South Africa’s very own virtual influencer, Kim Zulu is set to host Google’s AI in Action Africa event, in Nigeria on Thursday.
Created by The Avatar Company, Zulu is SA’s first virtual influencer and has been making international headlines since her debut in 2019. Virtual influencers are computer-generated characters that resemble humans and interact with audiences on social media.
Founder of The Avatar Company and Zulu's manager Lebo Kambule says the influencer is making ground-breaking strides as she adds event hosting to her list of accomplishments. She has already taken part in successful campaigns with global brands such as Puma and Mini.
Her new role is believed to be the first example of an AI influencer hosting an event.
“Zulu’s influence, and hosting capabilities using AI, has now drawn the attention of Google – and the first-of-its-kind role will demonstrate how AI Influencers can be used to bring innovation to events like AI In Action,” says Kambule.
“We’ve seen them appear in advertising campaigns, but hosting is a totally new avenue and we’re incredibly excited that Kim is pioneering the space. There are significant benefits to using AI influencers to host events, from lower costs and tailored messaging, to fast turnaround of content and no geographical or language barriers.”
There has been a surge of enquiries for Zulu to host events in recent months, with companies wanting to pull off a genuine ‘first’, and do something cool and innovative.
“I think hosting is going to become a big trend for AI Influencers,” says Kambule.
This will be Zulu’s first brand partnership since joining the world’s first talent management agency dedicated to AI Influencers called Pixelagency.ai.
Founder and CEO of Pixelagency.ai, Lewis Davey, comments: “Through some big projects this year, we have been providing advice and support to a handful of leading AI influencers, so Pixelagency.ai was born from that. We’ve already got some big names signed up to the agency, and to have Africa’s biggest AI influencer on our books in Kim Zulu is really exciting."
Davey says AI Influencers are becoming more mainstream and Pixelagency.ai helps brands connect and collaborate with them.
"There’s still an education job to be done with brands around their capabilities and we’re able to use our experience to take on that work, instead of the teams’ behind the AI influencer. It’s a very exciting space right now,” he says.
The creator economy has exploded in the past 12 months. According to a recent report by The Influencer Marketing Factory the influencer marketing industry alone was valued at approximately $21.1 billion at the end of 2023, with hundreds of new social start-ups bringing the total creator economy value to over $104.2 billion.
Kambule believes AI hosting will emerge as a hot trend in the AI influencer space this year, with Zulu at the forefront of the evolution.
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