Now entering its eighth edition in South Africa, the Summit will once again be presented in collaboration with headline sponsor Old Mutual, alongside metaverse partner UBU. Following the success of the 2025 Summit, which attracted more than 2 000 attendees, from over 600 of local and global leading companies, and widespread acclaim from delegates, the 2026 Summit aims to push the conversation even further, exploring how rapidly advancing technologies are reshaping industries, societies and human potential itself.

With two immersive stages, an interactive expo, workshops and networking experiences, the Summit will once again create a space where business leaders, entrepreneurs, investors and innovators can engage with the ideas shaping the future.

The 2026 programme will unpack the accelerating impact of artificial intelligence, 3D printing, digital identity, quantum computing, crypto economies, human optimisation and Africa’s evolving technology infrastructure. From the rise of AI factories and agentic AI to the future of emotional intelligence in machines, this year’s line-up reflects the breadth of disruption already transforming the world around us.

Celiwe Ross of Old Mutual says this Summit allows for the advocacy of human-centred AI adoption, where technology enhances rather than replaces human capability.“Innovation is often spoken about in terms of technology, but its real impact is felt through people. The question for business is not only what new tools we adopt, but how we equip people to grow, respond, and lead in an environment that is constantly changing. For Old Mutual, future readiness is about building the confidence, capability, and culture needed to move forward responsibly,” Ross said.

The Summit’s metaverse experience will also return in partnership with UBU, offering attendees across the continent access to immersive digital experiences, interactive sessions, workshops and networking opportunities within Africa’s growing virtual ecosystem.

“Every year, the pace of technological change becomes harder to ignore,” said Shayne Mann, co-CEO of Singularity South Africa. “What makes this Summit exciting is not only the calibre of the conversations, but the people in the room. It is where Africa’s business, technology and creative leaders come together to engage with what is coming next and, more importantly, what role the continent can play in shaping it.”

“The conversations around AI, digital infrastructure and exponential technologies have shifted dramatically over the past year,” added Mic Mann, co-CEO of Singularity South Africa. “There is now far greater urgency around how these technologies are implemented, governed and scaled responsibly. This Summit is designed to give delegates direct access to the people building the future, while creating meaningful discussions around prosperity, opportunity and innovation in an African context.”

Apart from the obvious security risks, social media users often don’t realise that insurers also view social media platforms and posts to verify client information and claims data. In time the industry is also likely to begin using the vast pool of personal information that exists online, to build risk profiles and even to price cover.

Thanks to Kim Kardashian’s much-publicised diamond jewellery heist people are generally aware that posting pics of your brand-new sports cars, their newest electronic goods, or expensive fashion or jewellery purchases is best avoided. After publicly ‘advertising’ the diamond pieces that she was travelling with online as well as her movements, “it was a very easy step for the criminals who finally stole Kim’s jewellery to use an online – and publicly available – location service to pin point her Paris hotel, and drop in while she was out,” says Colman.

From a security perspective, the point is not to make a target of yourself.

Telling people where you are going on holiday, when you will be leaving your home, or, indeed, in an age of home invasions and kidnappings, when you will be having friends and family over, exposes you to risk. It is also very important that location services on devices are turned off, “especially when the whereabouts of children are concerned, but also to avoid digital eavesdroppers from establishing your routines and other patterns.

A short-hand check is to simply to ask yourself, “how can the information that I place on social media be used against me? And then don’t place this information online,” advises Colman.

Apart from kidnap and other horror crimes, simply posting that you are at a restaurant with friends tells criminals that your home is unguarded, for example.

Criminals can also use publicly available data, like Google Street View, to ascertain the security features of a home, like; spikes, electric fencing, walls and the entire perimeter of a property.

In a recent case, criminals secured the mobile phone and personal details of someone who had just taken possession of a R 5 million vehicle. Posing as the vehicle’s manufactures, “the criminals contacted the new owner to inform them there was a problem with the steering function of the car and asked for the vehicle to be towed into the repair shop, gaining possession of the vehicle and never returning it,” reports Colman. Unfortunately, investigators were unable to recover the vehicle.

Despite these instances, insurers in South Africa are not currently using social media in a ‘scientific’ way, to build risk profiles and calculate premiums, for example. The sheer volume of personal information online, however, offers insurers with the right algorithms the potential to use social media and other publicly available data to assess behavioural patterns for risk, pricing cover accordingly. This is already happening in a few developed markets. “It is just a question of time before this becomes general practice in South Africa’s insurance market as well,” predicts Colman.

On a more pedestrian level, however, South African insurers are already using social media for a range of verification purposes. Old Mutual Insure, for example, recently dealt with an accident claim on a very expensive, and new, imported sports car owned by an elderly gentleman. The claim recorded that the gentleman was driving the car at the time of the accident, early one evening. A brief search on social media, however, turned up evidence that, “the gentleman’s son, an aspirant racing car driver, was out on the town with the vehicle that night, and that the accident actually happened much later when the owner was home in bed.

Simple things, like mobile phone records, can locate people. “Most insurance application processes obtain permission for insurers to access policy-holders’ mobile phone and other records as a matter of course,” cautions Colman.

Smartphones only increase the amount of personal information potentially available to insurers, “but also to criminals if these phones fall into the wrong hands,” she adds.
The trick is to be aware of the information that you and your family members share on all the platforms and devices that you use, “and then take deliberate steps to protect the data that you absolutely have to share.

With this, Old Mutual also announced their impactful partnership with industry experts and musicians such as Khuli Chana, Letta Mbulu, Thandiswa Mazwai and Brian O Shea, who will get involved in shaping the careers of future musicians through the AMPD Iconsand AMPD Masterclasses platforms.

AMPD Studios have been designed and created specifically to inspire, motivate and mentor the youth and tech-smart market. The venue will consist of two ultra-modern recording studios where the team of experts and musicians will guide and mentor young aspiring artists and help boost their professional careers.

Key to the success of AMPD Studios is the AMPD Icons and AMPD Masterclasses platforms that will be held at the venue throughout the year. AMPD Icons is a conversation platform that will have artists sharing powerful insights and honest conversations about their experiences in the entertainment industry. The series will be broadcast live once a month on Afternoon Express, Metro FM and Old Mutual’s digital platforms. AMPD Masterclasses will see experts unearth their skills to inspire and motivate the up-and-coming musicians and teach them about what it takes to make it in the music industry.