Nazia Pillay, Managing Director: Southern Africa at SAP, said South African organisations are facing a turning point. “The convergence of data, cloud, and AI technologies presents an extraordinary opportunity to rethink how we operate, innovate, and grow. By combining new thinking with AI-enabled skills the latest technologies, companies across the region can unlock a new era of accelerated growth and innovation.”

Tech skills development has received renewed attention in recent times as companies rush to attract skilled workers that can unlock the potential of AI and other technologies in their businesses. Research conducted by SAP found that nine in ten African organisations are already experiencing negative impacts from a lack of AI skills, with consequences ranging from failed innovation initiatives and delayed implementations to an inability to take on new work. “This digital shift is empowering organisations to make faster, data-driven decisions, close the skills gap, and build more resilient, future-ready enterprises. We must equip our workforce with the right skills to fully harness the potential of these emerging technologies” added Genni Barnes, SAP Solution Architect at Nedbank.

Keynote speaker Professor Bonang Mohale, Chancellor of the University of the Free State and Chairperson of several large South African companies, believes South Africa’s success in the digital age depends on the country’s ability to lead with clarity and act with urgency. “Innovation is a necessity for national competitiveness. Collectively, we must ensure we’re not just adopting global technologies but adapting them to our unique context to create lasting value for our businesses, our people, and our economy.”

The comments were made at SAP Business Suite Innovation Day, part of a global event series that provide an exclusive introduction to SAP’s latest cloud applications and data-driven AI innovations, including SAP Business Data Cloud and SAP Business AI. The event brought together customers, partners and innovators for wide-ranging discussions around best practices, learnings and insights for how AI can be embedded across businesses, powered by curated, contextual, and connected data

Stef De Mulder, Chief Revenue Officer for SAP Business Data Cloud & SAP Business AI, EMEA at SAP, said new advances in how organisations collect, manage and empower data is unlocking vast opportunities for AI-enabled growth and innovation. “By breaking down data silos and allowing businesses to govern and connect all their data, our new AI and data solutions provide real-time, context-rich insights to businesses where they need it most. With AI orchestration and seamless integration with platforms like Databricks, organisations can boost productivity, modernise their data landscape, and accelerate the development of intelligent applications that deliver measurable impact.”

According to Glazelle Pohl, Group IT Manager: Solution Delivery & PMO (product management office) at ABF Sugar, “many enterprises are rapidly embracing cloud computing, data analytics, and AI to reimagine how they operate, innovate, and expand. These technologies assist in unlocking new levels of productivity and efficiency but also allow access to entirely new business models and sustainable practices in the long term.”

Pillay adds that companies globally are increasingly adopting a clean core strategy, which SAP sees as a critical enabler for long-term innovation, agility, and cost efficiency. “The clean core approach is key to simplifying the enterprise landscape and ensuring companies can rapidly adopt new innovations with minimal disruption. It’s the foundation that allows AI, cloud and data solutions to deliver full value across every line of business.”

Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of SAP Africa.