Forty-eight hours. That was all it took for some of the sharpest builders in East Africa to go from blank repos to working products. Future in 48 was b54's first in-person hackathon — held in Nairobi, powered by Cohere, and fueled by an energy that no virtual event can replicate.
Teams formed fast. Some came with squads, others found their people in the first hour. By midnight on day one, the room was alive — keyboards clacking, whiteboards covered in diagrams, and the kind of focused chaos that only happens when builders are locked in. People were shipping features at 3 AM like it was the most natural thing in the world.
What the teams built was remarkable. AI-driven health platforms, smart educational tools, developer utilities that solve real pain points. These weren't demo-day toys — they were the seeds of real products, built by people who understand the problems because they live them every day.
But the best part wasn't the code. It was the community. Strangers became collaborators. Mentors jumped in to unblock stuck teams. The energy was electric and the connections forged over those 48 hours will outlast any single project. This is what b54 is about — bringing builders together and watching what happens when you give them space to create.
Cohere provided AI infrastructure and mentorship throughout the event, giving teams access to cutting-edge language models and hands-on support from their engineering team. Their commitment to the African developer community made Future in 48 possible.
Health Management System that uses AI to generate summary patient reports, helping clinicians make faster decisions.
Rare disease AI platform that matches patients with relevant clinical trials using natural language processing.
Antenatal care bot app providing expectant mothers with personalized guidance and appointment reminders.
A proactive git merging agent that detects and resolves merge conflicts before they become blockers.
Educational tech platform making coding accessible through gamified, bite-sized lessons for African students.
Small court reporting system streamlining case documentation and legal proceedings.
Health management platform improving patient record keeping and clinical workflow efficiency.
Platform for blue collar workers to track jobs, manage schedules, and connect with employers.
Healthcare emergency system for faster triage and response coordination in critical situations.