Business success takes centre stage at Qlik’s Joburg AI Reality Tour

Tejas Mehta, senior VP and GM for Middle East and Africa at Qlik.

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Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to be one of the most talked about, dominant technology trends for 2024. Most businesses want to take advantage of its capabilities at some level, but do they have what it takes to actually make it work?

One of the first steps towards AI success is ensuring that your business has a solid data foundation. This is according to Tejas Mehta, newly appointed Senior Vice-President and General Manager, Middle East and Africa at Qlik, which positions itself as a global leader in data integration, analytics and AI. Mehta will be the keynote speaker at the organisation’s upcoming ‘AI Reality Tour’ in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The free-to-attend event is set to take place at the Indaba Hotel and Conference Centre, in Fourways, on 17 September 2024, from 8am to 3pm.

“The explosive rise of AI has prompted incredible excitement about its transformative potential, akin only to the rise of the internet,” Mehta explains.“But simply put, there is no AI without data – it’s all about the data. However, it has to be the right data. What this means is that your AI journey should start with getting your ‘data house’ in order.

“At Qlik, we believe that wherever there is data, there is opportunity. Empowering your business to revolutionise data handling will allow it to embrace the power of AI, trust the insights and embark on a journey to success.”

Mehta, who has successfully led large, cross-functional teams across multiple regions including Africa, and has a deep understanding of AI, data integration and analytics, will be joined by Qlik Chief Strategy Officer, James Fisher, to take ‘AI Reality Tour’ attendees through Qlik's strategic direction and product vision in the age of GenAI.

Qlik Chief Strategy Officer, James Fisher.

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Fisher will also unveil the latest Qlik product and strategy roadmap, with hands-on demos of the latest features showcasing practical applications and how these advancements can be leveraged for enhanced data analytics and AI-driven insights.

A highlight of the event will be a presentation from Mary-Anne Botha, BI Manager at Retailability, a South African-based group of retail brands, including Edgars and Boardmans, one of several customer success stories to be discussed on the day.

The Durban-based business today has more than 600 stores across southern Africa, including South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland.

Botha will talk about the company’s 10-year relationship with Qlik and its local partner, Insight Consulting, touching on Retailability’s data journey with Qlik, which has seen the organisation through its acquisitions of LEGiT in 2017, the 91-year-old Edgars chain in late 2020, and children's clothing brand Keedo last year.

“Retailability has been using Qlik solutions for analytics and automated reporting since 2014, when the business encompassed just two brands, Style and Beaver Canoe,” she explains. “However, even greater value came into play when the organisation grew due to its purchases of LEGiT and, particularly, Edgars, when our data suddenly tripled in 2020.

“Pulling through the data from the new brands was certainly easier because of the secure foundational data building blocks that we already had in place with Qlik, allowing us to ensure that we have access to one version of the truth, which is clean, secure and governed. Qlik Data Integration has enabled us to speed up our AI journey.

“Successful AI is most certainly tied to having the right data, from the right sources, in the right place. Retailability is eager to discover Qlik’s new AI options at the AI Reality Tour.”

For more information on the upcoming AI Reality Tour, and to register to attend, please click here.