By: Dr Bongani Andy Mabaso - Chief Technology Officer, Altron 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to dominate strategic agendas, but for organisations across the African continent and particularly in South Africa, the challenge isn't access to tools; it's turning potential into practical, while creating lasting positive impact through how people are empowered by AI. 

This isn't a technology problem. It's a leadership problem. Businesses aren't struggling to find AI platforms; they're struggling to help their people see AI as a powerful tool and create cultures where using that tool to solve problems becomes second nature. Too often, they ask, "How do we adopt AI?" when the question should be "How do we empower our people to become AI-native?" 

That shift in thinking changes everything. 

Becoming AI-native starts with people-first leadership 

AI-native organisations aren't defined by the technology they use; they're defined by how they lead their people through transformation. This isn't about deploying tools; it's about building the mindset and organisational culture that allows humans to thrive, empowered by AI. 

Employees across your business are already experimenting with AI, often quietly and informally. The shift is already underway. Leaders who empower their teams, create psychological safety for experimentation, and who model how to collaborate through AI, will turn the concept of AI from something abstract into something practical so that it becomes embedded into how work gets done.  AI doesn't just amplify your strengths; it exposes your leadership gaps. And leading people through this transformation is often the gap that matters most. 

From pilot purgatory to people-powered progress 

The story is familiar across industries: pilots show promise but rarely scale. AI sits isolated in departments. Ambition and execution fall out of sync. Many AI initiatives land in "pilot purgatory" because organisations think about AI in the wrong way, waiting for perfect conditions instead of using AI as a tool to create them. 

I see many of our customers say, "We need to clean our data first before we can use AI." When the question should be: "How can we use AI to help us clean our data?" AI isn't the destination; it's the tool that gets you there faster. Recently, we created a single view of customers across our IT services using AI as a tool to accomplish it in one month. Previous attempts took over 18 months with no success. 

To get unstuck, leadership must reframe AI not as a digital overlay but as a practical tool for human potential, anchored in purpose and owned by the people who will wield it. People-powered transformation begins with focused, real-world wins where teams use AI to solve actual problems: cleaner data, improved decision-making, and sharper customer insights. These moments build belief, unlock human capacity and drive momentum. 

Safety at the frontier, not as an afterthought 

As AI adoption accelerates, many organisations treat safety as a compliance checklist that slows progress. Altron has taken the opposite approach where we prioritise safety at the frontier of AI development and adoption. 

Safety isn't a series of tick boxes. It's a multifaceted foundation that includes ethical use of AI, regulatory compliance, policy frameworks, privacy protection, data sovereignty and cyber security. When you embed these as core features rather than barriers, they become accelerators that help you achieve organisational goals faster and more sustainably. 

This approach empowers people to move boldly with AI because they know the guardrails are built in. Teams can experiment and innovate knowing that ethical considerations, compliance requirements and security measures are woven into the fabric of how they work, not imposed on top of it. 

Leading organisations understand that robust safety frameworks don't constrain AI adoption, they enable it by building trust, reducing risk, and creating sustainable competitive advantages. 

Built for Africa, with safety at the centre 

Africa's realities are distinct, marked by legacy infrastructure, fragmented data, complex regulatory environments and constrained resources. These aren't limitations; they're the context that demands a safety-first approach to AI adoption. 

Becoming AI-native in Africa means having the right people with the right context to deploy technology safely and effectively. This includes building local expertise that understands regulatory landscapes, cultural nuances, and market dynamics that global solutions alone cannot address. 

I believe that we absolutely need to partner with leading global organisations, but not in ways that compromise our safety standards or sovereignty. Smart partnerships leverage global expertise while maintaining local control over how AI serves African businesses and customers. 

Our approach at Altron exemplifies this balance: partnering globally for the best technology and practices, while building local capabilities that ensure AI solutions serve African realities. We're not choosing between local and global; we're combining both through a safety-first lens that protects our interests while accelerating our progress. 

What comes next? 

The goal has never been to "do AI." The goal has always been to empower people to drive meaningful business outcomes: growth, efficiency, resilience and trust. This transformation isn't coming; it's already underway. 

At Altron, we've chosen an abundance mindset over a scarcity mindset when it comes to AI. A scarcity mindset asks, "How can AI cut people costs and remove inefficiency?" An abundance mindset asks, "How can we empower our people, reimagine how we run our business, and serve our customers better?" When you choose abundance, you grow your business, and by definition, that means you need more empowered people to join your organisation. 

Leadership isn't about having all the answers about AI technology. It's about creating environments where people can harness AI as a tool to solve bigger problems, create greater value and build stronger relationships with customers. It's about measuring success not just in cost savings, but in how capable, creative and valuable your people become. 

There will never be perfect AI tools or perfect data. But you have something more powerful: people who can learn, adapt and innovate. The path forward is paved with their courage, creativity and commitment to continuous growth. 

Start with your people. Start now. Lead intentionally.