Nelson Mandela University alumnus Hackeem Hafkey, is a Chartered Accountant who holds a BCom (Accounting) and PGDip (Accounting) from the university’s School of Accounting. Hafkey is using artificial intelligence to help reshape access to education in South Africa. As the founder of Audit AI, a company focused on developing innovative, socially impactful technology solutions that address real-world challenges. In this Q&A, he shares the inspiration behind Study With Aivee – the first piece of transformative software launched by Audit Ai, his professional journey, and his vision for the future of AI-powered learning.
What is Study With Aivee?
Study With Aivee is an AI-powered tutoring platform currently designed specifically for high school learners, though we are hoping to expand in the future. It is trained on high school modules in line with the South African curriculum by a team of industry professionals. Meaning our accounting subjects are trained by Chartered Accountants, our chemistry modules by chemists, Life Science by doctors and so on. To date, the AI has been trained on over 30,000 questions by our team. Its truly unique feature is our "Observational AI." Students can attempt actual past papers and real questions directly on the app, and the AI will watch them attempt the work at a click of a button, stepping in to tutor them in real-time exactly where they get stuck.
What inspired you to create Study With Aivee?
I’ve always wanted to create something that could help in education, and the inspiration stems directly from my own challenges in high school. Growing up, I wanted to be a Chartered Accountant, but my school ran out of maths teachers. I had to be taught in a hybrid of English and Afrikaans, and my marks naturally suffered. Fortunately, my accounting teacher stepped in and paid for me to go to private maths lessons out of their own pocket.
There is a well-known educational concept called the "two sigma problem," which highlights that students with private tutors perform significantly better than those without. The problem is that most people simply cannot afford private tutoring. I know there are countless learners in the exact same boat, or in worse positions, than I was. I wanted to create an affordable solution that doesn't just feed students the answers but simulates a human tutor by observing their pain points and helping them address their mistakes.
How did your time at Nelson Mandela University influence your entrepreneurial journey?
I am a proud alumnus of the School of Accounting at Nelson Mandela University, having completed both my undergraduate and postgraduate degrees there. I might be a bit biased, but I truly believe it’s one of the best programs in the country for aspiring Chartered Accountants; the academics really give their all to the program.
Through the CA route, you cover a broad range of disciplines, accounting, taxation, corporate finance, governance, auditing, and company law. That rigorous foundation gave me the comprehensive skill set I needed to become a business leader. Once I entered the business world, I quickly realised that these subjects weren't just academic theory; they were highly practical tools I could apply to solve real-world problems.
Can you share a current career update and tell us more about your role and professional journey?
My professional journey started right there at Nelson Mandela University under the SAICA Academic Trainee program. I lectured taxation, which was really my first love and my introduction into the education space. There, I learned that if I applied myself and did a good job lecturing, I could make a real difference in a learner's life and play a small role in their success.
From there, I moved into audit, spending time in government audit before moving on to private sector Big Four audits. Afterward, I transitioned into private equity-backed startups, which eventually led me to start this company, Audit AI.
Currently, I lead Audit AI, where we focus on financial services and AI. Our specific goal with our AI branch is to solve problems. Our motto is to "do good and solve problems using the power of AI." With a focus on developing AI with net positive outcomes. There are a lot of people doing things with AI out there, and not all of them are necessarily a net positive. We look at the unique challenges we face here in the Southern African context and ask: what tools can we create that result in an overall net gain?
We acknowledge that AI has an environmental and energy impact, so we strive to develop tools that contribute more than they cost. Tutoring is really our first software; our goal is to get more students into university and entering the workplace more capable and intelligent. We believe that is a massive net positive that far outweighs the cost of producing it.
What challenges in the South African education system does Study With Aivee aim to address?
In South Africa, we often face massive classroom sizes and resource constraints. Schools and teachers genuinely do try their absolute best, but the resource limits are a reality. This brings us back to the "two sigma problem" studies show that a student with a private tutor can perform 95 to 97% better than their peers simply because they have that individualised attention.
The reason that is a massive problem is financial access; most people simply cannot afford a private tutor. Our goal is to solve that by making tutoring as cost-efficient as possible. Aivee provides a 24/7 tutor that doesn't just spoon-feed your answers. It actually tutors you like a human would, testing you, watching how you attempt questions at a click of a button, observing your performance, and giving you real-time guidance when you get stuck. It isn't meant to replace teachers or the existing system; it is simply an added layer of support to help bridge the gap.
How can AI help make education more accessible and inclusive for learners?
AI can tailor the learning experience to the individual rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all approach. For example, Aivee uses the Socratic method to guide students, but it can also adapt to their interests to keep them engaged. Aivee frequently frames complex technical accounting or physics concepts within the context of pop culture, like anime, streaming, TV shows or video games, making intimidating material highly relatable, engaging, and accessible to a wider variety of learners.
What advice would you give to current university students or alumni looking to innovate and create impact?
Just start. Back in the day, I had a friend who had this expression called "sun watchers." It referred to people who would make plans in the morning, and the sun would rise and set around them, but there was zero execution on those plans. Don't be a sun watcher. Just start somewhere. Doesn’t need to be perfect – just start.
As Study With Aivee continues to grow, Hafkey remains focused on his mission to make quality education more accessible through technology. His work reflects a strong commitment to innovation with purpose - using AI not just to advance learning, but to create meaningful, long-term impact for students across South Africa and beyond.