SA’s digital economy needs organisations that can earn and sustain trust as they innovate. This requires boards and executives with the knowledge, judgment and authority to govern how technology is selected, deployed and monitored – and to intervene when its consequences become unacceptable, says Taka Sande, MD of Fasford Group and founder of Anvil Advisory, both SA-based advisory and consulting firms.
Scaling trust in the AI era
The rapid convergence of AI, evolving regulation, cyber risk, digital sovereignty and sustainability is fundamentally redefining enterprise governance. Traditional approaches to governance, risk and compliance are no longer sufficient in a world where AI systems are playing a greater role in making decisions.
ITWeb Governance, Risk and Compliance 2026 will examine the governance implications of AI, agentic systems, cyber resilience, RegTech, digital trust, ESG, critical infrastructure, quantum readiness and emerging technologies.
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Sande will deliver the closing keynote at ITWeb Governance, Risk and Compliance 2026 on 12 November at The Forum in Bryanston.
Grounded in SA’s realities, the keynote will explore how organisations can support responsible innovation while strengthening resilience, inclusion and long-term value. Delegates will leave with a focused agenda for turning the day’s insights into action.
“Trust cannot scale faster than our ability to demonstrate accountability. As organisations give technology more decision-making power, they must strengthen their capacity to question it, oversee it and intervene,” says Sande.
His presentation will cover several messages he believes the local market needs to hear:
- Build governance capability alongside technology capability. Investment in AI should be accompanied by investment in the people responsible for its oversight. Boards need enough digital understanding to challenge assumptions, assess trade-offs and recognise when specialist advice or independent assurance is necessary.
“Directors do not need to become AI engineers,” adds Sande. “They do need to understand what they are approving, whose interests may be affected and what evidence would cause them to reconsider.”
- Keep accountability clear as systems become more autonomous. Organisations must establish who authorises an AI system’s use, who monitors its decisions and who can suspend it. These responsibilities should remain clear when technology is supplied or operated by an external provider.
“A decision may be automated; accountability for its consequences must remain identifiable,” Sande continues.
- Make trust demonstrable. Policies and commitments need to be supported by evidence: reliable data, appropriate controls, meaningful assurance, effective incident responses and accessible routes for people to question decisions that affect them. Boards should ask how they know a system is performing responsibly, and what they might be failing to see.
- Connect responsible innovation to SA’s development needs. Governance should help organisations pursue digital opportunities with confidence while considering resilience, affordability, access and the ability to challenge errors. For SA, the value of digital transformation includes whether it improves services, expands participation and strengthens institutional credibility.
“Digital progress should be judged by the value people experience and the confidence they can place in the institutions delivering it,” Sande concludes.
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