On 28 October, HostAfrica joined the fine folks at ZATech for another evening of Clawd & Claws, a developer meetup celebrating the exciting things people are building with AI.
You might expect an event like this to involve long-winded tech demos, diving deep into code, and discussing things that frankly go a little over the heads of those of us battling failed compilations. Not quite.
This was all about developers showcasing their latest projects in lightning-fast five-minute slots. No lengthy presentations. No corporate sales pitches.
Just people building interesting things, sharing ideas and occasionally making AI do something completely unexpected. Naturally, pizza and beverages were included, with plenty to talk about.
From Show and Tell to Show, Tell and Share
One of the exciting things about AI-assisted development is how quickly an idea can become something you can actually use.
We kicked things off by showcasing our newly released HCode, a South African alternative to Vercel, with local infrastructure and pricing in rands.
HCode makes deployment simple, so you can spend less time wrestling with hosting and more time building exciting things.
Attendees could scan a QR code and submit ideas for applications to build, with working prototypes created in real time.
We saw everything from a tower-building game to a movie tracker, along with a particularly entertaining misunderstanding involving a green robot tracker.
It seems Claude hasn't quite received its South African dictionary yet. The idea was to track green traffic lights, not actual green robots! All of this, running on HCode.
Cars, Fuel Tracking and a Compass. Obviously.
Next up was an impressive live demonstration of a fuel-tracking application. However, simply tracking fuel consumption wasn't quite enough for this developer.
Why stop at fuel efficiency when you can track just about everything else?
The demonstration expanded into a dashboard featuring geographical data and a compass. Because when you're monitoring fuel consumption, you obviously need to know which direction you're facing while passing a rock formation.
It was a great example of how a practical application can grow into something much more interesting when developers start experimenting.
The evening continued with a wonderfully varied collection of projects, including bird-tracking apps, data visualisations and even a voxel-art fighter-jet game.
I'll be keeping an eye on Steam for its release so I can finally live out my wildest Top Gun dreams.
And I can't forget one of my personal favourites from a previous display: an AI music generator that cheerfully (or perhaps morbidly) produced a song titled How Monday Morning Sounds.
If you've ever experienced a Monday morning, you'll understand why that deserves a special mention.
Is AI Changing Development? Absolutely.
Beyond the demonstrations, the evening offered an opportunity to discuss the changing role of developers in an AI-assisted world.
The takeaway? Development isn't going away. The way developers work is changing.
AI coding assistants make it possible to move faster, experiment more freely and turn ideas into prototypes that might previously have taken considerably more time.
Developers can spend less time on routine tasks and more time thinking about the bigger picture: what they're building, why it matters and how to make it better.
The focus is shifting from simply writing code to guiding AI tools, overseeing projects and solving problems.
Great People, Great Projects and a Little Too Much Pizza
A developer meetup wouldn't be complete without the opportunity to chat with fellow enthusiasts.
After the demonstrations, everyone gathered over pizza and drinks to discuss the projects, exchange ideas and learn more about what others were working on.
That's what makes events like Clawd & Claws so valuable.
You don't just see what people are building; you get a glimpse into how they're thinking, experimenting and approaching problems in new ways. And you leave with a few more ideas of your own.
HostAfrica was proud to sponsor the event and help bring the local tech community together for another entertaining and inspiring evening.
Have an AI Project That Needs a Home?
Whether you're building your first side project, experimenting with an AI coding assistant, developing a corporate application, or creating something a little more unusual, we'd love to see what you're working on.
When you're ready to put it online, give HCode a look.
Because the next big idea might start with a simple prompt, a five-minute experiment or a slightly confused green robot.
Build something interesting. Then give it a home.
Explore HCode and keep an eye on ZATech's upcoming events for the next Clawd & Claws meetup.
