INDABAX TUNISIA 2025
IndabaX Tunisia 2025 marked the 6th edition of this vibrant, community‑driven AI event, held on May 3–4 at Sup’Com in Technopole El Ghazela under the banner of IEEE Sup’Com Student Branch. Designed as a local chapter of the Deep Learning Indaba, it brought together students, researchers, and practitioners across Africa to explore the latest in machine learning and AI .
Over two immersive days, attendees enjoyed inspiring keynotes—including talks on generative AI in drug discovery by InstaDeep’s Amine Kerkeni, leveraging deep learning for sustainable development by Dr. Nesrine Chehata, and the fusion of AI with quantum computing by Prof. Mourad Telmini. In parallel, hands-on workshops covered topics like LLM adaptation, denoising diffusion models, and ML deployment in production.
The event also featured a competitive 20-hour hackathon organized with Zindi and ODC—spotlighting Tunisia’s rollout of 5G—and a poster session for PhD students to showcase and refine their research. Proudly supported by partners such as InstaDeep, GIZ, Deep Learning Indaba, Zindi, Sup’Com, and IEEE, IndabaX Tunisia continues to be a central catalyst in growing the region’s AI talent and networks.
In sum, IndabaX Tunisia 2025 delivered an exceptional blend of technical insight, collaborative challenges, and community engagement—strengthening connections across academia and industry and paving the way for Africa’s next-generation AI innovators.
Date and Time
Location
Hosts
Registration
Speakers
Amine
Biography:
Amine Kerkeni is leading the Applied AI department at InstaDeep. He joined the company eight years ago after a career in software development where he lead engineering teams in various industries (semiconductor, consumer electronics, investment banking). Initially, Amine started deep learning and AI as a hobby, but ended up dropping everything to pursue his goal of deploying artificial intelligence to solve real life problems. He is driven by the ambition of replacing classic operational research techniques with AI. He has a Master of Engineering in software and a Master in Business Administration.
Nesrine
Biography:
HDR. Dr.-Ing. Nesrine Chehata, Senior Lecturer at Bordeaux INP, is an expert in geospatial technologies and artificial intelligence for Earth Observation and the environment. She has worked at CNES (the French Space Agency), IGN (the French National Mapping Agency), and IRD-Tunisia (French Research and Development Institute). She also serves as an expert for the European Space Agency’s Environment Group.
Since 2016, she has co-founded and presided over AGEOS, the African Association for Geospatial Development, where she actively promotes geospatial technologies across Tunisia and Africa, building capacity through engagement with public institutions, local authorities, students, and children.
A strong advocate for open geographic data, she has contributed to inclusive governance, innovation, and entrepreneurship by promoting the reuse of open geodata. She
leads hackathons focused on open geodata, artificial intelligence, and climate change adaptation. She also supports startups and companies in the climate-oriented geospatial sector.
Since 2021, she has served as President of the National Forum on Climate Change Adaptation (FNACC) and currently chairs the UNESCO Chair in Climate Change Adaptation at Bordeaux INP, France. Through these roles, she highlights the importance of space-based technologies in climate action and supports local initiatives to build sustainable and resilient African cities.
Mourad
Biography:
Mourad Telmini earned a PhD in Atomic Physics from the University of Paris-Sud (Paris-Saclay) in 1993. He has held several prominent positions, including President of the Tunisian Physical Society (2005–2007), member of the C13 commission of the International Union for Pure and Applied Physics (2006–2014), Director General of the National Center for Nuclear Science and Technology (2010–2012), and Vice-Chair of the African Commission on Nuclear Energy (2011–2014).
Currently, he serves as a Professor of Physics at the University of Tunis El Manar, Director of the Research Laboratory on Atomic and Molecular Spectroscopy & Applications (LSAMA), Coordinator of the Tunisian Quantum Network (QUANTUN), and President of the Tunisian Metrology Association. He is also a visiting professor and researcher at several international institutions, including Paris-Saclay University, Le Havre Normandy University, the University of São Paulo, the University of South Africa, and Purdue University.
His main research interests focus on quantum physics in atomic and molecular systems, particularly Rydberg states; coherent control of molecular processes using ultra-short laser pulses; coherent transport of cold atoms and Bose-Einstein condensates in moving optical lattices; and the application of quantum computing to molecular systems, specifically through the Variational Quantum Eigensolver algorithm.
Jawher
Biography:
Jawher Jabri holds a Master's degree in Big Data and Artificial Intelligence from Paris Dauphine University. He is currently an AI Research Engineer at InstaDeep, working on the DeepPCB project, where he tackles challenges at the intersection of Reinforcement Learning (RL) and Large Language Models (LLMs).
Nizar
Biography:
Nizar Ben Hmida is an AI Research Engineer at InstaDeep who specializes in building practical Large Language Model solutions for real-world business problems. Holding an M.Sc in Computer Science from ESPRIT, he combines technical knowledge with a client-focused approach to create effective AI applications.
Aymen
Biography:
Aymen Khouja is a Machine Learning Engineer at InstaDeep Ltd., with a focus on solving real-world problems through cutting-edge AI solutions. He holds an engineering degree from the National School of Statistics and Information Analysis (ESSAI). Aymen brings a versatile skill set rooted in computer vision, reinforcement learning, and genomics, applying advanced techniques to build robust, scalable systems. Beyond his technical work, Aymen is an active voice in the AI community—previously serving as Chairman of the ESSAI Machine Learning Club, where he led initiatives to foster collaboration, innovation, and education in the field.
Wiem
Biography:
Wiem Khlifi is an AI Research Engineer at InstaDeep Ltd., specializing in multi-agent reinforcement learning. She holds an M.Sc. in Computer Science from the National School of Computer Sciences (ENSI). A versatile and research-driven professional, Wiem's expertise spans RL, federated learning, and NLP, where she has contributed to several open-source libraries such as Jumanji and MAVA and co-authored multiple papers accepted at top-tier conferences. Beyond her technical work, she’s an active member of the AI community—engaging in lecturing, judging, and previously serving as Vice Chairwoman of the IEEE ENSI CIS Chapter.
Iheb
Biography:
Machine Learning Engineer at Ubotica and an Instructor at the Pristini School of AI. With a strong focus on MLOps, AI, and Deep Learning, Iheb Kesraoui brings a blend of hands-on industry experience and educational leadership. They specialize in building scalable machine learning systems and deploying AI solutions into production, with expertise in cloud platforms like Azure and end-to-end ML workflows.
Mohamed
Biography:
Mohamed Mejri is a Machine Learning Engineer at InstaDeep, where he works on cutting-edge large language model (LLM) projects. He holds a degree in Computer Science and Engineering from ENICarthage and has experience across reinforcement learning (RL), natural language processing (NLP), and scalable LLM adaptation. His current focus is on efficient finetuning strategies and practical post-training techniques to make LLMs more adaptable and impactful.
Imen
Biography:
Imen Jendoubi is an AI Research Engineer in InstaDeep, where she is dedicated to developing innovative algorithms and advancing research in artificial intelligence. She obtained her Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer engineering from McGill university, focusing on integrating reinforcement learning into energy management and planning. Dr. Imen’s research particularly emphasizes the applications of multi-agent reinforcement learning for automating complex systems across various industries. In addition to her research, Dr. Imen has lectured at various universities, fostering the development of future AI professionals.
Agenda
Day 1:
8:00 am - 8:30 am: Check-In
8:30 am - 9:00 am: Opening Ceremony
9:00 am - 9:30 am: Keynote 1
9:30 am - 10:00 am: Keynote 2
10:00 am - 10:45 am: Coffee Break & Networkin
10:45 am - 12:45 pm: Parallel Workshops
12:45 pm - 1:45 pm: Lunch Break & Networking
1:45 pm - 2:10 pm: Keynote 3
2:10 pm - 2:45 pm: Poster Session : Winners Announcement
2:45 pm - 3:15 pm: Coffee Break
3:15 pm - 5:00 pm: Hackathon Workshop
5:00 pm: Hackathon start
8:30 pm: Dinner & Networking
Day 2:
2:00 am: Coffee Break
4:00 am: Coffee Break
7:00 am: Morning Coffee Break
1:15 pm: Hackathon End & Judging
1:15 pm - 2:00 pm: Lunch Break
2:15 pm - 3:30 pm: Hackathon Pitching
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm: Winners Announcement
4:30 pm: Closing Ceremony