AI/ML & Data Community Durban

We unplugged. We played the Maskandi Sessions. We plugged in. And every time, the room asked for one more. 🎤 So before we close out 2026, we’re coming back on stage for one last set: Data & AI Community Day Durban: Encore, happening on Saturday, 21 November 2026.

We, Azure, AI/ML & Data Community Durban, are doing the thing we love most one more time this year: a packed house, brilliant speakers, and the honest, no-fluff tech talks that have made our events one of the largest community-run tech gatherings in South Africa. 🚀

And this time it’s a double bill. Running alongside Encore, on the same day and under the same roof: .NET Conf 2026 Community Edition South Africa, back in Durban for the second time ever. 💜

Two Events. One Saturday. One Roof.

Let’s be clear about what you’re getting, because it’s a lot for a free Saturday:

Data & AI Community Day Durban: Encore: our full community day of Data & AI talks, lightning talks, and the panel discussion
.NET Conf 2026 Community Edition South Africa: a full .NET Conf, in person, in Durban

One registration. One venue. You move between the two whenever you like. Data person curious about what’s happening in .NET? Walk across the hall. .NET developer who wants to know what the data team is actually doing with AI? Same thing, other direction.

This isn’t a .NET session tucked into a data event, or the other way around. It’s two events that share a building, a lunch queue, and a hallway track. 🔥

So, What’s with “Encore”?

AI Unplugged stripped things back to find out what’s real. The Maskandi Sessions were about craft, storytelling, and building something that sounds like where it comes from. Plugged In connected you to the tools, the industry, and the community.

Encore is what happens when the room won’t let the band leave.

It’s the last Data & AI Community Day of 2026, and we want it to feel like one: the sessions you’d have wanted to hear all year, the people you’ve been meeting at every event since, and one more chance to learn something you’ll actually use on Monday.

One more set before the lights go up.

Following Up on Plugged In

September was a big one. Data & AI Community Day Durban: Plugged In brought GitHub Copilot Dev Days to KwaZulu-Natal for the first time, ran two tracks side by side, and the room rated the day 6.55 out of 7. Thank you, Durban. 🙏

Figure 1: Data & AI Community Day Durban: Plugged In

Running two events in parallel worked, and you told us so. So for Encore, we’re doing it again, this time with .NET Conf.

.NET Conf 2026 Community Edition South Africa: Three Cities 🇿🇦

.NET Conf is a free, community-driven event that celebrates .NET and showcases the latest in the .NET ecosystem. Every November, the official .NET Conf runs online as the largest .NET event of the year. The South African Community Edition takes that in person, into a city near you, and it’s the biggest annual .NET conference in the country.

This year, it’s bigger than ever. Three cities, three Saturdays:

City	Date	Hosted with
Durban	Saturday, 21 November 2026	Data & AI Community Day Durban: Encore
Cape Town	Saturday, 28 November 2026	Season of AI
Bloemfontein	Saturday, 5 December 2026	Season of AI

Durban gets its second .NET Conf ever. Last year was Durban’s first, and you showed up for it. Now it’s back, running alongside Encore.
Cape Town is the home crowd, running .NET Conf together with Season of AI.
Bloemfontein gets .NET Conf for the first time ever, also with Season of AI. A brand-new community joining the tour. 🎉

Can’t make Durban? Tell your friends in Cape Town and Bloemfontein. Can make Durban? Tell them anyway. 😉

.NET Conf Community Edition South Africa is brought to you by the community: MSDUG, the Microsoft technology-focused developer community with monthly meetups in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban, and in Durban, in partnership with us, the Azure, AI/ML & Data Community Durban.

Figure 2: .NET Conf 2026 Community Edition South Africa

What’s On

⚡ The Mains: Data & AI Community Day Durban

Everything runs off this.

The full day of community talks: 50-minute deep dives, 20-minute lightning talks, and the panel discussion. The themes you’ve been asking for all year, played one more time:

AI Agents & Agentic AI: multi-agent systems, orchestration, and implementations that are actually running
Generative AI: LLMs, RAG, fine-tuning, and what’s genuinely production-ready
Model Context Protocol (MCP): servers, clients, integrations, and use cases
AI testing, evaluation & guardrails: how you know it works, and how you stop the slop before it ships
AI in CI/CD and responsible AI: shipping safely, and governance that means something
Microsoft Fabric, analytics & databases: data engineering, lakehouses, BI, and yes, SQL (still not dead)
Streaming & real-time data: Kafka, Event Hubs, Spark, Flink, and data in motion
AI for Africa: use cases, challenges, and opportunities on our continent
Ways in: using AI to get into tech, getting started as a newcomer, and building something of your own

As always, non-Microsoft tech is welcome, and if your topic doesn’t fit a list, we still want to hear it.

🎸 The Backline: .NET Conf 2026 Community Edition South Africa

The gear the whole band plays through.

A dedicated .NET Conf track, running alongside The Mains all day. Expect:

.NET 11: what’s new, what’s changed, and what it means for the code you ship
Cloud-native .NET: building, deploying, and running .NET apps in the cloud
AI in .NET: building AI-powered applications, agents, and MCP servers with .NET
Developer productivity: tooling, IDEs, AI-assisted development, and the workflows that make your day better
Architecture & performance: the patterns and lessons that only come from production

Whether you’re a seasoned .NET developer or just starting out, there’s something here for you. And no, you don’t need to write C# to get value from it. AI, and especially MCP, is for everyone, whatever your stack.

The Mains and The Backline run side by side, so you choose what to see. We’ll publish the exact timing as early as possible so you can plan your day.

Why Attend

Encore is a chance to learn from people who do this for a living, meet your peers, and get honest answers about where Data & AI and .NET actually are right now. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting out:

Two events, one registration: Data & AI Community Day Durban and .NET Conf, same day, same venue
Actionable content: proven patterns, real code, and architectures. No fluffy slides.
Local + global voices: Microsoft MVPs, architects, and community experts
.NET Conf, in Durban: for only the second time ever
Real community: Durban’s friendliest tech crowd, a great hallway track, and plenty of time to network
Free: world-class content, zero cost

Here are some quotes from previous events:

“This wasn’t just a local event but a world class AI and Data Conference for KZN, it reminded me as though I was at the Africa AI Expo last November in Sandton, this is how much this event has grown, and many new corners. Well done to all the amazing speakers and sponsors.”

“Another awesome event 👏 Thanks to the organisers and all the sponsors for having such an amazing conference here in Durban for free. An absolute privilege to attend and listen to such talented individuals and companies do wonders using AI and IT.”

“What an incredible time at the Data and AI event in Durban! We had a blast sharing knowledge and connecting with 230 AI enthusiasts who are as passionate about the future of technology as we are! A massive shoutout to the organisers and sponsors for making this event possible.”

“An amazing and insightful event to meet likeminded developers. The speakers were wonderful and the panel discussion was a highlight.”

Last event of the year. Don’t be the one who hears about it on Monday. 🎤⚡💜

Speakers

The Call for Speakers for Encore and .NET Conf Durban is opening soon! 🎤 Watch this space (and our LinkedIn). When it opens, you’ll find the submission link right here.

🔥 Why Should You Speak?

Share your expertise with 200+ passionate attendees from across the AI, data, and .NET communities
Two audiences in one building: data professionals and .NET developers
Expand your network by connecting with fellow practitioners and community leaders
Contribute to the growth of the local tech community
Elevate your personal brand and thought leadership

We especially encourage new speakers to submit. We provide a safe, welcoming environment to get started, whether your session is a 20-minute lightning talk or a 50-minute deep dive. Nobody was born knowing this stuff. Everyone on our stage started with a first talk.

Sessions

The sessions will appear here as soon as they are confirmed. As mentioned above, this is a full-day event and, in addition to awesome sessions, will give you plenty of time to network with your peers.

Registration

Registration has not yet opened. We’ll update this page as soon as it does.

Fair warning, though: our events keep filling up, and The Maskandi Sessions sold out in under 48 hours. This one is FREE, it’s two events in one, and space is limited, so when registration opens, don’t think about it too long. 🎟️

Agenda

The agenda will appear here as soon as it is confirmed. It will look similar to our previous events:

Registration starting at 08:00, and the event starting at 08:20 sharp
Keynotes and welcome sessions: please try to be there on time
The event ending at approximately 16:30
A mix of 20-minute lightning talks and 50-minute deep dive sessions
The Mains and The Backline (.NET Conf) running side by side
10-minute breaks between sessions, and a lunch break
Our now-legendary panel discussion: bring your toughest questions! 🔥

The agenda is subject to change, and we’ll update it as and when changes occur.

Venue

We are once again back at our favourite venue: Richfield College, Umhlanga Campus!

Figure 3: Richfield College, Umhlanga Campus

Richfield College offers modern lecture theatres, strong Wi-Fi, excellent A/V equipment, and secure parking: everything we need to run two events side by side!

Location Details

Address: Centenary Boulevard, Park Square, 5-9 Park Avenue, Umhlanga

How to get there:

The campus is inside the Park Square complex
Take the elevator in Block C to the first floor, and you’re there!
If you come by car, you enter the parking garage from Centenary Boulevard
Secure parking is available

Get directions to the event

About the Organisers

Azure, AI/ML & Data Community Durban

The Azure, AI/ML & Data Community Durban group is a user group for the community, by the community. It is a learning experience where we share insights, learn together, and encourage the community to leverage Azure, AI/ML, and Data to solve problems.

Our Mission: To empower and create heroes of society through Azure, AI/ML, and Data.

We Do Positive Things through innovation and passion.

MSDUG

MSDUG is a Microsoft technology-focused developer community with monthly meetups and other developer events in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban, and the team behind .NET Conf Community Edition South Africa.

Contact Us

Have questions? Want to speak? Interested in sponsorship?

Contact the organizing team →

One day. Two events. One last set for 2026. 🎤