مستقبل من؟ WHOSE FUTURE?

A North–South Dialogue on AI, Power, and Possibility

A Collaborative Intellectual Podcast Series

Proposed by Maha Jouini & Dr. Julia StammPart of The HIKMA Dialogues

The Concept: Whose Future? Our Future

We are living through a defining technological turning point. But behind the promises of innovation lies a critical, unanswered question: Who gets to imagine, design, govern, and benefit from our technological future?

Whose Future? Our Future is a collaborative intellectual podcast series that bridges perspectives from the Global South and the Global North to confront the power dynamics shaping the artificial intelligence age.

Co-hosted by Maha Jouini and Dr. Julia Stamm, the series creates an uncompromising space for genuine North–South exchange. Rather than treating regions as monolithic blocs, we explore the deep histories, structural inequalities, daily tensions, and untapped possibilities that define our interconnected world.

The Questions We Tackle

  1. Infrastructure & Power

    Who owns the critical AI infrastructure, compute power, and data?

  2. Knowledge & Representation

    Whose cultural epistemologies are embedded in AI systems—and whose languages remain invisible?

  3. Governance

    Who defines what constitutes "responsible" or "safe" AI, and can global governance be truly global while power remains concentrated?

  4. Geopolitics

    What would a genuinely equitable relationship between Africa, Europe, and other global regions actually look like?

  5. The Human Horizon

    What is the future we want to build—together—across geographies, sectors, and generations?

Maha Jouini

Founder · Project Lead & AI Ethics and Governance Lead
  Maha Jouini is a multilingual AI ethics researcher, policy consultant with over a decade of experience in inclusive technology governance across Africa and Europe. She holds an MSc in Applied Technology and Artificial Intelligence and serves as AI & Gender Fellow at the Global Center on AI Governance, as well as Regional Supervisor for the MENA and Africa regions at the Global Index on Responsible AI (GRAI). She is also a proud recipient of the She Shapes AI Award in Thought Leadership, a recognition that affirms her standing as one of the most influential voices in ethical and inclusive AI on the global stage. As Project Lead, Maha provides the overall strategic vision and leadership for Chifaa, driving the initiative from concept through to implementation. She simultaneously leads the design of Chifaa's Responsible AI framework encompassing the survivor governance model, bias audit methodology, and community consent architecture ensuring that every layer of the platform is built with accountability, inclusivity, and cultural sensitivity at its core. What makes Maha's contribution uniquely powerful is her profound technical expertise. She brings an irreplaceable perspective to the project's design philosophy, ensuring that Chifaa speaks authentically to the women it serves. Her ethical framework is grounded in UNESCO's Recommendation on the Ethics of AI and aligned with emerging responsible AI principles across the African and MENA regions. Maha embodies what Chifaa stands for a belief that technology, when designed with and for those it serves, can be a genuine force for health equity and human dignity.
Dr. Julia Stamm

Dr. Julia Stamm PARTNER & ADVISOR — GLOBAL DIALOGUE, IMPACT, ENTREPRENEURSHIP & AI Founder and CEO

Dr. Julia Stamm PARTNER & ADVISOR — GLOBAL DIALOGUE, IMPACT, ENTREPRENEURSHIP & AI Founder and CEO of She Shapes AI. Has built four impact organisations from the ground up and worked across European and international policy environments, including the European Commission and G20-related policy work. At HIKMA, she advises on societal impact, responsible innovation and inclusive collaboration in AI, and co-leads "Whose Future? — Our Future" with Maha Jouini.