Vodacom has partnered with the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to address South Africa’s growing demand for job-ready artificial intelligence (AI) and data science skills. Delivered through UJ’s Centre for Applied Data Science, the partnership will support co-designed learning programmes, postgraduate research and industry mentorship to build a sustainable pipeline of AI talent. UJ Master’s students are already working on Vodacom-aligned research into autonomous AI systems to detect and respond to cyber threats across telecommunications networks, with further research exploring blockchain-based approaches to digital identity management. AWS provides students and researchers with access to cloud, data and AI technologies such as Amazon Bedrock, Amazon Quick and Amazon Kiro. Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO, stated the partnership creates a direct pathway from university research to industry impact. Professor Tankiso Moloi, executive dean at UJ, said the collaboration creates a foundation for sustained capability-building. Prabashni Naidoo, AWS telco lead for Africa, noted that access to technology is key to unlocking innovation.