The issue of adopting generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has not only dominated the boardroom at CIO level; African CEOs also see this technology as a useful tool in the business environment.
However, the ethical implementation of GenAI is a paramount priority, says Ignatius Sehoole,chairman and CEO of KPMG in Africa.
Sehoole spoke at the briefing to unpack the findings of KPMG’s 2024 CEO Outlook Survey – Africa, the inaugural edition focusing on the African continent.
Coming off the back of the Global KPMG CEO Outlook Survey, the Africa CEO Outlook engaged more than 130 CEOs and business leaders across Southern, East and West Africa, to gain insights into the opportunities and challenges their organisations face.
It focused on key areas, including geopolitics; economic outlook; technology and GenAI; talent and return-to-office; and environmental, social and governance issues.
The rapid advancement of GenAI has brought ethical challenges to the forefront. These encompass bias in algorithms, privacy infringements, misinformation and deep fakes, with linguistic diversity in AI-based tools increasingly being called into question.
According to KPMG, in 2024, the prominence of GenAI is positioned as one of the top priorities to get right as a cutting-edge investment by CEOs.
KPMG found that 54% of surveyed African CEOs are backing substantial investments in GenAI as a strategy to cope with volatile economic trends. Globally, 65% of CEOs express readiness to invest in AI regardless of the economic climate in 2024.
However, 77% of CEOs across Africa highlight ethical dilemmas as some of the toughest challenges in adopting AI within their enterprises, up from 57% in 2023.
Further, inadequate technical proficiency (60%) and a regulatory void (56%) add layers of complexity, say the KPMG findings.
Even though there has been much talk about AI and job losses, job redundancy isn’t a primary concern for most African CEOs when it comes to implementing GenAI.
“GenAI comes as a useful tool for CEOs in running businesses. However, one mustn’t forget that we live in the same environment as the crooks and fraudsters…they also have access to this technology,” said Sehoole.
“They are scamming people left, right and centre without GenAI; can you imagine how much more powerful they’ll be [with it].”
Sehoole stressed that the GenAI train has left the station, so business leaders need to run fast to catch it, despite some uncertainties.
Martin Kimani, associate director at KPMG in East Africa, said in terms of approach and readiness to implement AI in the workplace, 73% of CEOs think their leadership team understands how GenAI will shake-up existing business models, providing opportunities for a competitive-edge in their organisations.
A majority of CEOs hold diverse opinions about the readiness for actively deploying GenAI, with 81% of CEOs in Africa believing it does not pose a major risk to headcount, but necessitates upskilling and resource allocation to the workforce.
Furthermore, Kimani said the next three years offer a clear use of GenAI across the value chain, with 78% of Africa’s CEOs recognising its potential in the ICT function, significantly higher than the global CEOs, at 68%.
“As GenAI evolves, cyber security and preparedness strategies are an additional, ongoing concern, which may pose a challenge in the efforts and adoption of GenAI.
“Only 43% of Africa’s CEOs believe they have access to adequate cyber security talent and solutions to combat AI-specific threats, compared to 50% worldwide.
“AI models have the potential to transform businesses and everyday life profoundly. The state of readiness in organisations for impending cyber attacks is low. Fostering a cyber security-centric culture is crucial to how AI is incorporated into these businesses. We need to ensure this technology is applied safely and securely.”
No WFH?
While there’s been a shift to remote working over the past three years, CEOs have consistently held the view of a full-time return to office post-pandemic.
According to KPMG, this view has been increasing yearly, with 86% of CEOs in Africa in agreement, which is mirrored across all three regions.
The finding is in line with global CEOs, where the number has increased from 64% to 83% in the past 12 months. Flexibility as an employee value proposition is also an important factor.
African and global CEOs are placing more investment in new technology, rather than upskilling their workforce. At least 61% of the surveyed African CEOs agree with this, higher than 59% of the global CEOs.
“With 89% of African CEOs highlighting the impact of an aging workforce, it is critical that the younger talent pool is nurtured and developed to minimise the negative impact this could have on the sustainability of organisations.
“Despite differing concerns on the impact of the aging workforce, retiring employees is a reality each year, and if unmanaged, will no doubt create an enormous talent risk for any organisation,” says Dr Candice Hartley, head of people at KPMG in Africa.
Sehoole said CEOs expressed concerns around finding people with the right skills to replace the retiring workforce.
This is a further concern because it is happening on a continent where a lot of young people have degrees but remain unemployed, he stated. “This is where we have a skills mismatch, so we really need to do something about that.
“The continent has the youngest population; we need to educate them because when we don’t give them opportunities, we lose them to the global west.
“We need to make sure the people in the villages are not left behind by the GenAI trade, like many trades have left them before.”
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