AI is now common in the workplace, with 72% of users saving over an hour daily. While positivity towards AI is growing, adoption gaps remain. With a significant global workforce challenge by 2030, South African leaders must leverage AI effectively to gain a competitive advantage.

The global economy is undergoing a fundamental restructuring, driven overwhelmingly by technological change. South African companies are not immune to this change. In fact, most (if not all) are facing mounting challenges like the rising cost of living and pressure for green transition.

With regard to technology, artificial intelligence (AI) alone is influencing the biggest chunk of this disruption; it is the defining catalyst for higher productivity, leaner operations, and decisive global competitiveness.

According to a recent report by Boston Consulting Group, global employers overwhelmingly expect AI and information processing technologies to transform their businesses, with 86% anticipating this change.

South African companies reflect this urgency and exceed it, with 90% of surveyed employers in the country expecting AI and related technologies to drive business transformation by 2030. This deep engagement is already evident, as 68% of South African businesses report being regular AI users. This strong momentum means that South Africa, like other comparable economies in the Global South, is demonstrating high AI adoption rates.

What this means for operations and productivity

The primary economic promise of AI lies in its power to restructure work itself, leading directly to leaner operations and massive productivity gains. Across the world, approximately half (50%) of companies are already starting to redesign end-to-end processes to maximise AI value. South African businesses must embrace this reshape approach, moving beyond simple tool deployment.

For South Africa, the shift in the human-machine frontier is stark. The proportion of tasks expected to be completed predominantly by technology will rise significantly from 31% now to 39% by 2030. This substantial increase in automation, including the impact of robots and autonomous systems (expected to transform 58% of SA businesses), directly translates to leaner operations.

By augmenting human work, especially in areas like data processing, GenAI empowers less specialised employees to perform expert tasks, enabling teams to save time and shift focus to strategic activities.

Fuelling economic growth and global parity

Strategic investment in AI does not just reduce costs; it fuels growth by creating new demand for cutting-edge skills. South African companies understand this, listing AI and machine learning specialists and robotics engineers among the jobs projected to rise in demand.

The 2025 World Economic Forum report on the future of work shows that the transformation of the job landscape requires a rapid upskilling strategy, prioritising the following skills predicted to see the greatest increase in use by 2030:

• AI and big data (87% of employers expect increased demand)
• Creative thinking (82%)
• Technological literacy (82%)
• Networks and cybersecurity (74%)

This focus on developing technological and creative skills is crucial for achieving stronger global competitiveness, especially as broadening digital access is listed as a major transformative trend by 62% of SA employers. Furthermore, the green transition is also a major driver of change in the country, with 64% of employers identifying efforts to reduce carbon emissions as transforming their business.

Harnessing AI to manage complexity in green transition and broader digitalisation efforts will reinforce South Africa’s long-term economic stability and opportunity across diverse sectors.

Breaking the transformation ceiling

Despite strong technological ambitions, South African companies must address persistent human and structural barriers to realise AI’s full potential. The key transformation hurdles identified by SA employers are skills gaps in the labour market (63%) and organisational culture and resistance to change (43%).

To break this ceiling, leaders must invest heavily in people transformation, as companies prioritising workflow redesign globally tend to invest more in training and benefit from higher employee confidence.

South African companies plan to respond proactively, with 83% showing intent to reskill and upskill their existing workforce to better work alongside AI.

Crucially, organisations in South Africa are uniquely positioned to widen the talent pool by adopting progressive hiring policies. The World Economic Forum report shows that at least 34% of companies plan to remove degree requirements to improve talent availability, significantly higher than the global average.

This focus on skills-based hiring, coupled with training initiatives, is the only way to ensure AI serves as a powerful engine for broad economic opportunity rather than exacerbating existing skills divides.

South Africa is well on its way to embedding AI as a core component of its future economy. By prioritising the strategic adoption of AI to redesign workflows, committing to comprehensive upskilling, and dismantling outdated employment barriers, South African companies can successfully leverage AI to drive world-class productivity, establish leaner operations, and secure their standing in a highly competitive global market.

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