A Visionary Leader from Githurai
In the bustling heart of Sama’s East Africa headquarters at the Sameer Business Park, you will not find the organisation’s vice-president Annepeace Alwala tucked away in a corner office. She doesn’t have one. You won’t see her car in a designated VIP slot. She doesn’t have that either. What you will find is her vibrant, commanding, and warm presence, perhaps in conversation with young data annotators. To step into a room with Annepeace is to lose track of time. She doesn’t just answer questions but weaves narratives, punctuating facts with anecdotes and humour.
She is a global tech executive at the forefront of the artificial intelligence revolution and a girl from Githurai who never forgot home. Her journey reflects how Africa can claim its seat at the global AI table, not just as a consumer but as a creator and a crucial source of its most vital fuel: Ethically sourced, human-centric data.
Growing Up in Githurai
Annepeace grew up in Githurai, a low-income suburb north of Nairobi known for its grit. “Back then, Githurai was Githurai,” she says with a knowing smile. “You knew what to get yourself involved in and what not to.” But within the walls of her home, a different reality was being constructed, one where gender roles were not just challenged but dismantled.
Her father was the chief architect of this world view. “I grew up knowing a woman can do anything a man can do,” she recalls, her voice softening with affection. “So much so that I didn’t like doing dishes. I remember my dad would say, ‘Ah, you don’t know how to do the dishes? You’ll find someone to wash them, or you’ll buy a washing machine.’ I don’t think anyone had a washing machine back then!” she laughs. “The same thing the boys were doing, the same investment I’m making, this is the same thing, and I’m expecting a similar return,” was his mantra. This extended to the deeply personal. It was her father who took her to get her first ear piercing after she turned 18.
“You should hear my conversations with my dad. We can be on the phone for a very long time. Because of that, I never needed to reaffirm my figures. I had a very strong male figure.” This foundation was fortified by her mother, who fiercely defended her self-esteem, particularly about her dark complexion in a world that often sends damaging messages.
“I was teased about it a lot, but it has never gotten to my head, because my mom reaffirmed it,” she says.
From Linguistics to BPO
Her academic journey was not a straight shot to Silicon Valley. A self-professed “operator” who needs things to make sense, she studied Linguistics and Literature at the University of Nairobi, Kikuyu campus, initially aiming to be a teacher. After a period of job-seeking and a stint in radio at Hope FM, she interviewed for a voice campaign at one of Kenya’s first business process outsourcing (BPO) companies, Cancall. Her clear, trained accent landed her the job.
“During training, they were using my voice, my recording, to do the training,” she remembers. This was the beginning of a lifelong passion for the BPO industry. She excelled, was poached, and quickly climbed the ranks from agent to team leader. At 24, with a reputation for excellence, she was offered a chance to move to South Africa to help run a centre. She grabbed it without hesitation.
It was there that a boss named Phillip Chikoche took a monumental chance on her. While she was still a team leader, he entrusted her with running the entire Durban centre in his absence.
“He insisted that I go and run that centre. I was like, ‘Phillip, I am just a team leader, I am not a centre head.’ He was like, ‘No, you’re going to run this centre. You’re going to attend to client calls. You’re going to pitch for business.’” The experience was transformative. “What that did to me in my career was grand because this showed me that I could actually run a centre.”
Sama and the Power of Data
After a career that spanned multiple BPOs and even a bank, Annepeace’s path finally led to Sama. There, she found more than a company; she found a mission that mirrored her own life. Sama is a social enterprise and a data annotation provider for global enterprises deploying AI. In layman’s terms, they provide the “oxygen” for AI.
AI models, as Annepeace explains, like those for self-driving cars, precision agriculture or retail, learn from vast amounts of data. If you want a car to recognize a road signage, a traffic policeman or a pothole, you must feed it thousands of images where these objects have been meticulously identified or “annotated” by humans. Sama’s team of more than 5,000 full-time employees does this painstaking work.
“AI’s foundation is data,” Annepeace states plainly. “Eighty percent of the time spent on a model is spent on data. If your data is right, your model will perform well. If your data is wrong, your model will fail.”
Impact Sourcing and Social Change
Sama’s differentiator is also its “impact sourcing” model. They hire from underserved communities such as Mathare, Mukuru, and Githurai. “We believe talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not,” Annepeace says. “I have people I grew up with who did not have this opportunity. Some went into crime and are dead.” Sama provides a “liveable wage,” calculated using the Anker methodology to cover a nutritious diet, decent housing, and transport in a specific location. They also offer full medical cover and a pension scheme. The result is that over 70,000 people have been lifted out of poverty.
For Annepeace, this is her “God-given service.” Her leadership is not about being the smartest person in the room but about being the “chief support officer.” A past boss once gave her crucial feedback: “You’re not pulling people along with…if you’re not here, who will do what you’re doing?” She took it to heart.
“I think a leader’s job is to create a conducive environment for the team to deliver. My job as a leader is to guide and support,” she reflects. This philosophy explains the lack of a corner office. She is deeply embedded in her team, trusting them, challenging them, and creating a family-like atmosphere where she is known to crack jokes with everyone, from new hires to senior directors.
A Woman of Many Roles
Her leadership in this unique space has not gone unnoticed. Among her most cherished accolades is the prestigious Digital Woman of the Year award 2025, presented by the Africa Digital Economy Forum (ADEA). This continental recognition underscores her role not just as a corporate leader, but as a pioneering woman shaping the very fabric of Africa’s digital future.
Yet, for someone who radiates such easy connectivity, she shares a surprising fun fact: “I am naturally introverted.” This confession seems at odds with the woman who commands rooms and connects effortlessly with even strangers.
Grit defines her outside the office as well. In a powerful testament to her perseverance, she recently summited Mount Kenya, a challenging seven-day trek that stands as a physical metaphor for her career. She recalls the journey with a mix of awe and humour, noting she was the first in her group, which included her adventurous CEO, Wendy Gonzalez, to reach the summit.
“I was the first one in this entire group,” she says, the pride of a challenge conquered clear in her voice.
A Vision for African AI
Her vision extends beyond Sama’s walls. She is a fierce advocate for “African AI.” She illustrates why with powerful examples. A wheat-detection model trained in Russia will fail in Kenya because it hasn’t been trained on Kenyan wheat. A skin-analysis machine used in beauty clinics has likely never been trained on darker skin tones.
“At some point, we as a continent need to rise up and realise, we need to have models trained for us. For us. Africa has the highest youth population, meaning whatever anyone is building, you will have to sell it in Africa. So, if it doesn’t have your own context, it’s not going serve you.”
This drive for representation is why Sama is actively working on an Africa-Centric Dataset, aiming to contribute high-quality, representative data to the global AI community so that the models of the future truly understand and serve the African continent.
Beyond the Boardroom
Beyond the boardrooms and AI talk, Annepeace is “Mom” to three boisterous boys who have broken two TVs and pulled down curtain rods. “If you show up in my house and you find somewhere to sit, you just sit. Just move whatever is there,” she jokes heartily. This role is her deepest accomplishment. She and her husband are fiercely intentional about parenting, prioritising evenings and weekends with their children.
Her CEO and boss at Sama, Wendy Gonzalez, also a mother of three, actively supports this, having blocked out “chief mom officer” time on Annepeace’s calendar to ensure she can be present for her family.
When asked about her future, she doesn’t mention a higher title or a bigger company. “I want to be at a place where I’m deepening my impact,” she says. “Deepening my impact is touching lives. Whatever that comes, whatever title that is, whatever country that is, that’s for God to figure out.”
If she had a billboard for the world, it would read: “You are enough.” For the girl child, she’d add: “You are perfect the way you are.” Looking at Annepeace Alwala—the girl from Githurai, the global VP, the mother, the “chief support officer”—you see a woman who embodies that message entirely.
She is not just building ethical AI; she is building a world where everyone, especially Africans, knows they are enough to build it, too. And in the process, she is not just participating in the future; she is ensuring it has a place for everyone.
