Maha Jouini sits at a rare intersection, where artificial intelligence meets humanity, and where personal transformation becomes public purpose.

A digital policy advocate and AI governance expert, Maha currently serves as Digital Communication Officer at the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) in Johannesburg, and as Vice President of the Agence Francophone et Africaine de l'Intelligence Artificielle (AFRIA). Her work shapes how AI is designed, governed, and experienced across Africa and the MENA region, always with equity, dignity, and inclusion at the center.

She holds an MSc in Applied Technology & Artificial Intelligence from Tianjin University of Technology in China, as well as an Executive Master in Data Governance, Cybersecurity and Cloud from HEC Rabat. Her expertise spans AI governance, cloud technologies, digital policy, communication, and human-centered innovation. Her academic and executive training also includes Ethics, Technology, and Public Policy for Practitioners at Stanford University, Advanced AI Policy & Ethics studies at the University of Cape Town, and AI Politics & Digital Justice studies with the CAIDP Centre for AI & Digital Policy in the United States.

In 2026, she was honoured with the She Shapes AI Award in the AI Thought Leadership category, a recognition that affirmed what has always driven her work: that lived experience is not a footnote to expertise. It is expertise.

But Maha’s story does not begin in a boardroom. It begins with survival, healing, and reinvention. As a cancer survivor currently undergoing hormonal treatment after surgery and radiation, she learned to listen deeply to her body, emotions, and humanity in a world that often rewards exhaustion over wellbeing. That experience transformed not only her life, but also her vision of technology itself.

That lived reality became the foundation of CHIFAA, a human-centered AI initiative designed for cancer patients and survivors in North Africa. Through CHIFAA, Maha advocates for compassionate, culturally grounded, and inclusive technologies that support women navigating illness with dignity, knowledge, and hope.

She is also a storyteller, poet, and creative voice from North Africa. As the author of two books, “عاشقة من إفريقية” and “الرقصة الأخيرة من قرطاج إلى المسين”, Maha explores identity, memory, belonging, and transformation with the same depth she brings to policy and governance work.

Beyond technology and policy, she believes creativity itself is a form of healing and resistance. Whether through writing, public speaking, or advocacy, she continues to build bridges between ethics, art, health, and emerging technologies. Maha Jouini does not simply advocate for human-centered AI. She lives it.

Dr. Chaker ESSID is a Tunisian academic and researcher with a PhD in Telecommunications from the École Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Tunis (ENIT), where he also completed his University Habilitation in Communication Systems in 2025. Currently serving as Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Sciences of Tunis, he brings over two decades of research and teaching experience at the intersection of telecommunications and artificial intelligence.

As AI Technical Lead for the Chifaa application, Dr. ESSID drives the design and development of the platform's intelligent core from conversational health guidance to AI-powered diagnostic support tools. His role bridges cutting-edge research and real-world application, ensuring that Chifaa's AI components are robust, accurate, and clinically meaningful.

His research portfolio spanning 9 peer-reviewed journal articles, 16 international conference papers, and a book chapter reflects a strong and growing engagement with AI applied to healthcare. Dr. ESSID has co-authored work on deep learning for brain tumor segmentation, AI-powered skin lesion diagnosis using lightweight CNN architectures, automated breast cancer detection from ultrasound imaging, and thoracic aortic aneurysm detection. This body of work demonstrates his ability to translate advanced machine learning into practical, life-saving solutions.

His expertise in 5G, MIMO systems, and IoT further strengthens Chifaa's vision of a connected, intelligent, and accessible health platform for all.