Business and technology consultancy BSG is looking to expand its data and artificial intelligence (AI) capability, as South African banks, insurers and telecommunications companies accelerate their AI programmes.
Alykhan Vira, who joined BSG in April as a partner and capability lead for data and AI, tells ITWeb that his immediate priority is scaling the team to meet growing demand.
“We are trusted advisers and execution partners to several of South Africa's leading banks, insurers and telcos, all of which have ambitious plans for AI,” he says.
Vira is responsible for building BSG’s data and AI practice, including hiring and developing specialist talent, driving the capability’s growth and go-to-market strategy, and helping clients take AI programmes from strategy through to production.
“As a partner, I am accountable to the BSG board, chaired by our executive chairman Mteto Nyati.”
Vira says the shortage of specialist skills in data engineering, machine learning and AI engineering is a key challenge as organisations move beyond experimentation with AI.
“These skills are scarce globally and especially scarce in South Africa,” he says.
His longer-term goal is to build what he describes as the most respected AI advisory and execution team in South Africa, while developing local talent through work on complex AI programmes.
Vira brings more than 15 years of experience, spanning strategy consulting, healthcare analytics and enterprise data.
Before joining BSG, he was country head of a global data science and AI consultancy and previously served as a principal at The Boston Consulting Group.
He has also advised C-suite executives across healthcare, financial services, energy and mining in Africa and served in an advisory capacity as a chief data officer at one of South Africa’s largest banks.
Vira holds a PhD in clinical research and immunology from the University of Cape Town.
Moving AI into production
At BSG, Vira says AI is being used internally as well as in client engagements.
Every BSG employee has access to a range of AI tools, subject to safeguards around client data and confidentiality.
“The goal is genuine fluency: our people work more effectively, and they bring that first-hand experience to clients,” he says.
For clients, the focus is on moving AI beyond pilot projects and into operational environments where it can generate measurable business outcomes.
BSG is working with banks and insurers on applications including automated underwriting, digitised retirement pathways, AI-supported investment advice, personalised customer communications and faster resolution of customer queries.
“What these have in common is moving AI out of the pilot phase and into production, where it delivers measurable value,” says Vira.
Governance critical to AI rollout
The rapid deployment of AI has sparked debate over whether companies should slow down implementation, particularly amid warnings from technology industry leaders about the risks associated with increasingly capable AI systems.
Vira says the pace of deployment needs to be matched by rigorous governance, particularly when AI is being deployed in regulated industries and customer-facing services.
“Every model goes through robust testing and validation before it reaches production. Every use case must clear a value threshold: a better customer experience, a lower cost to serve, or both.”
He argues that effective governance does not necessarily mean slowing AI adoption.
“That makes us deliberate rather than slow. In our experience, organisations that get AI governance right early end up scaling faster, because they don't have to stop later and repair broken trust.”
Vira says his experience across strategy, data and execution has shaped his approach at BSG.
“My career has sat where strategy, data and execution meet,” he says, adding that his scientific training has reinforced the importance of evidence and rigour.
At BSG, he aims to combine those disciplines to help organisations move from AI ambitions to measurable outcomes, while developing the specialist skills needed to sustain those programmes.
For South African businesses, Vira says AI adoption ultimately extends beyond technology.
“For South African organisations, AI is not only a technology question. It's a talent and trust question.
“The winners will be the ones that invest in local skills and earn customers' confidence in how AI is used.”
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