Founder and CEO, Project Future
Rajveer Singh Jolly
Artificial intelligence and spatial computing are changing who gets to build technology. Rajveer Singh Jolly is working to put those tools in the hands of Africa's next generation, so that no one gets left behind.
The shift
For most of history, building technology took capital, a large team and a seat in the right city. Artificial intelligence is changing that. Someone with a laptop and a clear idea can now write software, run research and ship products with help that was out of reach a few years ago, while augmented reality and virtual reality are changing how people learn and see the world around them.
That changes what the digital divide means. The old gap was access to the tools. The gap ahead is knowing how to use them. Left alone, AI could widen the divides we already have; taught early, it could open a door for a generation of young Africans. Rajveer founded Project Future in Cape Town in 2018 to help make sure that door opens for them.
“The talent is here. The ideas are here. But access shouldn't be a privilege.”
Selected work
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Inferra
An intelligence platform that maps artificial intelligence readiness across 30 African markets, covering compute, connectivity, power and policy.
GitHub -
Photonic XR
A spatial computing experiment that turns a laptop screen into a window your hands can reach through, with no headset and with on-device AI.
GitHub -
Sansara
A collection of walkable 3D worlds exploring virtual reality ideas in an ordinary web browser, with nothing to install.
GitHub -
Outreach
Virtual reality, AI and Web3 sessions that have reached more than 1,200 young people across six institutions.
Project Future -
Infinity
A ten-module curriculum that takes a learner from a first computer through AI, XR and Web3.
Project Future
Background
Rajveer was born in the UAE and raised in Cape Town. He was chosen for the African Leadership Academy, which brings together young people with the potential to transform the continent, and was named a Bezos Scholar in 2023. He trained as a software engineer at the African Leadership University, specialising in virtual and augmented reality, and he has also evaluated large language models for accuracy and safety.
Alongside engineering, he works in film. He directed the short film Dastaar, coordinated production at Next Film Studios and has helped social campaigns reach more than a million organic views. He brings both sides to Project Future.
- Bezos Scholar Bezos Scholars Program, Aspen Ideas Festival, 2023
- TEDx speaker TEDxAfricanLeadershipAcademy
- Featured by the Project Management Institute 2024 and 2025
- 2nd place, Peace in the Streets Global Film Festival Writer and director, broadcast on UN TV, 2020
- Space Camp Leadership Scholarship Advanced Space Academy, 2019
- Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans 2016
- Lead SA Western Cape Youth Hero April 2016
The next chapter
Artificial intelligence is where Project Future goes next. Alongside augmented reality, virtual reality and spatial computing, it will sit at the centre of the work, so that a young African can go from a first prompt to a working product. The aim is empowerment through artificial intelligence, so that nobody's life gets left behind.
Rajveer's hope is a simple one. When the next Google comes out of Africa, its founder will have met this technology early, and met it as a builder.
Coverage
- Bridging the Digital Divide Through Project Management ProjectManagement.com, January 2025
- Talk at TEDxAfricanLeadershipAcademy TEDx Talks, September 2024
- Using project management to break technological barriers Project Management Institute, July 2024
- Bezos Scholars at the Aspen Ideas Festival Aspen Ideas, 2023
- Feature on Project Future Good Things Guy, April 2023
- Guest speaker at One-way Ticket to Mars Atlantic Sun, archived, April 2019
- Space Camp Leadership Scholarship Good Things Guy, February 2019
- 200 Young South Africans Mail & Guardian, archived, June 2016
- Western Cape Youth Hero Lead SA, archived, May 2016
Work with Rajveer
Backing Africa's technology future as a partner or a sponsor, or looking for a speaker? He'd like to hear from you.