Sharafdin Yusuf
Sharafdin Yusuf is a self-taught researcher, engineer, and open-source builder whose work sits at the intersection of computing, language, mathematics, and AI.
Independent learning has shaped most of his path. He began programming at 12, became a technology mentor by 16, and created the Somali programming language Soplang at 17.
Since then, he has continued building and contributing to open-source projects across systems programming, developer tools, security, blockchain, infrastructure, and language technology.
Today, his main focus is Somali AI research through Goobo Labs, an open research lab working to build the foundational infrastructure needed for Somali artificial intelligence.
That work spans multiple layers of the Somali computing ecosystem: programming in Somali through Soplang, linguistic infrastructure through the Somali Language Standard, and NLP data through the SomNLP-Corpus.
His broader research interests include natural language processing, low-resource language models, machine learning, and the mathematical foundations behind modern AI.
Outside computing, Sharafdin continues to study mathematics, physics, and astrophysics independently. Mathematics and physics remain at the center of his intellectual interests, the subjects that first pulled him toward learning on his own and continue to shape how he approaches research and engineering.
Core contributions
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Open source
Somali language & AI infrastructure
- Soplang: A programming language designed for Somali speakers.
- Somali Language Standard: An open, machine-readable standard for Somali orthography, grammar, terminology, and AI resources.
- SomNLP-Corpus: An open Somali text corpus for NLP and LLM research.
- hanticoin-go: Blockchain core for Hanticoin, a Proof-of-Stake Layer-1 for payments in Somalia.
- Memvid: A memory layer for AI agents.
- YoAuditor: An LLM-powered code auditor built in Rust.
- Writing: He writes plain-language articles about technology, AI, programming, and science, including on Milicsi.
- Science: Mathematics and physics remain his main scientific interests. He continues studying them independently alongside astrophysics.
- Mentorship: At Goobo Labs, he teaches Python, data science, machine learning, and NLP to Somali learners and developers. Previously, he served as a mentor and director at Dugsiiye, supporting technology education and developer growth.
His long-term focus is helping build the foundations for Somali AI through open datasets, language standards, research, open-source tools, and education.