Rizaan Lakay
Founder & CEO
BCom Information Systems · University of Cape Town
Born in South Africa,
built for every classroom.
AI Explorers was founded in February 2025 with a clear and urgent purpose: to close the gap between world-class AI technology and the South African classroom. Rizaan Lakay, a software architect with two decades of engineering experience, saw firsthand how transformative AI could be, and how few schools had access to it.
In just over a year, that vision has grown into a full ecosystem of interconnected platforms: AI-powered tutoring, a school marketplace, a parent-school communicator, a GPS safety tracker, and an AI companion for learners. Each product was designed to solve a real, everyday problem faced by South African students, teachers, and parents.
We believe that the future of education in South Africa will be shaped by the tools we put in the hands of educators today. Every feature we ship, every AI agent we deploy, and every school we onboard brings us one step closer to that future.
"We didn't build AI Explorers to be another EdTech company. We built it to make a real difference in real schools, for real kids, right here in South Africa."
— Rizaan Lakay, Founder & CEO
