Dr. Shazia Afzal
I am a Gates Scholar with a PhD in Computer Sciences from the University of Cambridge in Automatic Affect Inference in Learning Environments. In my current research engineering role at QCRI, I collaborate with the research and software engineering teams to help execute technology transfer, drive product innovation, and explore commercialisation pathways.
Tools
Cipherbot: AI-Powered Transformation of Learning
Cipherbot is an AI teaching and learning platform that turns existing course and curriculum materials into AI-generated lesson plans, slides, narrated videos, study guides, and assessments, while giving learners a 24/7 multilingual tutor that answers only from the instructor’s content, with citations back to the source. Built for the full education spectrum—from national ministry deployments to K-12 schools, universities, and corporate training partners—it combines configurable AI pedagogy, early at-risk-student analytics, automated grading, and full LMS integration. Pilot-tested and adopted by institutions across multiple countries—including Qatar, Korea, Australia, Finland, China, Vietnam, and Indonesia—Cipherbot has served over 4,200 active users, including 400+ teachers and 3,000+ students across 800+ classes, all as part of a social-impact initiative bringing safe, citation-backed AI into everyday teaching and learning.