Roads · Sentinel AI
RoadScout AI
Road-condition surveys from ordinary vehicles, scored kilometre by kilometre with computer vision.
01 · AI engineering2010 – todayFounder
Hashtag AI Labs
The lab where it started. Intelligent platforms, automation and data systems for global brands.
Founded in 2010, Hashtag AI Labs builds AI-first platforms, machine-learning pipelines, computer vision and enterprise automation, with work delivered across South Africa, the United States, Europe, Brazil and Australia. It is also where Raphael's own products are incubated, including WeatherRanger and Loqui.
Work delivered for
FNB
15+
years
5
regions served
[N]+
projects delivered
02 · Mining & heavy industry2019 – todayCo-founder & CTO
Sentinel AI
Mining still fights dust with a garden hose. Sentinel AI turns it into evidence.
Built on Raphael's patented technology (ZA 2021/10088, granted 2023; WO 2020/250007), Sentinel AI senses dust, silica and road condition from the vehicles already driving the mine, writes every reading into a ledger, and proves the result to regulators. Deployed in South Africa and Australia, expanding into the Middle East and Europe.
Sense
DustScout
Patented, vehicle-mounted dust and silica intelligence on every truck.
See
RoadScout AI
Computer vision that reads every metre of haul road and municipal network.
Assist
VoltScout AI
An AI co-pilot for testing, commissioning and repair of HV/LV electrical assets.
Act
Mitigation chemistry
DustGuard, SoilSafe and SurfaceShield: biodegradable suppression, applied where the ledger says.
Reports operators receive: dust load (E, S) · exposure risk (S) · surface deformation (E, G) · corrugation index (E, G) · road gradient (E) · road surface temperature (E) · compliance file (G)
03 · Health & buildings2020 – todayCo-founder & CTO
SensusAir
Making the air visible, for the schools, clinics and offices that breathe it.
Born in the pandemic, SensusAir's AirVue sensors and platform turn particulates, CO₂, VOCs, temperature and humidity into viral-risk, mould-risk and ventilation reports that facility and infection-prevention teams act on.
United States
South Africa
United Kingdom
Australia
Philippines
UAE · next
Viral riskMould riskBacterial riskAir exchangeRoom occupancyTrend analyserEnvironment DNAHealth impact assessmentCustom reports
Award 2025
GHP Innovation Excellence Award
Award 2025
Best Environmental Risk Management & Disease Prevention, USA
04 · Financial infrastructure2015 – todayEngineering & architecture lead
FinTech Ledger
The ledger beneath one of Africa's largest remittance networks, used by more than 20 million people.
Raphael architected the platform's ledger from the ground up: a highly available, fault-tolerant system that underpins every transaction flow across digital and cash services in Africa, Europe and Asia. He moved it from a monolith to microservices and event-driven design, and led distributed engineering teams across several countries.
70+
countries whose transactions run through the ledger Raphael designed
Immutablenothing overwritten
Event-drivenmicroservices
20M+people served
More from the workshop
Products, platforms and causes
Each one applies the same idea to a new problem: measure it properly, keep the record, act on the pattern.
Twenty years, one thread
2006
First code at Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro
2010
Founds Hashtag AI Labs
2015
SWIFT Innotribe Semi-Finalist; begins the FinTech ledger
2019
Co-founds Sentinel AI; DustScout patent filed
2020
Co-founds SensusAir; The Ledger Method; BAS
2025
Two international awards; When Air Becomes Data
2026
Innovation Excellence Award; RoadScout, FleetScout, EasyESG