Speaking at the event, , Chief Business Officer for EMEA, Â鶹ԭ´´, said businesses today operate in an environment characterised by volatility and uncertainty, with unpredictability exerting significant pressure on revenue, profit margins and supply chains.

Hype for AI’s transformative potential

Interest in artificial intelligence (AI) is at an all-time high. The global AI market is expected to grow from $184-billion in 2024 .

In her opening remarks, Â鶹ԭ´´ Southern Africa Managing Director, commented: “The vital question for African enterprises is: how can we transition from merely keeping the lights on to building a competitive edge, despite economic headwinds? The answer: by investing in continuous innovation that leverages technologies such as AI and cloud, organisations can drive sustainable business growth, optimise and connect end-to-end processes, leverage data for valuable insights, and stay ahead of competitors.â€�

Makhohliso says the excitement for AI among African enterprises stems from its potential transformative impact on all industries. “Business AI is gaining traction throughout the continent thanks to a growing list of practical applications that help companies solve challenges, accelerate innovation and drive greater efficiency. With the support of a vibrant ecosystem of expert partners and the growing maturity of cloud and business AI solutions, African enterprises can then supercharge their innovation efforts like never before.�

Innovation key to survival & success

According to Bertrin Pekeur, Â鶹ԭ´´ Business Group Lead at , the challenging global economy, inflationary pressures, and depressed revenues have put African enterprises under significant pressure. “As a result, enterprises are turning their focus to how technologies such as AI and cloud can help them overcome challenges and increase the rate of innovation. The rapid adoption of AI is creating unprecedented opportunities in digital literacy, the creation of new products, improvements to services and greater productivity. This is helping African organisations transform how they do business, how they interact with their employees, and how they engage with customers.â€�

Innovation has become essential to the survival of businesses as the accelerating impact of disruptive forces such as technology, climate change, geopolitical upheaval and economic headwinds lead to constrained growth and uncertainty. According to Accenture Technology Vision, 93% of executives agree that, with rapid technological advancements, it is more important than ever for organisation to innovate with purpose.

, Senior Manager: Solution Consulting at , added that innovation unlocks a world of possibilities for African enterprises and allows them to compete on the global stage. “Africa typically doesn’t have access to the same resources as more developed markets and often lags in its adoption of new technologies. Enter innovation, which levels the playing field. From agriculture to healthcare, technology-driven innovation is not only solving challenges unique to Africa, but delivering solutions that can be exported to the rest of the world.�

Cloud, clean core driving AI value

Makhohliso notes the vital role that digital transformation and cloud adoption plays to enable enterprises to unlock the full benefits of their AI investments. “Organisations that improve and automate their business processes in the cloud and achieve a clean core can more easily draw on a single source of truth for their business data. This enhances the value they generate from their business AI deployments by ensuring all AI outcomes are based on accurate, real-time business data from across the enterprise, enabling organisations to drive limitless innovation, efficiency and growth.�

She added that Â鶹ԭ´´ customers have an edge over their peers in their AI efforts. “Companies that leverage integrated with our have a strong foundation for AI-driven innovation. By following global best practices and drawing on the expertise and skills of our vibrant partner ecosystem, African enterprises can accelerate their AI-driven efficiency and automation gains while unlocking new capabilities that will support their success for years to come.â€�

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African organisations are benefiting from a vibrant partner ecosystem and a range of new initiatives aimed at easing the process of adopting the latest cloud technologies.

According to Nazia Pillay, Partner Head at Â鶹ԭ´´ Africa, modern organisations have a universal need to leverage technology for innovation and efficiency in order to protect against disruption from existing competitors and innovative start-ups. “More than half of all organisations that were featured in the Fortune 500 in 2000 . Today’s organisations are in a race to acquire intelligent enterprise capabilities that enable them to achieve greater efficiency, boost profit margins, grow revenue and future-proof the business.”

As recent disruptive events including the pandemic and the ongoing economic instability over the past years have illustrated, companies that embrace technology are better positioned to adapt to changes in their operating environment, and to take advantage of emerging opportunities.

New solutions, partner ecosystem ease cloud adoption

According to Pillay, one of the main obstacles to greater cloud adoption among larger enterprises is the difficulty of migrating on-premise business processes to a cloud environment. “Cloud migrations can create risks as business processes that were formerly run on-premise do not always translate to cloud environments easily. That’s one of the reasons why services such as RISE with Â鶹ԭ´´ are gaining traction: it provides a workable model for enterprises to move core business processes to the cloud, tailored to their IT landscape and business needs.”

Â鶹ԭ´´’s partner ecosystem plays a leading role in supporting organisations in their efforts at digital transformation and cloud adoption. Andrew Strachan, Head of Sales: Business Applications at Dimension Data, says: “One of the biggest questions Â鶹ԭ´´ customers ask us is how they can move their existing on-premise ERP processes into Â鶹ԭ´´ S/4HANA in the cloud, preferably within the RISE program. We help clients adopt and embrace the latest Â鶹ԭ´´ technologies and bring their core processes into the cloud, both in the public and private cloud environments.”

ERP capabilities extend to mid-market

Pillay notes that powerful ERP capabilities are no longer the reserve of large enterprises, with mid-market companies increasingly adopting ERP platforms to power their core business processes. “A scalable ERP system is essential to the long-term success of fast-growing mid-market businesses. Cloud ERP in particular gives companies cost-effective access to powerful capabilities that can improve decision-making, accelerate innovation and enable the rapid integration of new technologies.”

Launched globally in March this year, Â鶹ԭ´´ GROW is a new offering that eases the implementation and adoption of cloud-based enterprise resource planning software for midsize companies. The offering includes Â鶹ԭ´´ S/4HANA Cloud public edition, the Business Technology Platform, industry best practices and access to a thriving partner ecosystem to enable and accelerate innovation.

Thriving partner ecosystem supporting digital transformation

“Our partner ecosystem is essential to our ability to support African organisation in their digital transformation and cloud adoption efforts,” says Pillay. “Through a thriving network of expert partners, African organisations can confidently acquire new capabilities in the cloud knowing they can leverage the support and expertise of our partners.”

Bertrin Pekeur, Â鶹ԭ´´ Lead at Accenture, says: “We believe every business is a digital business, and the safest way to get there is through cloud adoption. Cloud solutions are not provided by one single partner, so collaboration among partner organisations is essential to successful cloud implementations for African organisations.”

Pillay adds: “The combination of partner support, expertise and best-practices ease the adoption of new technologies and allows organisations to focus on innovation and efficiency. This holds the potential to accelerate the digital transformation of African enterprises and support them in their efforts at becoming intelligent enterprises.�

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