Creating effective AI solutions demands numerous competencies, not just in the development of the algorithms that deliver results, but all the way down to the server infrastructure on which they run. Industry experts share with us how to ensure success with AI solutions.
The need for organisations to make quick decisions from huge volumes of data has made Artificial Intelligence (AI) one of the key focus areas for technology investment for 2021 and beyond. But AI’s rapid rise to prominence has left some organisations in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) struggling to build the capabilities required to implement it successfully.
According to research firm International Data Corporation (IDC), the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region in general is exploring AI and cognitive technologies in multiple use cases across various industry verticals.
Manish Ranjan, Programme Manager, Software and Cloud, IDC Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META), said: “Most of the AI-centric innovation is driven by start-ups which tend to partner with larger organisations to bring their services to the market (e.g. a FinTech start-up focused on chatbots which are being used by some large banks).”
Rajan said the use of AI and cognitive solutions will be primarily driven by organisations’ need to achieve greater customer experience, improve security and bring process automation.
Asif Valley, National Technology Officer, Microsoft South Africa, said the events of 2020 have opened the world’s eyes to Digital Transformation as never before. Valley said despite many people being aware of the term, but not having experienced remote learning, in 2020, working and socialising remotely, has seen people embrace more technology than ever. “Much of this adoption is of technology that has been around for quite a while, but we’re increasingly seeing some advanced services and solutions being spoken about as countries and companies look to emerge from the crisis stronger,” he said.
Valley explained that AI has the potential to create economic growth for every country in MEA and impacts business, government, healthcare, education, the environment and jobs. “We believe that countries and companies need to embrace the opportunity that AI presents – and to actively participate in the technology revolution that is taking place,” he said. “Those that resist the adoption of AI technologies will miss out on new jobs, economic growth and the countless opportunities that AI unlocks. As with technology evolution, there are opportunities and challenges.”
ASIF VALLEY, NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, MICROSOFT SOUTH AFRICA
The events of 2020 have opened the world’s eyes to Digital Transformation as never before. Despite many people being aware of the term, but not having experienced remote learning, in 2020, working and socialising remotely, has seen people embrace more technology than ever. Much of this adoption is of technology that has been around for quite a while, but we’re increasingly seeing some advanced services and solutions being spoken about as countries and companies look to emerge from the crisis stronger. One of these, probably the most prominent, is AI. Advancing AI across the region is as great a priority as it has ever been. Because AI has the potential to solve some of the most pressing challenges that impact the region and drive growth and development in core sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, public services and more, Microsoft has taken a view that there is great value in investing in AI.
The path to unlocking the full potential of AI for CIOs, is using technology to complement human ingenuity, and this will take a continued focus on both skilling and smart tech deployment will be important.
AI has the potential to create economic growth for every country and impacts business, government, healthcare, education, the environment and jobs.
We believe that countries and companies need to embrace the opportunity that AI presents – and to actively participate in the technology revolution that is taking place. Those that resist the adoption of AI technologies will miss out on new jobs, economic growth and the countless opportunities that AI unlocks. As with technology evolution, there are opportunities and challenges.
While the transformational power of AI just beginning to be realised, we are already seeing the impact spanning business, government, education, healthcare and the environment.
An example of the impact AI can make in the Middle East and Africa (MEA), is overcoming one of the most prominent challenges we face – providing food security for citizens. While many farmers still rely on traditional techniques to make a living from the land, there are opportunities to use cutting-edge technology to drive the MEA region towards a food secure future. AI in agriculture is using advanced analytics and Machine Learning to bring centuries-old farming techniques into the modern age, giving farmers the tools to optimise crop yields and mitigate the effects of climate change.
Given that AI is at the heart of Digital Transformation, we believe it will continue to play a critical role in helping businesses be more agile and competitive, as well as in driving business recovery and rebuilding innovative businesses. The path to unlocking the full potential of AI, however, is using the technology to complement human ingenuity.
Companies should focus on ensuring AI is complementing the talents of their people, to drive business value from the technology. AI-leading companies that are combining skilling with AI deployment are cultivating employee skills across every category – ranging from advanced data analysis and critical thinking to communications and creativity.
Companies will see the biggest business benefit from AI when they combine deployment of AI with skilling initiatives that focus on both technology and soft skills.
IAN JASEN VAN RENSBURG, SENIOR SYSTEMS ENGINEER AND LEAD TECHNOLOGIST, VMWARE SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
Wherever you find a software-defined, digital user, there is a good possibility that AI is connected and utilised somewhere. Several technology companies are mobilising to promote the growth of a vibrant AI ecosystem in the Middle East and Africa (MEA). The AI market for MEA region is massive. In Africa, for example, AI can help with a range of the region’s most pervasive problems: reducing poverty and improving education to deliver healthcare and eradicate diseases, addressing sustainability challenges.
Even though CIOs are open to embracing the fast-paced change of technology, for AI to be implemented correctly, several factors are considered. One of these is laws and legal frameworks to support data-driven technologies and innovation-driven growth. With the right mix of policies, CIOs can reap the benefits of AI in the years to come.
The main verticals of focus specific to the MEA market and in particular Africa are: agriculture, health, financial services, government and education.
With AI going beyond searching through historical data to predict future outcomes, businesses can perform complex analyses to discover new ways to achieve desired results. When enlisting AI, firms can improve customer experience, augment employee performance, automate work processes and develop intelligent agents to assist with repetitive business processes. One must ensure that running programs are compatible and integrated with AI requirements, ensuring that the AI tools don’t stop the current output. Computing power is essential to process massive volumes of data to build an AI system and utilise Deep Learning techniques.
For a company to successfully implement AI strategies and programmes, they must-have a base set of data collected and available, while maintaining a constant source of relevant data that ensures AI remains useful in their industry.
If AI collects sensitive data, it might violate several laws, even if the information is not harmless, but rather sensitive, when gathered. Care is to be taken to avoid potential legal issues and adhering to the law at all times.
Given that AI at the heart of driving transformation in a company and with it will come significant changes for many job functions, it’s important for CIOs to factor this in. Many roles across organisations will require at least some use of AI technologies in the coming years. Job roles could include: data scientists, AI/ML developer, Machine Learning engineers, data analyst, natural language processing expert, computer science and ai researcher and software engineering.
AI is impacting the future of every industry, human being and has acted as the primary driver of emerging technologies like Big Data, robotics and IoT. With the growing usage of AI across MEA in various vertical, AI will continue to work as a technological innovator for the foreseeable future in the region.
MANISH RANJAN, PROGRAMME MANAGER, SOFTWARE AND CLOUD, IDC MIDDLE EAST, TURKEY AND AFRICA (META)
The Middle East and Africa (MEA) region in general is exploring AI and cognitive technologies in multiple use cases across various industry verticals. Most of the AI-centric innovation is driven by start-ups which tend to partner with larger organisations to bring their services to the market (e.g. a FinTech start-up focused on chatbots which are being used by some large banks). The use of AI and cognitive solutions will be primarily driven by organisations’ need to achieve greater customer experience, improve security and bring process automation. The MEA region has multiple initiatives aiming to ramp up AI specific skill, and various use cases. Governments are also playing a key role by outlining AI strategies, establishing partnerships with global technology providers and upskilling local talent.
That being the case, government, banking and finance, retail, telecommunications, manufacturing, healthcare and transportation are key industries leading the AI adoption in MEA. However, the fastest adoption is within education, professional services, media and banking industries.
For example,South Africa leads the AI adoption and remains a key market and the largest within Africa which is expected to reach US$128 million in 2021, according to IDC’s latest AI Spending Guide released in August 2020. The country has witnessed some new entrants within the AI space and a number of partnerships and collaborations to further accelerate the AI adoption. Countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Ethiopia are also progressing in their AI journey which is further boosted by the on-going investments from global companies and increasing government initiatives. For example, Google’s AI lab in Ghana, Ethiopia’s AI research and development (R&D) centre and expansion of AI and digital skill programmes by Microsoft and IBM across Africa will further position these African countries ahead of others.
It comes as no surprise that enterprises are accelerating business growth in MEA asAI feeds into the data which becomes an integral part of any organisation’s AI journey. Organisations are embedding AI and Machine Learning algorithms with their analytics solutions to not only clean the huge amounts of data from various data sources, data lakes, data warehouse and social platforms, but also to translate this raw data (both structured and un-structured data) into insights on how to tackle challenges and achieve business priorities. Using AI and analytics, organisations can turn this data into actionable insights that will empower them with data driven decisions and transforming them to a digital enterprise.
The topmost use cases of AI in the MEA market are automated customer service agents, fraud analysis and investigation, IT automation, automated threat intelligence and prevention systems, sales process recommendation and automation. In a more generic terms, the adoption of digital assistants (or digital advisor) within various line of businesses and across multiple industries are on the rise in the region.
