التكنولوجيا وأخبارها بوابة مصر لأخبار تكنولوجيا المعلومات والإتصالات وفي أفريقيا كما تعتبر مصدر رئيسي للمعلومات حول تكنولوجيا المعلومات والاتصالات والفرص الاستثمارية المرتبطة بالاقتصاد الرقمي في المنطقة بالكامل
Egypt’s fintech leader Fawry celebrated the success of its first “AI Rising Gen” competition, recognizing a group of promising young innovators from universities across the country. Hosted in partnership with the Faculty of Computers and Artificial Intelligence at Cairo University, the initiative reflects Fawry’s commitment to empowering youth and nurturing AI-driven innovation in fintech and beyond.
A Real-World Challenge: Smart Surveillance for Retail
This year’s competition focused on the theme “Surveillance for Retail Stores Application”, urging students to design AI-powered solutions capable of tracking customer movement, analyzing staff performance, and reducing wait times—key elements in enhancing operational efficiency and customer experience in retail environments.
Nationwide University Participation via Kaggle Platform
The contest officially launched in February 2025 through the international platform Kaggle, drawing widespread interest from 28 teams representing 8 Egyptian universities. A total of 74 students submitted over 769 AI model entries, showcasing a competitive spirit and technical depth. The top 10 teams were shortlisted to present their projects live before a panel comprising Fawry AI experts and faculty members from Cairo University.
Cash Awards and Recognition for Excellence
Fawry allocated substantial cash prizes to honor top-performing teams. The first-place team received EGP 100,000, while both the second and third-place teams earned EGP 50,000 each. All finalist teams were awarded commemorative medals to celebrate their participation and technical achievements.
Ashraf Sabry: Empowering Young Minds Through Innovation
Eng. Ashraf Sabry, CEO and Managing Director of Fawry, stated:
“At Fawry, we prioritize transforming student ideas into real-world, scalable solutions. Innovation is at the heart of tackling today’s fintech challenges, especially in sectors like retail. Through ‘AI Rising Gen,’ we’re laying the foundation for an annual platform that discovers and nurtures Egypt’s brightest tech minds.”
He emphasized the importance of bridging academic theory with market realities:
“Our collaboration with Cairo University marks a strategic step in aligning academic excellence with practical needs, offering students a chance to create tangible impact.”
Mostafa El Nahas: From Big Data to Generative AI
Eng. Mostafa El Nahas, Fawry’s CEO of Technology, reflected on the company’s long-term journey in AI:
“We’ve been leveraging artificial intelligence for over eight years, building a robust infrastructure centered on Big Data, with access to billions of data records. This deep customer insight has guided our innovation roadmap.”
He added:
“Now, we are entering a new era by developing products powered by Generative AI and the Agentic AI Framework—technologies we aim to launch soon. This competition is part of our social mission to offer students exposure to real data in real environments, ultimately investing in Egypt’s future tech leaders.”
From Concept to Reality: Fawry to Adopt Winning Projects
As a testament to its commitment to actionable innovation, Fawry announced plans to integrate the winning projects into its future operations. The company also extended exclusive internship offers and job invitations to standout participants, allowing them to join its AI team and further develop their concepts within a professional setting.
This initiative is set to become an annual tradition, bridging the academic and business worlds, and encouraging university students to tackle real market challenges head-on.
Innovation That Solves Real-World Retail Problems
Participants tackled realistic business challenges, and many succeeded in presenting proof-of-concept (POC) demos that closely mirrored actual retail operation needs. Through this initiative, Fawry reaffirmed its ability to transform emerging ideas into practical tech solutions, while fostering healthy competition and creativity among Egypt’s student community.
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