AI is the technology of the moment, but for many CIOs and heads of data in South Africa, the challenge is not whether to adopt it, it’s how to make it practical and valuable.
Budgets are tight, skills are scarce and businesses want results yesterday. For South African companies where IT teams are expected to deliver more with fewer resources, the pressure to turn AI from hype into measurable impact is even greater.
The question is no longer, “Should we do AI?” but rather, “How do we make AI deliver measurable value without derailing operations?
The missing link: From promises to proof
Too often, AI projects stall in proof of concept limbo, burning resources without ever scaling. Gartner predicts that 30% of GenAI projects will be abandoned after proof of concept by the end of 2025. The gap isn’t technology, it’s execution.
What separates success from failure is a focus on outcomes, shorter software cycles, cleaner data pipelines and more resilient systems. Across industries, Expleo has seen this first-hand:
- Faster delivery: By applying AI-driven test automation for a global insurer, Expleo helped reduce technical debt and improve release quality.
- Smarter decisions: In just 60 days, Expleo supported a global fast food corporation in accelerating its data strategy with AI-powered governance, enabling faster and more confident decision-making.
- Resilient systems: Through ExpleoSophia, clients are enhancing software reliability with AI-enabled quality assurance.
“AI is no longer a distant promise, it’s already transforming how IT and data teams deliver value, enabling faster cycles, smarter decisions and more resilient systems today,” emphasises Paul Barrett, Head of Service Delivery at Expleo South Africa.
From Expleo's work with IT and data leaders globally, three lessons stand out:
- Start with outcomes, not algorithms. The first question isn’t “what model should we use?” but “what business bottleneck do we need to solve?”
- Embed AI into existing workflows. The fastest wins come from augmenting what teams already do, like coding, testing and reporting, not reinventing the wheel.
- Keep humans in the loop. Adoption and trust depend on combining automation with oversight, governance and skills development.
Jay-Jay Ngwenya, Senior Manager at Expleo in South Africa, explains, “For South African companies, we see IT teams facing pressure to deliver more with fewer resources, so this mindset shift is essential. Stop treating AI as a side project and start treating it as an enabler of faster, safer delivery.”
Xanthe Bennett, Head of AI and Data at Expleo UK, highlights: “Long-term AI success requires balance across people, data, technology and infrastructure. The fundamentals include solving a real business problem, involving people early, understanding your data, designing for scale and planning for the long term.”
To see these lessons in action and explore practical insights for turning AI from concept into measurable impact, download the Expleo AI Playbook: AI in action: from promises to proof.
If you’d like to explore how these lessons could apply specifically to your organisation, reach out to the Expleo team in South Africa:
- Paul Barrett – Paul.Barrett@expleogroup.com
- Jay-Jay Ngwenya – Jay-Jay.Ngwenya@expleogroup.com
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