $40 per month. \u003Cspan class=\"xt0psk2 x1ghz6dp x1717udv x1wty727 x4gjf66 x15eiy0f x1lziwak x15472z4 x1qlqyl8 x15bjb6t x1s688f x14rh7hd xdj266r\" data-d-component=\"text\" data-d-inline=\"\">The company also returns compensation to customers for\u003C\u002Fspan> unused data at the end of the month, \u003Cspan class=\"xt0psk2 x1ghz6dp x1717udv x1wty727 x4gjf66 x15eiy0f x1lziwak x15472z4 x1qlqyl8 x15bjb6t x1s688f x14rh7hd xdj266r\" data-d-component=\"text\" data-d-inline=\"\">along with\u003C\u002Fspan> 5.5% interest, he\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan class=\"xt0psk2 x1ghz6dp x1717udv x1wty727 x4gjf66 x15eiy0f x1lziwak x15472z4 x1qlqyl8 x15bjb6t x1s688f x14rh7hd xdj266r\" data-d-component=\"text\" data-d-inline=\"\">\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">confirmed\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">while\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">speaking\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">on\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">a\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">panel \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">moderated\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">by\u003C\u002Fspan> AFROTECH™ Brand Manager Will \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Lucas\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">He\u003C\u002Fspan> told the audience \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">that\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">he was\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">offering\u003C\u002Fspan> them \u003Cspan class=\"xt0psk2 x1ghz6dp x1717udv x1wty727 x4gjf66 x15eiy0f x1lziwak x15472z4 x1qlqyl8 x15bjb6t x1s688f x14rh7hd xdj266r\" data-d-component=\"text\" data-d-inline=\"\">\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">six\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">months\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">of\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">free\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">wireless\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">service as well,\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">redeemable\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">48\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">hours\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">after\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">his\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">panel.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Believe it or not, it’s still a sound business because there’s so much price gouging going on in the wireless market that if we give you a fair value, we can still build a really good, profitable enterprise, even giving it away for six months. If you can believe that,” he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cfigure id=\"attachment_277065\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-277065\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-277065\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FVictoriaEngblom_RethinkingIncome_ATC26_Halo-0798-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FVictoriaEngblom_RethinkingIncome_ATC26_Halo-0798-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FVictoriaEngblom_RethinkingIncome_ATC26_Halo-0798-scaled.jpg 320w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FVictoriaEngblom_RethinkingIncome_ATC26_Halo-0798-scaled.jpg 1200w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FVictoriaEngblom_RethinkingIncome_ATC26_Halo-0798-scaled.jpg 160w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FVictoriaEngblom_RethinkingIncome_ATC26_Halo-0798-scaled.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FVictoriaEngblom_RethinkingIncome_ATC26_Halo-0798-scaled.jpg 1536w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FVictoriaEngblom_RethinkingIncome_ATC26_Halo-0798-scaled.jpg 2048w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FVictoriaEngblom_RethinkingIncome_ATC26_Halo-0798-scaled.jpg 1568w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FVictoriaEngblom_RethinkingIncome_ATC26_Halo-0798-scaled.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-277065\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: Victoria Engblom\u002F Victoria Engblom Photography for AfroTech\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\u003Cp>Noble Mobile’s \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fpressed-roots-is-expanding-to-washington-dc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">funding\u003C\u002Fa> supported the gesture. In September 2025, it announced a $10 million seed round led by Corazon Capital, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.businesswire.com\u002Fnews\u002Fhome\u002F20250916010627\u002Fen\u002FNoble-Mobile-the-Carrier-That-Pays-You-to-Use-Your-Phone-Less-Launches-With-%2410-Million-in-Funding\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to\u003C\u002Fa> Business Insider. Reflecting on the investment journey, he said VCs pushed the company to laser-focus on \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Flouis-carr-tech-creators-afrotech-conference\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AI.\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Multiple VCs said to me… ‘If you start something with AI in the name, I’ll cut you a million-dollar \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Ftristan-thompson-invested-in-anthropic-early\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">check\u003C\u002Fa> right now.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t want to start an AI company. I’m the wholesome, magical Asian man from the future who wants to give everyone money.’ I’m not trying to speed up the getting rid of their jobs thing,” he explained. “That’s kind of not my jam. But what that said to me was that there’s a hyper-investment bubble in AI, because if the professional investors were legitimately saying to me, it’s like, ‘AI in the name, I’ll cut you a check right now,’ it’s like, ‘OK, there’s too much money and not enough discernment going into that space.'”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s not to say Yang has not embraced AI at all. He acknowledged that at Noble Mobile, they have replaced various junior coding positions with AI, a trend he acknowledged many firms are replicating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The easiest people to fire are those you have not hired yet,” he admitted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Chr \u002F>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Yang spoke Wednesday, Nov. 4, in the session “Rethinking Income” at the AFROTECH™ Conference, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in Houston. The conference runs through Friday, Nov. 6, and \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotechconference.com\u002F\">tickets are still available\u003C\u002Fa> for the rest of the week.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Chr \u002F>\n\u003Cp>Yang said the knowledge premium is declining, adding that \u003Cspan style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">people once expected that earning degrees and credentials through college prepared them to\u003C\u002Fspan> navigate “sophisticated organizations.” Over the past several generations, the knowledge premium is what contributed to job growth, but that advantage “is getting squashed by AI,” which he believes will mean a shift to more of a survivor dynamic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Where I spent months learning case law for various corporate types of transactions, now you just ask AI, and it spits it out. … There’s going to be a little bit of survivor dynamic, a little bit of, you know, who stays on the island, who leaves the island, which isn’t great for culture or human behavior,” he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang’s advice is to drive growth, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fdamian-lillard-co-founded-an-insoles-company-that-reached-8m-in-annual-revenue-last-year\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">revenue,\u003C\u002Fa> and sales within the organization, as he believes those workers will be the hardest to replace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the flip side, he noted, “The first people they look to replace are going to be in customer service or things that are cost centers, and coding.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He also still advocates for a universal basic income, a policy that would allocate funds to ensure Americans’ basic needs are met. He projects the amount should be $1,300, higher than his $1,000 suggestion when he ran for president in 2020. He credited Thomas Paine, Martin Luther King Jr., and Michael Tubbs, Stockton, CA’s \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fphillip-mullin-is-the-first-child-in-louisiana-to-be-cured-of-sickle-cell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">first\u003C\u002Fa> Black\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fblavity.com\u002Fkeisha-lance-bottoms-wins-georgia-historic-result\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> mayor,\u003C\u002Fa> who also shared this idea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I will say, in America, this country is the richest, most advanced economy in the history of the world. Our GDP right now is $84,000 a head. I want you to think about that. … And it’s going to go up with AI to like $90,000, $100,000,” he explained. “At what point do you start actually putting it in people’s hands? … I dearly hope that some of the folks who’ve gotten elected \u003Cspan style=\"font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">[during the 2026 Midterm Elections] \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">yesterday, last night\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">, \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">some of whom I know, decide to make this the case that they make when they take office next January, because there are trillions of dollars that are flowing up into the cloud, into the hands of these AI companies, being utilized in these data centers where we’re spending more on data centers right now than we’re spending on office buildings.”\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He added, “If that’s not the clearest metaphor that the server farm is the new human worker, I don’t know what else you could actually put up to demonstrate that. At some point, we should just be distributing the value.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n",[115,116],{"id":81,"name":82,"slug":83,"description":16,"image":31},{"id":117,"name":118,"slug":119,"description":16,"image":31},322,"Venture Capital","vcs",[121,122,123,126,129],{"id":38,"name":39,"slug":40,"description":16,"image":16},{"id":87,"name":88,"slug":89,"description":16,"image":16},{"id":124,"name":125,"slug":125,"description":16,"image":16},92,"founders",{"id":127,"name":128,"slug":128,"description":16,"image":16},105,"funding",{"id":130,"name":131,"slug":131,"description":16,"image":16},97,"investing",{"url":133,"thumbnail":133,"credit":134,"title":135,"alt":16,"type":45,"width":136,"height":137,"mimeType":98},"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAndrew-Yang.jpg","Victoria Engblom\u002F Victoria Engblom Photography for AfroTech\n","Andrew Yang",160,90,"2026-11-05T14:52:35-05:00","2026-11-05 19:52:35","2026-11-06T00:51:35-05:00","2026-11-06 05:51:35",[],4,{"disableConnatixPlayer":53},{"disableAd":53,"disableConnatixPlayer":53,"enabledComments":53,"headScript":31,"hidePhotoAttribution":53},{"reviewer_name":16},{"id":148,"author":149,"authors":150,"title":152,"subTitle":16,"excerpt":153,"slug":154,"body":155,"categories":156,"tags":158,"featuredMedia":161,"publishedAt":165,"publishedAtGMT":166,"updatedAt":165,"updatedAtGMT":166,"type":51,"listicle":167,"disableContentGate":53,"disableListicleNumbers":53,"canonicalUrl":16,"socialThumbnail":16,"readingTime":143,"customFields":168,"additional":169,"acf":170},277002,{"id":61,"avatar":62,"firstName":63,"lastName":64,"displayName":65,"email":66,"username":67,"normalizedUsername":68,"description":69,"htmlBio":16,"twitter":70,"facebook":16,"instagram":71,"registeredAt":72},[151],{"id":61,"avatar":62,"firstName":63,"lastName":64,"displayName":65,"email":66,"username":67,"normalizedUsername":68,"description":69,"htmlBio":16,"twitter":70,"facebook":16,"instagram":71,"registeredAt":72},"SQUIRE Co-Founder And President Dave Salvant Said He Was Asked To Hire Non-Black Executives When He Was Raising Funding","Squire President Dave Salvant says he was asked to hire non-Black executives when he was raising venture capital.","squire-co-founder-dave-salvant-was-asked-to-hire-non-black-executives","\u003Cp>SQUIRE President Dave Salvant has advice for founders looking for funding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp class=\"x12ofw9d\">Salvant left business school because he was convinced that “barbershops and salons are the linchpin of communities around this country.” This belief led him to co-found SQUIRE, a barbershop management platform. Salvant, a private banker, and Songe LaRon, an attorney, decided to purchase and operate a barbershop located in Manhattan, NY’s Chelsea Market “to learn about the nuances from the owner’s perspective,” he said while speaking at the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fbad-data-costing-black-lives-afrotech-non-inclusive-data-technology-policies\">2026 AFROTECH™ Conference.\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cfigure id=\"attachment_277059\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-277059\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-277059\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAlan-Castelan_BuildingProducts_ATC26_Halo-1002-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAlan-Castelan_BuildingProducts_ATC26_Halo-1002-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAlan-Castelan_BuildingProducts_ATC26_Halo-1002-scaled.jpg 320w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAlan-Castelan_BuildingProducts_ATC26_Halo-1002-scaled.jpg 1200w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAlan-Castelan_BuildingProducts_ATC26_Halo-1002-scaled.jpg 160w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAlan-Castelan_BuildingProducts_ATC26_Halo-1002-scaled.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAlan-Castelan_BuildingProducts_ATC26_Halo-1002-scaled.jpg 1536w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAlan-Castelan_BuildingProducts_ATC26_Halo-1002-scaled.jpg 2048w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAlan-Castelan_BuildingProducts_ATC26_Halo-1002-scaled.jpg 1568w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAlan-Castelan_BuildingProducts_ATC26_Halo-1002-scaled.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-277059\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: Alan Castelan\u002F Alan C Studio for AfroTech\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\u003Cp>“There’s a phrase in \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fmeta-is-laying-off-nearly-200-silicon-valley-workers-as-it-leans-further-into-ai\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Silicon Valley,\u003C\u002Fa> in \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Flouis-carr-tech-creators-afrotech-conference\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tech,\u003C\u002Fa> more or less, ‘you have to eat your own dog food,’ and what that means is you really have to put yourself in the shoes of the owner and the customer and really walk that path,” Salvant said on stage with Monica Melton, assistant editor, New York Public Radio\u002FWNYC. “The best founders and the best companies come from a place where they’re uniquely positioned to understand that market and thus have operational leverage in building a better product because they come from it, they experience the pain. So I and my co-founder experienced the pain of booking and getting a haircut. But the real unlock and the real opportunity was on the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Falabama-hbcu-student-awarded-grand-prize-for-networking-platform\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">business\u003C\u002Fa> side.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>SQUIRE is used by more than 3,000 barbershops and has 7.6 million clients who use the platform to book appointments, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.linkedin.com\u002Fin\u002Fdavesalvant\u002F\">according to\u003C\u002Fa> information on LinkedIn. The company is now \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.forbes.com\u002Fcompanies\u002Fsquire-technologies\u002F\">valued\u003C\u002Fa> at $750 million and has raised more than $165 million through its Series D \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fsenator-raphael-warnock-announces-97-1m-in-federal-funding-for-hbcus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">funding\u003C\u002Fa> round.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We raised on May 19th, 2019, our Series A, and then, we raised in 18 months our A, B, C, and D … They were fighting to get in the deal. Once you have people competing for you, you can dictate the terms of the investment. So we’d have no liquidation preferences. And what a liquidation preference is, is the investors get paid back 1x, 1.5x, 2x before the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fdamian-lillard-co-founded-an-insoles-company-that-reached-8m-in-annual-revenue-last-year\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">founders\u003C\u002Fa> or other employees get money in the exit, but we have none of that, so it’s extremely clean. We have tier 1 investors. So, we were fortunate that once we got the money in, we were able to take that money and just go,” he explained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Chr \u002F>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Salvant spoke Wednesday in the session “Building Products Rooted In Real Community Needs” at the AFROTECH™ Conference, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in Houston. The conference runs through Friday, Nov. 6, and \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotechconference.com\u002F\">tickets are still available\u003C\u002Fa> for the rest of the week.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Chr \u002F>\n\u003Cp>Salvant was also candid about the not-so-glamorous moments that brought SQUIRE to where it is today. These included running out of money, being unable to make payroll, and going a month without paying salaries, all before raising its Series A.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He said there was plenty of rejection while raising funding. One investor even requested that they “hire non-Black executives.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That would never happen to a folk, a person, that was not Black,” Salvant said. “Imagine, imagine, a white guy raising money and they say, ‘Hey, can you hire non-white executives? That would not happen,” he said. “So, you hear stuff like that. … We got a lot of nos. … My co-founder went to Yale, a Yale lawyer. So, you hear that and you just have to have tough skin.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Salvant added, “You only need one yes. … That’s also the beauty of it. … For us, that changed the outcome of SQUIRE.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He also recalled being asked whether the company was targeting Black barbershops. There were “no Black people” on its pitch deck, which he felt they “had to do.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We wanted to make abundantly clear this was not just for Black people … and then we still got the questions, ‘Was it for Black people?’ And I’m like, ‘Did you not see the white guy on our deck?'” Salvant said. “I think that was very telling to what we’re doing in the climate that we’re raising in. How do we stay culturally relevant? I think once you get the money, you can do what you want to do. … Then when you have the traction, there’s nothing that they can say but like, ‘Hey, it’s evident I was wrong. You’re scaling fast.’ … You can’t deny the numbers. Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He also challenged founders to build with the “biggest possible outcome.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why would we build a product just to serve one community. … I would challenge you, if you’re building a product, to start with the biggest possible outcome,” he said on stage. “Because what VCs want to do is … and it’s math, and it works out, they want one investment to return the fund. And if this can’t get big enough, then they won’t do it. Your company might be a great company, but it might not be a VC-backable company. And that’s OK. There’s a lot of companies that make a lot of money but just don’t have those exponential outcomes that you want, but they’re great lifestyle \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fternwheel-closes-2m-seed-round\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">businesses.”\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n",[157],{"id":28,"name":29,"slug":30,"description":16,"image":31},[159,160],{"id":38,"name":39,"slug":40,"description":16,"image":16},{"id":124,"name":125,"slug":125,"description":16,"image":16},{"url":162,"thumbnail":162,"credit":163,"title":164,"alt":16,"type":45,"width":136,"height":137,"mimeType":98},"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FDave-Salvant.jpg","Alan Castelan\u002F Alan C Studio for AfroTech\n","Dave Salvant","2026-11-05T14:48:02-05:00","2026-11-05 19:48:02",[],{"disableConnatixPlayer":53},{"disableAd":53,"disableConnatixPlayer":53,"enabledComments":53,"headScript":31,"hidePhotoAttribution":53},{"reviewer_name":16},{"id":172,"author":173,"authors":174,"title":176,"subTitle":16,"excerpt":177,"slug":178,"body":179,"categories":180,"tags":182,"featuredMedia":185,"publishedAt":189,"publishedAtGMT":190,"updatedAt":189,"updatedAtGMT":190,"type":51,"listicle":191,"disableContentGate":53,"disableListicleNumbers":53,"canonicalUrl":16,"socialThumbnail":16,"readingTime":54,"customFields":192,"additional":193,"acf":194},277056,{"id":8,"avatar":9,"firstName":10,"lastName":11,"displayName":12,"email":13,"username":12,"normalizedUsername":14,"description":15,"htmlBio":16,"twitter":17,"facebook":18,"instagram":16,"registeredAt":19},[175],{"id":8,"avatar":9,"firstName":10,"lastName":11,"displayName":12,"email":13,"username":12,"normalizedUsername":14,"description":15,"htmlBio":16,"twitter":17,"facebook":18,"instagram":16,"registeredAt":19},"‘Bad Data Is Costing Black Lives’: Two Experts At AFROTECH™ On Who Gets Included When Technology Is Built And Tested","During the 2026 AFROTECH™ Conference, journalist Segun Oduolowu sat down with two health care professionals for a panel titled “Bad Data Is Costing Black Lives” to discuss how flawed data harms Black patients and how to push back on a health care system they say has long practiced systemic racism.","bad-data-costing-black-lives-afrotech-non-inclusive-data-technology-policies","\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">As \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fjay-z-urges-los-angeles-crowd-to-question-ai-during-final-show\">Jay-Z\u003C\u002Fa> once rapped, numbers don’t lie. But what happens when the data is skewed?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">During the \u003Cspan class=\"R78TQ\" data-sfc-cp=\"\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-sfc-inited=\"2\">\u003Cspan data-sfc-cp=\"\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-sfc-inited=\"2\">HealthStack Conference portion of the\u003C!--TgQPHd|||[["https:\u002F\u002Fafrotechconference.com\u002Ftracks\u002Fhealthstack",null,[null,null,1,null,null,null,null,null,null,[[1793886651034734,6426982,1026969445],null,null,null,null,[[2,2]]],null,null,[244939,null,2],null,null,[{"1218":[16,null,null,null,[1,1008,181,283]]}]],null,null,2,null,null,null,null,0]]-->\u003C!--TgQPHd|||[[[null,null,null,null,null,null,[[1793886651034734,6426982,1026969445],null,null,null,null,[[2,2]]],"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotechconference.com\u002Ftracks\u002Fhealthstack"],0,0],"\\u0026cHMKze_b:u9afN","\\u0026cHMKze_b:kEV45c"]-->\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C!--TgQPHd|||[["https:\u002F\u002Fafrotechconference.com\u002Ftracks\u002Fhealthstack",null,null,[null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,[{"1218":[16,null,null,null,[1,1008,181,283]]}]],16,null,"HealthStack at AfroTech Conference 2026","FAQ 01. What is HealthStack at AfroTech Conference 2026?– 02. Can I earn CME or continuing education credits at HealthStack?+ 03. Who should attend HealthStack?+ 04. What topics does HealthStack cover?+ 05. Where can I see the full HealthStack schedule?+ HealthStack at AfroTech Conference 2026 ScheduleFirst-Time AttendeesPartner with Us Get Tickets → Open menu HealthStack at AfroTech Conference 2026 Health Tech, Clinical AI and the Future of Care Presented by Sanofi, HealthStack at AfroTech Conference 2026 brings healthcare providers, founders, operators and technologists together for two days focused on how health and technology are changing together. Programming covers clinical AI, digital therapeutics, medtech, maternal health, health equity and remote care. Eligible healthcare professionals can earn up to 6.0 hours of accredited continuing education, including CME credits, across the two-day program. HealthStack runs November 4 to 5 inside AfroTech Conference 2026 in Houston, Texas. Get Tickets →Earn up to 6.0 hours of accredited continuing education What You'll Explore * Clinical Innovation AI-powered diagnostics, clinical decision support and digital therapeutics. * Connected Health Remote patient monitoring, wearables and maternal health technology. * Strategy \\u0026 Implementation Inclusive product design, healthcare governance and the adoption of new technologies across healthcare systems. * Founder \\u0026 Career Insights Health tech investment trends, what healthcare providers need from new products and emerging career paths across medtech and biotech. Featured Sessions * HealthStack ConferenceFrom Bias Evaluation to Trustworthy Healthcare AI Implementation * HealthStack ConferenceBad Data Is Costing Black Lives * HealthStack ConferenceAI in Nursing Workflows * HealthStack ConferenceEquity by Design: How Engineers and Physicians Evaluate Bias in Clinical AI * HealthStack ConferenceRemote Monitoring \\u0026 Digital Therapeutics * HealthStack ConferenceWho's Accountable for AI? Closing Health Care's Governance Gap Why This Matters Now AI, remote care and digital health tools are moving deeper into clinical practice. That creates practical questions about bias, governance, workflow, patient trust and whether new technology improves care equally across the populations it is meant to serve. HealthStack puts healthcare professionals in the same rooms as the founders, operators and technologists building these tools, with programming designed around what can actually be applied in clinical practice and healthcare organizations. Continuing Education Build your schedule for AFROTECH™ * Get Involved First-Time Attendee Talent Interest Form Vendor Booths Media Credentials Influencer Credentials Partner with Us * AfroTech 2026 Who Attends Venue \\u0026 Travel FAQs Sponsors Speakers Fractional Directory Official Event Partner Application * More Conference News Core Memories Attendee Housing Employer Sponsorship","https:\u002F\u002Fencrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com\u002Fimages?q\\u003dtbn:ANd9GcT13nqWmsD49qumEnrWcxpX3XPgm-ZIRjUF0O-1-CuAjqd52uItkbw1IKjyTi-Ff0716i1V-k5Pwk_-jAw","AfroTech Conference 2026","https:\u002F\u002Fencrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com\u002FfaviconV2?url\\u003dhttps:\u002F\u002Fafrotechconference.com\\u0026client\\u003dAIM\\u0026size\\u003d128\\u0026type\\u003dFAVICON\\u0026fallback_opts\\u003dTYPE,SIZE,URL",[[1793886651034734,6426982,1026969445],null,null,null,null,[[2,2]]],null,"32a1c9b4-1371-49df-98d4-b5c4d33fa5d8"]]-->\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fin-ai-era-timnit-gebru-says-not-to-accept-the-devaluing-of-black-people\"> 2026 AFROTECH™ Conference\u003C\u002Fa>, journalist Segun Oduolowu sat down with two health care professionals for a panel titled “Bad Data Is Costing Black Lives” to discuss how flawed data harms Black patients and how to push back on a health care system they say has long practiced systemic racism.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Chr \u002F>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>The AFROTECH™ Conference is celebrating its 10th anniversary in Houston. The conference runs through Friday, Nov. 6, and \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotechconference.com\u002F\">tickets are still available\u003C\u002Fa> for the rest of the week.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Chr \u002F>\n\u003Ch3 dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"4\">How has bad data affected the Black community in the past?\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“I’m not sure if people remember during the early days of the pandemic, the issues that came up with the pulse oximeters,” said Dr. Uché Blackstock, founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity. “So, those are the devices that are used in every physician’s office, every hospital, that measure the oxygen level of people’s blood, and so what’s interesting is that the FDA had known for around 30 years that these pulse oximeters were not accurately measuring oxygen levels in people with melanated skin.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">She added, “As a practicing physician, I was not informed of that. So essentially, what we found during the early days of the pandemic was that people with melanated skin were denied care because their oxygen levels did not qualify them for treatment, and that was because the data that has been used to calibrate this technology was not inclusive. Essentially, [only] using white skin, and so we saw how using non-inclusive data cost people’s lives.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">Dr. Charles R. Rogers, founder and chief advisor of Rogers Solutions Group, echoed that sentiment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“Black people were dying because they had essential worker jobs. Historically, Black folks tend to live in multi-generational homes, so people had to go to work,” Rogers said. “They came home bringing COVID to their families, wiping out, you know, generations, and there was such an eager urge to restart America. The term that was being used back then was to make sure our economy could get put back on track, where instead the correct data should be used to put the funds and the policies made to actually put those funds toward more public health interventions and more pandemic mitigation strategies, so all that, alone, confirms that essential workers’ lives were never essential in the first place, and in order for policy to actually make a difference, we have to make sure that the data is disaggregated, or not clumped, by race and ethnicity, actually changed in terms of being put forward at the state and county levels, because otherwise the resources are not going to go into Black and brown communities to literally help us live longer lives.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch3 dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"4\">How do we get into the testing?\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">In the pulse oximeter example Blackstock described, the technology was calibrated using data from white skin. So how do Black people get included in testing?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“That’s definitely the question of the hour, and I think that there’s no simple answer to that; there are many layers to it,” she said. “I always talk about the framework for thinking about trust in organizations and institutions. And so one aspect of that is the fact that trust is not only about messaging, but it’s part of infrastructure about how we think about how organizations function, and one is access.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“Making sure that people have access to the services, the resources that they need. Another piece of it is dignity; people want to know when they’re interfacing with the healthcare system, whether it’s for a clinical trial or whether it’s going to get checked out – that they feel seen and heard, and that their concerns are not minimized. And then another piece is accountability. Who will be held accountable? Finally, thinking about reliability, like if I do this multiple times or interface with this healthcare system or I go into this trial, am I going to be treated well every time?” she continued.\u003C\u002Fp>\n",[181],{"id":81,"name":82,"slug":83,"description":16,"image":31},[183,184],{"id":34,"name":35,"slug":36,"description":16,"image":16},{"id":38,"name":39,"slug":40,"description":16,"image":16},{"url":186,"thumbnail":186,"credit":187,"title":188,"alt":16,"type":45,"width":46,"height":47,"mimeType":48},"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmaelQuintanillaIII_BadData_ATC26_Halo-8338-scaled.webp","Ismael Quintanilla III\u002F Halo Creative Studios for AfroTech","IsmaelQuintanillaIII_BadData_ATC26_Halo-8338","2026-11-05T08:57:15-05:00","2026-11-05 13:57:15",[],{"disableConnatixPlayer":53},{"disableAd":53,"disableConnatixPlayer":53,"enabledComments":53,"headScript":31,"hidePhotoAttribution":53},{"reviewer_name":16},{"id":196,"author":197,"authors":198,"title":200,"subTitle":16,"excerpt":201,"slug":202,"body":203,"categories":204,"tags":206,"featuredMedia":213,"publishedAt":216,"publishedAtGMT":217,"updatedAt":218,"updatedAtGMT":219,"type":51,"listicle":220,"disableContentGate":53,"disableListicleNumbers":53,"canonicalUrl":16,"socialThumbnail":16,"readingTime":54,"customFields":221,"additional":222,"acf":223},276864,{"id":61,"avatar":62,"firstName":63,"lastName":64,"displayName":65,"email":66,"username":67,"normalizedUsername":68,"description":69,"htmlBio":16,"twitter":70,"facebook":16,"instagram":71,"registeredAt":72},[199],{"id":61,"avatar":62,"firstName":63,"lastName":64,"displayName":65,"email":66,"username":67,"normalizedUsername":68,"description":69,"htmlBio":16,"twitter":70,"facebook":16,"instagram":71,"registeredAt":72},"In The AI Era, Dr. Timnit Gebru Says The World Should Not Accept The Devaluing Of Black People — 'Technology Needs To Work For Us'","In the AI Era, Timnit Gebru says not to accept the devaluing of Black people, stating that tech should serve the community.","in-ai-era-timnit-gebru-says-not-to-accept-the-devaluing-of-black-people","\u003Cp>Dr. Timnit Gebru believes Black people should not be devalued in the pursuit of tech innovations, particularly in AI.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Gebru\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">is\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">the\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">founder\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">and\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">executive\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">director\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">of\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">the\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Distributed\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Artificial\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Intelligence\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Research\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">(DAIR)\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Institute,\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">author\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">of\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">the\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">memoir\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">“Deep\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Unlearning,”\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">and\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">a\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan class=\"xt0psk2 x1ghz6dp x1717udv x1wty727 x4gjf66 x15eiy0f x1lziwak x15472z4 x1qlqyl8 x15bjb6t x1s688f x14rh7hd xdj266r\" data-d-component=\"text\" data-d-inline=\"\">\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">co-author\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">of\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">the\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">research\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">paper\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan class=\"xt0psk2 x1ghz6dp x1717udv x1wty727 x4gjf66 x15eiy0f x1lziwak x15472z4 x1qlqyl8 x15bjb6t x1s688f x14rh7hd xdj266r\" data-d-component=\"text\" data-d-inline=\"\">\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">“On\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">the\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Dangers\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">of\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Stochastic\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Parrots:\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Can\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Language\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Models\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Be\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Too\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Big?”\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan class=\"xt0psk2 x1ghz6dp x1717udv x1wty727 x4gjf66 x15eiy0f x1lziwak x15472z4 x1qlqyl8 x15bjb6t x1s688f x14rh7hd xdj266r\" data-d-component=\"text\" data-d-inline=\"\">\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">The\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">paper,\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">which\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">examined\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">the\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">dangers\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">and\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">implications\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">of\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">large\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">language\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">models,\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan class=\"xt0psk2 x1ghz6dp x1717udv x1wty727 x4gjf66 x15eiy0f x1lziwak x15472z4 x1qlqyl8 x15bjb6t x1s688f x14rh7hd xdj266r\" data-d-component=\"text\" data-d-inline=\"\">\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">led\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">to\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">her\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">being fired\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">from\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fphotographers-used-google-pixel-11-in-culture-in-focus-campaign\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Google\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fa> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">in\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">2020,\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">where\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">she\u003C\u002Fspan> had \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">co-led\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">its\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Ethical\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">AI\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Research\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Team,\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.technologyreview.com\u002F2020\u002F12\u002F04\u002F1013294\u002Fgoogle-ai-ethics-research-paper-forced-out-timnit-gebru\u002F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003Cspan class=\"xt0psk2 x1ghz6dp x1717udv x1wty727 x4gjf66 x15eiy0f x1lziwak x15472z4 x1qlqyl8 x15bjb6t x1s688f x14rh7hd xdj266r\" data-d-component=\"text\" data-d-inline=\"\">\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">according\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">to\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fa> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">MIT\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Technology\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Review.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">X\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Eyee,\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">a\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">partner\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">at\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Offline\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Research,\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">moderated\u003C\u002Fspan> a panel featuring \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Gebru\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">on\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">the\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Main\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Stage\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">at\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">the\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Flouis-carr-tech-creators-afrotech-conference\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">2026\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">AFROTECH™\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Conference.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fa> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">X\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Eyee\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">noted\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan class=\"xt0psk2 x1ghz6dp x1717udv x1wty727 x4gjf66 x15eiy0f x1lziwak x15472z4 x1qlqyl8 x15bjb6t x1s688f x14rh7hd xdj266r\" data-d-component=\"text\" data-d-inline=\"\">\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">that\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">the\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Stochastic\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Parrots\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">paper\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">was\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">cited\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">18,000\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">times\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">and\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">became\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">“one\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">of\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">the\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">most\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">influential\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">papers\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">in\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fseattle-storm-player-dominique-malonga-is-studying-computer-science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">computer\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">science.”\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Quality did not pass the quality bar,” Gebru told the audience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cfigure id=\"attachment_276906\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-276906\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-276906 size-large\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmael-Quintanilla-III_The-Human-Cost-of-Smarter-Systems_ATC26_Halo_IQ34451-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmael-Quintanilla-III_The-Human-Cost-of-Smarter-Systems_ATC26_Halo_IQ34451-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmael-Quintanilla-III_The-Human-Cost-of-Smarter-Systems_ATC26_Halo_IQ34451-scaled.jpg 320w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmael-Quintanilla-III_The-Human-Cost-of-Smarter-Systems_ATC26_Halo_IQ34451-scaled.jpg 1200w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmael-Quintanilla-III_The-Human-Cost-of-Smarter-Systems_ATC26_Halo_IQ34451-scaled.jpg 160w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmael-Quintanilla-III_The-Human-Cost-of-Smarter-Systems_ATC26_Halo_IQ34451-scaled.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmael-Quintanilla-III_The-Human-Cost-of-Smarter-Systems_ATC26_Halo_IQ34451-scaled.jpg 1536w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmael-Quintanilla-III_The-Human-Cost-of-Smarter-Systems_ATC26_Halo_IQ34451-scaled.jpg 2048w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmael-Quintanilla-III_The-Human-Cost-of-Smarter-Systems_ATC26_Halo_IQ34451-scaled.jpg 1568w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmael-Quintanilla-III_The-Human-Cost-of-Smarter-Systems_ATC26_Halo_IQ34451-scaled.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-276906\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ismael Quintanilla III\u002F Halo Creative Studios for AfroTech\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\u003Chr \u002F>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Gebru spoke Tuesday, Nov. 3, in the session “The Human Cost Of Smarter Systems” at the AFROTECH™ Conference, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in Houston. The conference runs through Friday, Nov. 6, and \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotechconference.com\u002F\">tickets are still available\u003C\u002Fa> for the rest of the week.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Chr \u002F>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Gebru\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">also\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">addressed\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">misunderstandings\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">surrounding\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">how\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fchristelle-mombo-zigah-stylemycrown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">AI\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fa> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">systems\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">are\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">built.\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">She\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">said\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">AI\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">is\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">a\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">marketing\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">term\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan class=\"xt0psk2 x1ghz6dp x1717udv x1wty727 x4gjf66 x15eiy0f x1lziwak x15472z4 x1qlqyl8 x15bjb6t x1s688f x14rh7hd xdj266r\" data-d-component=\"text\" data-d-inline=\"\">\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">coined\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">by\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">“white\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">dudes\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">in\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">1956″\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">and\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">that when people claim\u003C\u002Fspan> to \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">use\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">it,\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">their\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">likelihood\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">of\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">securing\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">venture\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">capital\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">funding\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">increases\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">by\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan class=\"xt0psk2 x1ghz6dp x1717udv x1wty727 x4gjf66 x15eiy0f x1lziwak x15472z4 x1qlqyl8 x15bjb6t x1s688f x14rh7hd xdj266r\" data-d-component=\"text\" data-d-inline=\"\">\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">15%\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">to\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">50%\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There have been what are called AI summers and AI winters. AI summers are times when a lot of money is thrown into AI and everybody’s excited about it … It wasn’t quite the AI summer yet so I identified myself as a computer vision researcher. However, at some point I realized, I’m an AI researcher because that’s what gets you money. That’s what gets you fame. And right now we’re in one of the probably, perhaps, the biggest AI summers ever … Because of that, do you know what some people do? People literally hire what we call AI impersonators to pretend to be chatbots. So my institute, \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">DAIR\u003C\u002Fspan>, works with some of these AI impersonators. This is the kind of space we’re in right now,” she explained to the AFROTECH™ audience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote class=\"instagram-media\" style=\"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.instagram.com\u002Freel\u002FDfS9M1PJap3\u002F?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n\u003Cdiv style=\"padding: 16px;\">\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\">\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\">\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"padding: 19% 0;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"padding-top: 8px;\">\n\u003Cdiv style=\"color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;\">View this post on Instagram\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\">\n\u003Cdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-left: 8px;\">\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-left: auto;\">\n\u003Cdiv style=\"width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;\">\u003Ca style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.instagram.com\u002Freel\u002FDfS9M1PJap3\u002F?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A post shared by AFROTECH (@afro.tech)\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>Additionally, she noted that \u003Cspan style=\"font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">datasets play a critical role in AI systems, with \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">hundreds of millions of data workers globally building datasets by creating, supplying, cleaning, and labeling them. Yet, many of them, she says, live in vulnerable communities and aren’t paid $1 an hour and are “very traumatized” by “the way content moderators are.” \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It was a Black man who was the first person to be wrongfully accused of a crime based on face recognition systems in Detroit,” Gebru said. “…This was because of the datasets that were used … No one wants to tell you that the dataset is the most important part of the whole system because it doesn’t sound very novel or smart or exciting … If you’re just gonna scrape the internet, which is how all of these companies are making their money, often not compensating \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fd-nice-on-why-artists-can-now-demand-ownership-or-true-partnership\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">artists,\u003C\u002Fa> not compensating all the people that they’re taking data from, you’re not carefully thinking about what is in your dataset.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch2>Accountability\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">She\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">urges\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">the\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">community\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">to\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">demand\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">transparency\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan class=\"xt0psk2 x1ghz6dp x1717udv x1wty727 x4gjf66 x15eiy0f x1lziwak x15472z4 x1qlqyl8 x15bjb6t x1s688f x14rh7hd xdj266r\" data-d-component=\"text\" data-d-inline=\"\">\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">about\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">the\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">datasets\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">used\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">to\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">train\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">AI\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">models and the risks companies are taking in their pursuit of innovation.\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">She\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">encourages\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">people\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">to\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">ask\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">where\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">the\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">information\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">comes\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">from\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">and\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">argues\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">that\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">narratives\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">about\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">AI\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">models\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">going\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">rogue\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">distract\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">from\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">accountability and that companies are improperly testing.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Separately, she urges Black communities to “not accept any kind of devaluing of our own people.” She points to \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fnaacp-demands-shutdown-of-elon-musks-xai-facility-built-near-historic-black-community-in-memphis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">data centers\u003C\u002Fa> in Memphis, TN, which she says are causing asthma among Black residents, as an example of the harm communities should not have to accept.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gebru’s overarching argument is that “technology needs to work for us.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n",[205],{"id":81,"name":82,"slug":83,"description":16,"image":31},[207,208,209],{"id":38,"name":39,"slug":40,"description":16,"image":16},{"id":87,"name":88,"slug":89,"description":16,"image":16},{"id":210,"name":211,"slug":212,"description":16,"image":16},1662,"Black Woman Founders","black-woman-founders",{"url":214,"thumbnail":214,"credit":187,"title":215,"alt":16,"type":45,"width":136,"height":137,"mimeType":98},"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FTimnit-Gebru.jpg","Timnit Gebru","2026-11-04T16:15:46-05:00","2026-11-04 21:15:46","2026-11-05T05:15:22-05:00","2026-11-05 10:15:22",[],{"disableConnatixPlayer":53},{"disableAd":53,"disableConnatixPlayer":53,"enabledComments":53,"headScript":31,"hidePhotoAttribution":53},{"reviewer_name":16},{"id":225,"author":226,"authors":227,"title":229,"subTitle":16,"excerpt":230,"slug":231,"body":232,"categories":233,"tags":235,"featuredMedia":239,"publishedAt":243,"publishedAtGMT":244,"updatedAt":245,"updatedAtGMT":246,"type":51,"listicle":247,"disableContentGate":53,"disableListicleNumbers":53,"canonicalUrl":16,"socialThumbnail":16,"readingTime":143,"customFields":248,"additional":249,"acf":250},276855,{"id":61,"avatar":62,"firstName":63,"lastName":64,"displayName":65,"email":66,"username":67,"normalizedUsername":68,"description":69,"htmlBio":16,"twitter":70,"facebook":16,"instagram":71,"registeredAt":72},[228],{"id":61,"avatar":62,"firstName":63,"lastName":64,"displayName":65,"email":66,"username":67,"normalizedUsername":68,"description":69,"htmlBio":16,"twitter":70,"facebook":16,"instagram":71,"registeredAt":72},"Founder And CEO Thai Randolph Built The Infrastructure For Creators Pursuing 'Everyday IP Opportunities'","Thai Randolph launched Nile & Co., a company for creators pursuing \"everyday IP opportunities,\" she shared at AFROTECH™ Conference.","thai-randolph-built-the-infrastructure-for-creators-pursuing-ip-opportunities","\u003Cp>Thai Randolph worked with one of the world’s largest creators. Now, she’s building the infrastructure to help more creators scale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Randolph’s career began in advertising at digital agencies. As a group director in social and emerging media at VML\u002FY&R, she learned that traditional brand building would be disrupted. Working at Sony, and then Meta, showed her how technology could be either a disruptor or a propellant for “how stories are told and brands are built,” she said at the 2026 \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Flouis-carr-tech-creators-afrotech-conference\">AFROTECH™ Conference.\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When she stepped into the CEO role at Hartbeat, the global multi-platform entertainment company \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fovo-acquired-by-authentic-brand-group\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kevin Hart\u003C\u002Fa> founded, she recognized creators’ growing influence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I got to see the infrastructure required to scale a creative business, but also just how powerful creators are. … Increasingly \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fsensori-co-founders-raise-nearly-1m-in-oversubscribed-pre-seed-round\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">creators\u003C\u002Fa> who’ve not come through traditional Hollywood are growing faster and with so much scale. … It’s disrupting how brand building is happening. It’s thinking about how \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Falabama-hbcu-student-awarded-grand-prize-for-networking-platform\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology\u003C\u002Fa> transforms communities and brands and their value and the right ways to partner with creators in the face of all of that,” Randolph told AFROTECH™.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She highlighted the rise of middle-class creators and creator-entrepreneurs thinking beyond content creation to build personal brands and develop intellectual property (IP).\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“For so long, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fdamian-lillard-co-founded-an-insoles-company-that-reached-8m-in-annual-revenue-last-year\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ownership\u003C\u002Fa> and generational value had to do with investing in real estate, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Ffunmi-monet-on-building-a-sephora-fragrance-brand-without-venture-capital\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">investing\u003C\u002Fa> in the stock market. What is the everyday IP opportunities for the folks who are sitting in this room,” she told the audience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cfigure id=\"attachment_276885\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-276885\" style=\"width: 320px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-276885 size-medium\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmael-Quintanilla-III_Your-IP-Is-The-New-Real-Estate_ATC25_Halo_DSC6327-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"320\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmael-Quintanilla-III_Your-IP-Is-The-New-Real-Estate_ATC25_Halo_DSC6327-scaled.jpg 2048w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmael-Quintanilla-III_Your-IP-Is-The-New-Real-Estate_ATC25_Halo_DSC6327-scaled.jpg 320w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmael-Quintanilla-III_Your-IP-Is-The-New-Real-Estate_ATC25_Halo_DSC6327-scaled.jpg 1200w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmael-Quintanilla-III_Your-IP-Is-The-New-Real-Estate_ATC25_Halo_DSC6327-scaled.jpg 128w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmael-Quintanilla-III_Your-IP-Is-The-New-Real-Estate_ATC25_Halo_DSC6327-scaled.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmael-Quintanilla-III_Your-IP-Is-The-New-Real-Estate_ATC25_Halo_DSC6327-scaled.jpg 1229w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmael-Quintanilla-III_Your-IP-Is-The-New-Real-Estate_ATC25_Halo_DSC6327-scaled.jpg 1638w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmael-Quintanilla-III_Your-IP-Is-The-New-Real-Estate_ATC25_Halo_DSC6327-scaled.jpg 1568w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmael-Quintanilla-III_Your-IP-Is-The-New-Real-Estate_ATC25_Halo_DSC6327-scaled.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-276885\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Ismael Quintanilla III \u002FHalo Creative Studios for AfroTech\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\u003Chr \u002F>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Randolph spoke Tuesday, Nov. 3, in the session “Your IP Is The New Is The New Real Estate” at the AFROTECH™ Conference, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in Houston. The conference runs through Friday, Nov. 6, and \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotechconference.com\u002F\">tickets are still available\u003C\u002Fa> for the rest of the week.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Chr \u002F>\n\u003Ch2>Nile & Co.\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cp>Randolph \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fdeadline.com\u002F2023\u002F11\u002Fkevin-harts-hartbeat-ceo-thai-randolph-exits-1235589690\u002F\">exited\u003C\u002Fa> her role at Hartbeat Ventures in 2023, after helping to raise more than $100 million in venture capital. Drawing on her experience and work with one of the world’s largest creators, who “had aspirations of a whole enterprise,” she recognized that creators had different visions for how they wanted to participate in building businesses, she told AFROTECH™. Those insights led to Nile & Co., a brand and IP platform for IP, media, and technology businesses with three strategies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through its build strategy, the company co-founds businesses alongside creators and athletes as equity partners, while also scaling companies in high-growth consumer and creator sectors. Its second strategy focuses on working with IP owners, creators, and corporations as an operating and commercialization partner. These partnerships include BuzzFeed’s Cocoa Butter, Pero Like, and A*Pop brands, which target Black, Latino, and Asian American communities, respectively. Nile & Co. is also a brand operator for Rock the Bells, where Randolph serves on the board of directors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Working with different creators through Hartbeat let me realize that while they’re the Kevins or the Alix Earles of the world who like want to have a full business around them, not everybody wants to really run the whole business. That’s why we talk about the spectrum of participation where there’s endorsement. Look, there are fees and there could be performance bonuses based on the outcome of a project for a creator. Equity, where there’s a real stake in whatever it is that you’re creating. So they want to own a part of the IP or part of the business or what you’re building,” Randolph told AFROTECH™.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then there’s equity. Enterprise folks like \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fhow-ll-cool-js-mothers-tax-return-led-to-him-signing-to-def-jam\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LL Cool J,\u003C\u002Fa> who’s one of our partners at Rock The Bells, where he’s building out an entire company around him,” Randolph added. “As opposed to a one-size-fits-all, it’s really important to find the right kind of alignment there because it’s a lot of hard work to build a full business, and not everybody is gonna want to do that.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lastly, Nile & Co. will acquire brands with loyal followings that resonate with culture, modernize their revenue models, and expand their distribution, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.prnewswire.com\u002Fnews-releases\u002Fthai-randolph-launches-nile--co-acquires-asis-and-goodful-from-buzzfeed-302739823.html\">according to\u003C\u002Fa> a press release. Its first two acquisitions are As\u002FIs, a former body positivity platform being relaunched as a lifestyle platform for high-performing women, including athletes, founders, and executives; and Goodful, a wellness-to-wealth platform for women featuring creator-led products, content, and experience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Randolph confirmed both ventures will relaunch in Q1 2027. The acquisitions reflect Nile & Co.’s initial focus on women, who drive consumer purchasing decisions, according to a press release shared with AFROTECH™.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’ll see there are just women who are deeply attuned to this audience and who have real value to provide. I’m not someone interested in how many followers you have as much as how attuned you are to the mission and what types of outcomes you can drive … Can you drive a conversion or an action? Even in a micro-community, that’s hugely important. Those are the types of folks who we’re thinking about, and I’m like really delighted to have an opportunity to work with them,” Randolph explained. “When you look at sort of women creators, and Black women creators specifically, you often don’t see the same types of like commercial investment and success.  I have a vested interest in being like, ‘How do we drive more examples because they have so much influence.'”\u003C\u002Fp>\n",[234],{"id":81,"name":82,"slug":83,"description":16,"image":31},[236,237,238],{"id":38,"name":39,"slug":40,"description":16,"image":16},{"id":210,"name":211,"slug":212,"description":16,"image":16},{"id":124,"name":125,"slug":125,"description":16,"image":16},{"url":240,"thumbnail":240,"credit":241,"title":242,"alt":16,"type":45,"width":136,"height":137,"mimeType":98},"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FThai-Randolph.jpg","Ismael Quintanilla III \u002FHalo Creative Studios for AfroTech","Thai Randolph","2026-11-04T11:37:00-05:00","2026-11-04 16:37:00","2026-11-05T05:10:52-05:00","2026-11-05 10:10:52",[],{"disableConnatixPlayer":53},{"disableAd":53,"disableConnatixPlayer":53,"enabledComments":53,"headScript":31,"hidePhotoAttribution":53},{"reviewer_name":16},{"id":252,"author":253,"authors":254,"title":256,"subTitle":16,"excerpt":257,"slug":258,"body":259,"categories":260,"tags":265,"featuredMedia":272,"publishedAt":276,"publishedAtGMT":277,"updatedAt":278,"updatedAtGMT":279,"type":51,"listicle":280,"disableContentGate":53,"disableListicleNumbers":53,"canonicalUrl":16,"socialThumbnail":16,"readingTime":143,"customFields":281,"additional":282,"acf":283},276809,{"id":61,"avatar":62,"firstName":63,"lastName":64,"displayName":65,"email":66,"username":67,"normalizedUsername":68,"description":69,"htmlBio":16,"twitter":70,"facebook":16,"instagram":71,"registeredAt":72},[255],{"id":61,"avatar":62,"firstName":63,"lastName":64,"displayName":65,"email":66,"username":67,"normalizedUsername":68,"description":69,"htmlBio":16,"twitter":70,"facebook":16,"instagram":71,"registeredAt":72},"BET President Louis Carr Explains Its Strategy For Staying At The Forefront Of Technology And The Creator Economy At AFROTECH™ 2026","President Louis Carr is ensuring BET is remaining at the cutting-edge of technology and the creator economy.","louis-carr-tech-creators-afrotech-conference","\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fbet-louis-carr-leading-through-creator-economy-era\">Louis Carr\u003C\u002Fa> is ensuring \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fjason-lee-partners-with-bet\">BET\u003C\u002Fa> remains at the “cutting edge” of technology and the creator economy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">To those who know him well, Carr’s title doesn’t come to mind first, but rather, who he is at his core: a Black man from Chicago who is “authentically, unapologetically Black” year-round, with a deep appreciation for the Black community. This has informed his leadership as the current president of BET a role he assumed in December 2025. He has been with the company for 39 years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“For the last four decades, a lot of people said that I have sold advertising. I don’t say that. I said I’ve educated corporations, white people and Black people, on the value of Black consumers,” Carr said at the 2026 \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fmayors-from-the-african-american-mayors-association-are-coming-to-afrotech-2026\">AFROTECH™ Conference\u003C\u002Fa>. “We have this thing at BET where we say, what Black people do today, the world does tomorrow. And we believe that in our core. That’s what I said I’ve done for the last four decades is make people really feel and understand that whether they are creative, whether they are in technology, understand the impact and the influence that you are having.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cfigure id=\"attachment_276850\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-276850\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-276850 size-large\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAngelineAbrera_BetonBlackLouisCarrEra_ATC26_Halo-20233-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAngelineAbrera_BetonBlackLouisCarrEra_ATC26_Halo-20233-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAngelineAbrera_BetonBlackLouisCarrEra_ATC26_Halo-20233-scaled.jpg 320w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAngelineAbrera_BetonBlackLouisCarrEra_ATC26_Halo-20233-scaled.jpg 1200w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAngelineAbrera_BetonBlackLouisCarrEra_ATC26_Halo-20233-scaled.jpg 160w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAngelineAbrera_BetonBlackLouisCarrEra_ATC26_Halo-20233-scaled.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAngelineAbrera_BetonBlackLouisCarrEra_ATC26_Halo-20233-scaled.jpg 1536w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAngelineAbrera_BetonBlackLouisCarrEra_ATC26_Halo-20233-scaled.jpg 2048w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAngelineAbrera_BetonBlackLouisCarrEra_ATC26_Halo-20233-scaled.jpg 1568w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAngelineAbrera_BetonBlackLouisCarrEra_ATC26_Halo-20233-scaled.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-276850\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Photo Credit: Angeline Abrera \u002FHalo Creative Studios for AfroTech\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">Speaking about his personal legacy at BET, both individually and on behalf of the brand, Carr said it will center on \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fchasity-monroe-named-ceo-of-the-mane-choice\">community\u003C\u002Fa>, culture and connection. Specifically, he said that vision will come through social platforms, live events, social impact initiatives and linear television, including the Soul Train Awards, which will be taped in Chicago this year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">Excellence and remaining at “the cutting edge” remain the gold standard. Carr also shared how BET is leveraging AI and the measures it is taking to ensure Black \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fsensori-co-founders-raise-nearly-1m-in-oversubscribed-pre-seed-round\">creators\u003C\u002Fa> and communities remain at the forefront of the evolving landscape.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“We’re not looking at AI as something to sort of put anybody out of work. We don’t want to do that. We want to use AI to enhance the things that we’re already doing,” he explained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Chr \u002F>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Carr spoke Tuesday in the session “BET on Black: Louis Carr on Marketing In Every Era” at the AFROTECH™ Conference, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in Houston. The conference runs through Friday, Nov. 6, and \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotechconference.com\u002F\">tickets are still available\u003C\u002Fa> for the rest of the week.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Chr \u002F>\n\u003Cblockquote class=\"instagram-media\" style=\"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.instagram.com\u002Freel\u002FDfSnVq7B-31\u002F?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n\u003Cdiv style=\"padding: 16px;\">\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\">\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\">\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"padding: 19% 0;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"padding-top: 8px;\">\n\u003Cdiv style=\"color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;\">View this post on Instagram\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\">\n\u003Cdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-left: 8px;\">\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-left: auto;\">\n\u003Cdiv style=\"width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;\">\u003Ca style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.instagram.com\u002Freel\u002FDfSnVq7B-31\u002F?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A post shared by AFROTECH™ Conference (@afrotech.conference)\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">Examples he shared included using an AI app to assist with seating arrangements for the BET Awards, a process he acknowledged can typically take days. The \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Falabama-hbcu-student-awarded-grand-prize-for-networking-platform\">technology\u003C\u002Fa> also helped the team with finding individuals who had died within the past year for a memorial segment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“There were more people that we had just forgotten,” he mentioned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">AI was also used to identify the “top 25 creator influencers in the Black space.” Carr noted one prominent name was missing from the list: \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fdruski-expands-business-portfolio-gopuff-equity-stake-deal\">Druski\u003C\u002Fa>, who would be selected to host the 2026 BET Awards, which became the highest-rated BET Awards telecast on BET since 2019, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.paramountpressexpress.com\u002Fbet\u002Fshows\u002Fbet-awards-2026\u002Freleases\u002F?view=113018-bet-awards-2026-grows-across-every-platform-with-first-time-host-druski-cementing-bet-as-the-epicenter-of-black-culture\">according to\u003C\u002Fa> a press release. The comedian has used social media to create skits and secured an exclusive multi-year \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fvariety.com\u002F2026\u002Ftv\u002Fnews\u002Fdruski-netflix-show-collect-and-praise-1236937068\u002F\">deal\u003C\u002Fa> with Netflix.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“We know we wanted to bring people who normally don’t watch television to television. We knew we wanted an overall younger audience. We knew that we had to show up a lot differently than what we had in the past. You have to be courageous enough to take risks. And here was a young man who had tons of followers, who clearly was creative, and we wanted to give him a shot. And clearly it worked out,” Carr said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">Carr also noted this year’s awards were a case study for influencers, with an estimated 120 invited the night before the BET Awards for a special red-carpet event, which he said is normally private.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“They could use their phones, their cameras to do whatever else, to capture content. Then the final thing is we did not air our pre-show on linear. We aired our pre-show on YouTube…it was a whole planned strategy around making the show younger, bringing people who normally don’t watch linear television to television, and that’s how we were able to be so successful,” Carr explained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">Carr’s embrace of the digital era also comes from personal experience. He said he had to adapt to social media firsthand when he launched his brand, Waymaker, a magazine, newsroom, live summit, podcast and community at the intersection of Black culture, business and purpose, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.waymakerjournal.com\u002F\">according to\u003C\u002Fa> its website.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“I didn’t have any money, so I really had to really embrace social media. There’s no secret to it…I hated social media,” he explained, then described his evolved mindset and left a note to the audience adding, “You’ve got to use your creativity and what you have at hand, and use your personality and your influence on the people around you. But don’t believe you don’t have any power because you do have power.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cfigure id=\"attachment_276851\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-276851\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-276851 size-large\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAngelineAbrera_BetonBlackLouisCarrEra_ATC26_Halo-13057-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAngelineAbrera_BetonBlackLouisCarrEra_ATC26_Halo-13057-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAngelineAbrera_BetonBlackLouisCarrEra_ATC26_Halo-13057-scaled.jpg 320w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAngelineAbrera_BetonBlackLouisCarrEra_ATC26_Halo-13057-scaled.jpg 1200w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAngelineAbrera_BetonBlackLouisCarrEra_ATC26_Halo-13057-scaled.jpg 160w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAngelineAbrera_BetonBlackLouisCarrEra_ATC26_Halo-13057-scaled.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAngelineAbrera_BetonBlackLouisCarrEra_ATC26_Halo-13057-scaled.jpg 1536w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAngelineAbrera_BetonBlackLouisCarrEra_ATC26_Halo-13057-scaled.jpg 2048w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAngelineAbrera_BetonBlackLouisCarrEra_ATC26_Halo-13057-scaled.jpg 1568w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAngelineAbrera_BetonBlackLouisCarrEra_ATC26_Halo-13057-scaled.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-276851\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: Angeline Abrera \u002FHalo Creative Studios for AfroTech\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n",[261],{"id":262,"name":263,"slug":264,"description":16,"image":31},15181,"Entertainment","entertainment",[266,267,268],{"id":34,"name":35,"slug":36,"description":16,"image":16},{"id":38,"name":39,"slug":40,"description":16,"image":16},{"id":269,"name":270,"slug":271,"description":16,"image":16},16103,"AfroTech Culture","afrotech-culture",{"url":273,"thumbnail":273,"credit":274,"title":275,"alt":16,"type":45,"width":136,"height":137,"mimeType":98},"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FLouis-Carr.jpg","Angeline Abrera \u002FHalo Creative Studios for AfroTech","Louis Carr","2026-11-03T18:34:18-05:00","2026-11-03 23:34:18","2026-11-04T17:35:31-05:00","2026-11-04 22:35:31",[],{"disableConnatixPlayer":53},{"disableAd":53,"disableConnatixPlayer":53,"enabledComments":53,"headScript":31,"hidePhotoAttribution":53},{"reviewer_name":16},{"id":285,"author":286,"authors":294,"title":296,"subTitle":16,"excerpt":297,"slug":298,"body":299,"categories":300,"tags":305,"featuredMedia":308,"publishedAt":312,"publishedAtGMT":313,"updatedAt":314,"updatedAtGMT":315,"type":51,"listicle":316,"disableContentGate":53,"disableListicleNumbers":53,"canonicalUrl":16,"socialThumbnail":16,"readingTime":317,"customFields":318,"additional":319,"acf":320},276315,{"id":287,"avatar":288,"firstName":289,"lastName":16,"displayName":290,"email":291,"username":290,"normalizedUsername":292,"description":16,"htmlBio":16,"twitter":16,"facebook":16,"instagram":16,"registeredAt":293},32,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2020\u002F06\u002FScreen-Shot-2023-02-28-at-4.54.31-PM.png","AFROTECH™","AfroTech","AfroTech@blavity.com","afrotech","2018-09-24T13:05:40+00:00",[295],{"id":287,"avatar":288,"firstName":289,"lastName":16,"displayName":290,"email":291,"username":290,"normalizedUsername":292,"description":16,"htmlBio":16,"twitter":16,"facebook":16,"instagram":16,"registeredAt":293},"AFROTECH™ 2026 Authors Pavilion: Full Schedule And Lineup Featuring Stacey Abrams, Reesa Teesa And More","Stacey Abrams, Roy Wood Jr., former Apple executive Denise Young Smith and TikTok storyteller Tareasa “Reesa Teesa” Johnson are among the authors scheduled to speak at the Authors Pavilion during AFROTECH™ Conference 2026 in Houston.","afrotech-2026-authors-pavilion-full-schedule-and-lineup-featuring-stacey-abrams-reesa-teesa-and-more","\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fafrotech-2025-stacey-abrams-democracy-ai-driven-world\">Stacey Abrams\u003C\u002Fa>, Roy Wood Jr., former Apple executive Denise Young Smith and TikTok storyteller \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Freesa-teesa-who-tf-did-i-marry-tiktok-earnings\">Tareasa “Reesa Teesa” Johnson\u003C\u002Fa> are among the authors scheduled to speak at the Authors Pavilion during \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotechconference.com\u002F\">AFROTECH™ Conference 2026 in Houston\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">The AFROTECH™ Authors Pavilion, presented by Penguin Random House in collaboration with Storehouse Voices, runs on the expo floor Nov. 3-6. Most sessions are 25-minute moderated talks with a single author, followed by panels that pair speakers from earlier in the day. When authors leave the stage, they go straight to the Book Nook, a pop-up bookstore run by Houston’s Kindred Stories, to sign copies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">Penguin Random House staff will also be on site between sessions. The publisher plans open Q&As, office hours with editors for attendees working on their own books, conversations with its HR team about publishing careers and giveaways of advance copies of titles that aren’t on sale yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">Here’s the full schedule. All times are Central.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote class=\"instagram-media\" style=\"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.instagram.com\u002Fp\u002FDexbj84CYa_\u002F?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n\u003Cdiv style=\"padding: 16px;\">\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\">\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\">\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"padding: 19% 0;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"padding-top: 8px;\">\n\u003Cdiv style=\"color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;\">View this post on Instagram\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\">\n\u003Cdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-left: 8px;\">\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-left: auto;\">\n\u003Cdiv style=\"width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cdiv style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;\">\u003Ca style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.instagram.com\u002Fp\u002FDexbj84CYa_\u002F?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A post shared by AFROTECH (@afro.tech)\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cscript async src=\"\u002F\u002Fwww.instagram.com\u002Fembed.js\">\u003C\u002Fscript>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">\u003Cstrong>Tuesday, Nov. 3\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cul dir=\"ltr\">\n\u003Cli>12-12:25 p.m.: “When the Heart Becomes the Empire’s Sharpest Blade” with J. Elle (\u003Cem>The Heart Trails\u003C\u002Fem>)\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>1:10-1:35 p.m.: “Building Worlds, Building Confidence” with Michael A. Tinsley (\u003Cem>May a Divine Awaken\u003C\u002Fem>)\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>1:45-2:15 p.m.: “Heroes Among Us” panel with J. Elle and Michael A. Tinsley\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>2:25-2:50 p.m.: “Your Career Is More Than a Job” with Chauncéa (\u003Cem>The Commission: Ten Commandments to Make God Your CEO\u003C\u002Fem>)\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">\u003Cstrong>Wednesday, Nov. 4\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cul dir=\"ltr\">\n\u003Cli>10:30-10:55 a.m.: “From Apple to AI” with Denise Young Smith (\u003Cem>When We Are Seen\u003C\u002Fem>)\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>11:05-11:30 a.m.: “Women & the Workforce: Laws of Success in Leadership” with Elaine Meryl Brown and Rhonda Joy McLean (\u003Cem>The Little Black Book of Success\u003C\u002Fem>)\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>11:40 a.m.-12:05 p.m.: “The Intersection of Media, Faith, and Storytelling” with Albaner C. Eugene Jr. (\u003Cem>Momentum\u003C\u002Fem>)\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>12:15-12:50 p.m.: “Legacy Is a Business Strategy” panel with Denise Young Smith, Elaine Meryl Brown and Rhonda Joy McLean\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>1-1:25 p.m.: “Still in the Room” with Loida Nicolas Lewis (\u003Cem>Look Younger When You’re Older\u003C\u002Fem>)\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>1:35-2 p.m.: “Let’s Talk for Real” with Dr. Sharon Malone (\u003Cem>Grown Woman Talk\u003C\u002Fem>)\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>2:10-2:40 p.m.: “Longevity Is a Leadership Strategy” panel with Loida Nicolas Lewis and Dr. Sharon Malone\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">\u003Cstrong>Thursday, Nov. 5\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cul dir=\"ltr\">\n\u003Cli>10:30-10:55 a.m.: “Grounded, Then Cleared” with Capt. Nia Gilliam (\u003Cem>Cleared for Takeoff\u003C\u002Fem>)\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>11:05-11:30 a.m.: “The Man of Many Fathers” with Roy Wood Jr. (\u003Cem>The Man of Many Fathers\u003C\u002Fem>)\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>11:40 a.m.-12:05 p.m.: “Make It Ours: How Outsiders Rewrite the Rules of Luxury” with Robin Givhan (\u003Cem>Make It Ours\u003C\u002Fem>)\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>12:15-12:50 p.m.: “The Algorithm Changed Who Gets a Microphone” panel with Roy Wood Jr., Tareasa “Reesa Teesa” Johnson and Robin Givhan\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>1-1:25 p.m.: “Dating with Strategy” with Anwar White (\u003Cem>Girl, Get Your Guy!\u003C\u002Fem>)\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>1:35-2 p.m.: “From Viral to Published” with Tareasa “Reesa Teesa” Johnson (\u003Cem>What (TF) Do I Do Now?\u003C\u002Fem>)\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>2:10-2:40 p.m.: “Love & the Algorithm” panel with Anwar White and Tareasa “Reesa Teesa” Johnson\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>2:50-3:15 p.m.: “Greenwood and the Future of Black Wealth” with Damario Solomon-Simmons (\u003Cem>Redeem a Nation\u003C\u002Fem>)\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>3:25-4 p.m.: “What Do We Owe Each Other? Reparations, Ownership, and Legacy” panel with Ashley D. Farmer (\u003Cem>Queen Mother\u003C\u002Fem>), Damario Solomon-Simmons and Arian Simone\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>4:10-4:35 p.m.: “How to Stop Waiting and Start Building” with Arian Simone (\u003Cem>Fearless Freedom\u003C\u002Fem>)\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">\u003Cstrong>Friday, Nov. 6\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cul dir=\"ltr\">\n\u003Cli>10:35-11 a.m.: “Coded Justice: Power, Technology, and the Fight for Fairness” with Stacey Abrams (\u003Cem>Coded Justice\u003C\u002Fem>)\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">The pavilion is open during all expo hours.\u003C\u002Fp>\n",[301],{"id":302,"name":303,"slug":304,"description":16,"image":31},323,"News","news",[306,307],{"id":34,"name":35,"slug":36,"description":16,"image":16},{"id":38,"name":39,"slug":40,"description":16,"image":16},{"url":309,"thumbnail":309,"credit":290,"title":310,"alt":16,"type":45,"width":46,"height":311,"mimeType":98},"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F10\u002Fauthors-pavillion.jpg","authors pavillion",217,"2026-10-23T08:50:33-04:00","2026-10-23 12:50:33","2026-10-23T08:52:45-04:00","2026-10-23 12:52:45",[],2,{"disableConnatixPlayer":53},{"disableAd":53,"disableConnatixPlayer":53,"enabledComments":53,"headScript":31,"hidePhotoAttribution":53},{"reviewer_name":16},{"id":322,"author":323,"authors":324,"title":326,"subTitle":16,"excerpt":327,"slug":328,"body":329,"categories":330,"tags":332,"featuredMedia":335,"publishedAt":339,"publishedAtGMT":340,"updatedAt":341,"updatedAtGMT":342,"type":51,"listicle":343,"disableContentGate":53,"disableListicleNumbers":53,"canonicalUrl":16,"socialThumbnail":16,"readingTime":317,"customFields":344,"additional":345,"acf":346},276214,{"id":287,"avatar":288,"firstName":289,"lastName":16,"displayName":290,"email":291,"username":290,"normalizedUsername":292,"description":16,"htmlBio":16,"twitter":16,"facebook":16,"instagram":16,"registeredAt":293},[325],{"id":287,"avatar":288,"firstName":289,"lastName":16,"displayName":290,"email":291,"username":290,"normalizedUsername":292,"description":16,"htmlBio":16,"twitter":16,"facebook":16,"instagram":16,"registeredAt":293},"Christine Izuakor’s AFROTECH™ Story Started With A Dinner","In 2024, Christine Izuakor spoke at AFROTECH™ Conference for the first time. She also hosted a small dinner on the side.","christine-izuakors-afrotech-story-started-with-dinner","\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">In 2024, Christine Izuakor \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fafrotech-conference-tanya-sam-returning\">spoke at AFROTECH™ Conference\u003C\u002Fa> for the first time. She also hosted a small dinner on the side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“I was just scratching the surface of exploring how I could create space for multifaceted professionals to connect through curated conversations,” the founder and CEO of \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Frauk.ai\">Rauk AI\u003C\u002Fa> told AFROTECH™. “I hosted a small dinner at one restaurant to test the waters.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch3 dir=\"ltr\">From One Restaurant to Dozens\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">The idea took off. In 2025, the dinners became an official AFROTECH™ Conference event partnership, with gatherings at dozens of restaurants across Houston.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">This year, Izuakor launched monthly virtual networking roundtables, and she’s returning to AFROTECH™ 2026 as an event partner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch3 dir=\"ltr\">A Different Kind of Business Focus\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">The work is a change of pace for her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“This is quite a shift from my prior focus which was mainly on cybersecurity business growth, margin goals, and investor ROI,” Izuakor said. “Those things are important in any business.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">Now, she said, she has the freedom to put her energy into human connection and conversation, and she’s found that results come more easily when she pursues what matters to her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch3 dir=\"ltr\">Why AFROTECH™\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“AFROTECH™ is by far my favorite tech community,” she said. “There’s power in having a space where you can show up as your full self, without having to perform or code-switch, and feel empowered to reach your full potential.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">Her advice for attendees follows the same thinking that grew one dinner into a partnership.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“Focus less on what looks good to do and more on what is good to do,” Izuakor said. “I’ve learned that there’s a difference between proving you can do something and choosing to do something because it truly matters to you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">\u003Cstrong>Buy Your Ticket Today\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">Whether you’re building a company, growing your career or looking for your people, AFROTECH™ 2026 is where it happens. Join us Nov. 2-5, 2026, in Houston, TX, for the conference’s 10th year. \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotechconference.com\u002F?utm_source=afrotech&utm_campaign=general&utm_medium=web\">Lock in your tickets\u003C\u002Fa> today!\u003C\u002Fp>\n",[331],{"id":302,"name":303,"slug":304,"description":16,"image":31},[333,334],{"id":34,"name":35,"slug":36,"description":16,"image":16},{"id":38,"name":39,"slug":40,"description":16,"image":16},{"url":336,"thumbnail":336,"credit":337,"title":338,"alt":16,"type":45,"width":46,"height":97,"mimeType":98},"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F10\u002Frauk-ai-afrotech.jpg","Photo Provided","rauk ai afrotech","2026-10-22T09:16:24-04:00","2026-10-22 13:16:24","2026-10-22T09:18:00-04:00","2026-10-22 13:18:00",[],{"disableConnatixPlayer":53},{"disableAd":53,"disableConnatixPlayer":53,"enabledComments":53,"headScript":31,"hidePhotoAttribution":53},{"reviewer_name":16},106]