AI adoption is no longer just about hype; it’s about meaningful transformation. As businesses shift from experimental pilots to scalable integration, IBA Group is leading the charge with pragmatic, outcome-driven solutions. IBA South Africa Managing Director, Dimitri Denissiouk, shared critical insights into the evolving AI landscape and how businesses can approach implementation with purpose and precision.
According to Denissiouk, early AI enthusiasm led to inflated expectations and misaligned initiatives. “As confirmed in a recent study, more than 80% of AI projects used to fail before reaching production,” he notes. Today, the failure rate has dropped to around 50%, signalling a shift towards responsible adoption. Denissiouk adds that businesses are now learning from past mistakes, moving away from trendy experiments towards strategic, measurable use cases.
One of the biggest pitfalls in AI deployment, Denissiouk says, is treating technical capability as the primary goal. “Unless AI is solving a real, measurable business problem, it becomes an expensive experiment.” Defining a specific use case, aligned with business objectives, is essential. For businesses starting from scratch, Denissiouk recommends beginning with business process management (BPM): “Map your inputs, outputs and metrics. Only then can you explore where AI can create efficiency or value.”
High-quality data isn’t a luxury, it’s foundational. “There’s a reason the phrase ‘garbage in, garbage out’ is so widely used in information technology,” Denissiouk emphasises. Poor data quality, inconsistencies and fragmented sources can derail even the most sophisticated AI systems. IBA Group stresses the importance of robust data management, with practices such as cleansing, validation and single-source-of-truth protocols to ensure that AI systems are built on trustworthy inputs.
Successful AI initiatives require buy-in from across the business, but it starts with leadership. “Executives must act as change champions,” Denissiouk asserts. “They should understand the technology well enough to communicate its value, align teams and overcome resistance.” He warns that without clear, confident leadership, employees may see AI as a threat rather than a tool for empowerment. Transparent communication and targeted training can help shift mindsets from fear to opportunity.
Denissiouk outlines five steps to smarter AI investment, a practical roadmap to avoid turning AI enthusiasm into sunk costs:
- Start with a clear, business-aligned use case.
- Ensure data quality and accessibility.
- Appoint a dedicated project owner with cross-department reach.
- Develop a robust change management strategy.
- Begin with a narrow, measurable scope and scale based on results.
“Financial ROI may take time, but improvements in operational efficiency can often be realised quickly if the proof of concept is successful,” he adds. Many businesses mistake experimentation for execution. “You can build dashboards and run prototypes,” says Denissiouk, “but if AI isn’t embedded in daily operations and solving real problems, then it’s just noise.” Real progress means measurable impact, user adoption and sustained performance improvements. “It’s not about deploying the biggest solution, it’s about building something that works and grows,” Denissiouk affirms.
As a long-established leader in technology consulting, IBA Group brings deep experience to the AI space. With offerings such as EasyRPA, its proprietary robotic process automation (RPA) platform, IBA helps clients automate routine tasks and expand AI use gradually across operations.
The company has also introduced IDocIt, a private large language model solution designed for businesses that want the power of AI without compromising confidentiality. “It’s like a private ChatGPT,” explains Denissiouk. “Clients can train it on their internal documents, safely hosted on their own servers, and get AI-powered answers grounded in company-specific data.” Each response is traceable to original source documents, giving users both transparency and confidence.
The IBA South Africa Managing Director concludes by saying that AI transformation is only possible when technology serves business needs, not the other way around. “We don’t just deploy tools,” says Denissiouk. “We help businesses map their processes, align their strategies and scale responsibly.” In a space increasingly marked by fast pivots and bold experimentation, IBA Group brings grounded clarity, enabling businesses to go beyond the hype and into real, scalable transformation.
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