Dr. Viroshan Naicker is Co-Founder and CEO of Refiant AI, a South African-founded startup pioneering nature-inspired AI model compression to make artificial intelligence dramatically more energy-efficient and accessible.

Viroshan holds a PhD in networks and studied theoretical and mathematical physics, later completing a certificate of advanced mathematics at Cambridge, with a career spanning blockchain, fintech, insurance, and quantum systems research.

A mathematician with published research in networks and quantum systems, Viroshan previously co-founded Plural, a Web3 insurance venture, demonstrating a track record of applying deep mathematical thinking to emerging technology sectors.

At Refiant, Viroshan leads a world-class team including a former Google Cloud architect, a Cambridge PhD researcher, and an engineer with NASA experience, securing a $5M seed round led by climate tech fund VoLo Earth Ventures.

Refiant has demonstrated it can compress a 120-billion-parameter AI model to run on a standard laptop with just 12GB of RAM, retaining 95-99% fidelity while reducing energy requirements by over 80%.