Datalab co-founder Douglas Day has been recognised as a Snowflake Data Superhero, becoming the first recipient in South Africa and only the second on the African continent.
Douglas was contacted directly by the Snowflake Community team in February 2026, recognising his contribution to growing the Snowflake ecosystem through community leadership, AI Labs, technical blogs, user groups, public speaking, and Snowflake advocacy.
The recognition also reflects Snowflake’s growing community across Africa, with South Africa and Nigeria both represented in the Data Superhero programme in the same year.
Building the Snowflake community in South Africa
Over the past two years, Douglas has helped grow the Snowflake South Africa community from zero to more than 600 members, with monthly events hosted between March and November each year.
The community brings together students, engineers, data leaders, CTOs, CEOs, and technology partners in a safe space for collaboration and learning.
"Building the Snowflake community in South Africa has been a cornerstone for us. I love seeing people come together, grow personally, and hopefully be an inspiration to someone else."
More than technology
Douglas describes the Snowflake Data Superhero programme as the equivalent of being a Snowflake data influencer, but believes the recognition is about more than technology.
"We are passionate about what we do, not just the technology itself. We want to share our experience, share our knowledge, be authentic about helping build a community, and champion change."
Datalab has invested heavily in AI Labs, Snowflake User Groups, training, enablement, and mentoring, with a growing focus on AI engineering, AI SQL, and practical adoption of Snowflake’s AI capabilities.
Giving before receiving
Douglas’ community philosophy is simple: give first.
"You need to give before you can receive. You can’t ask people to engage with you before you’ve given something first. It’s a bit like paying it forward."
Building capability from Africa
Douglas believes South Africa has a major opportunity to become a global delivery hub for data and AI services.
With strong universities, English-speaking talent, technical depth, and alignment to European time zones, South Africa is well positioned to compete internationally while also building capability across the continent.
At the same time, he believes the priority must remain growing local skills, developing the South African economy, and helping Africa become a leader in data and AI delivery.
"Being recognised as a Snowflake Data Superhero is a great feeling. It recognises the effort that goes into building a community."