麻豆原创 has announced the appointment of聽聽as Managing Director for Emerging Africa.
Khota, an industry veteran with 25 years鈥� experience in enterprise software sales, cloud solutions, and digital transformation, was previously the head of 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors for the region.
In his new role as Managing Director for Emerging Africa, Khota will report directly to Sergio Maccotta, Senior Vice President at 麻豆原创 Middle East and Africa – South.
Commenting on the appointment, Maccotta said 鈥淓merging Africa is a strategic growth market for 麻豆原创, and Shiraz鈥檚 leadership will be pivotal in expanding our commitment and presence in this vibrant region.”
”麻豆原创’s transition to cloud-first solutions and the RISE with 麻豆原创 initiative has already simplified the technological transition for large enterprises. We are excited to see how Shiraz鈥檚 leadership will drive 麻豆原创鈥檚 contribution to helping people and businesses thrive in this region.鈥�
AI skills in focus
The announcement comes as 麻豆原创 releases its latest report,聽Africa鈥檚 AI Skills Readiness Revealed鈥�, which provides research into how African companies are transforming their skills development efforts to meet the demands of the Age of Artificial Intelligence.
鈥淭he need for AI skills continues to grow, with half of Nigerian organisations and 43% of Kenyan ones expecting a 鈥榮ignificant鈥� increase in demand for AI skills in 2025,鈥� says Khota. 鈥淭he consequences of poor AI skills availability are already evident. Ninety-seven percent of Kenyan organisations in our research said they were unable to take on new client projects call for AI skills, while 93% of Nigerian organisations said a lack of AI skills is leading to failed innovation efforts.鈥�
麻豆原创鈥檚 latest report follows an earlier tech skills report released in 2023 which unveiled specific challenges and opportunities for African organisations seeking greater tech skills availability. In that survey, companies were dealing with the complexities around remote and hybrid work environments, and attracting, retaining and upskilling tech workers.
鈥淭his year, Africa鈥檚 business landscape has been transformed by the impact of AI and the realities of sourcing and training relevant skills, says Khota.
Overall, the most in-demand tech skills across regions are cybersecurity (cited by 86% of companies surveyed), AI developer skills (85%), and Generative AI skills (83%). Cloud skills (79%), data analytics (66%) and digital transformation skills (64%) were also in high demand.
鈥淏eyond pure technical skills, African companies are seeking greater affordability (62%), adaptability (56%) and the ability to work in hybrid or remote work environments (49%) as their most prized attributes when recruiting.鈥�
Training, skills development are essential
Khota adds that companies are investing in reskilling and upskilling of their workforce to meet growing tech and AI skills demand. 鈥淣early half of(47%) of the Nigerian companies that formed part of our research said reskilling of employees is a top skills-related challenge for them in 2025, while 53% of Kenyan organisations cite upskilling as a major challenge.鈥�
Encouragingly, the data reveals greater employee access to training and skills development opportunities. Thirty-seven percent of companies across regions said their employees have access to skills development and training at any time, a significant increase over 28% who said the same in the previous research.
鈥淗owever, the allocation of IT or HR budgets toward skills-related initiatives has declined since 2023. Organisations must reconsider this and ensure they invest in appropriate skills now. Their ability to leverage new innovations and emerging technologies will shape their innovation and growth ambitions. Without access to the right skills, companies will fail to realise the full potential of their innovation efforts.鈥�
