At the OpenText Summit Africa 2025, held in Sandton on 4 September, a panel discussion tackled one of the most pressing questions facing organisations today: how do businesses drive transformation while simultaneously elevating human potential?
Moderated by Shanaaz Mossa, Sales Director for public sector and cyber security at OpenText, the panel explored the reality that transformation has shifted from being a buzzword to a business necessity. Mossa framed the conversation by asking: “How do we enable people and drive transformation, while elevating the skills and potential we have as humans? Businesses need leaders that challenge the status quo and empower their teams to unlock growth.”
Cloud as a catalyst for change
Danie Gordon, Partner Sales at Google Cloud, brought energy to the discussion by quipping: “We’re going to make the cloud great again.” He stressed that cloud is no longer just about storing information but about unlocking “active intelligence” from data.
“AI is built on data,” said Gordon. “We want to pair high-quality information with the power of AI and the cloud. In the past, we went to a library and checked out a book to access content. Today, we enable you to have a conversation with the entire library at once. It’s not just about hosting data, it’s about breaking the barrier between data and decisions.”
Gordon also highlighted the importance of data residency and compliance with South Africa’s POPIA regulations. The launch of the Google Cloud region in South Africa ensures that sensitive data remains in-country, providing both compliance assurance and low latency advantages. “There’s a perception that organisations can’t transform because they can’t take their data offshore. That barrier has been removed,” he added.
From static archives to real-time insights
Responding to Mossa’s question about how technology partnerships can further transform business, Frans Mare, Senior Software Solutions Architect at Faranani DocTec, explained how the shift from legacy static data to real-time insights is reshaping organisations.
“A little planning is key to success,” said Mare. “Before you can archive information at the end of its life cycle, you need to identify what you need to retain to satisfy compliance and to assist customers. You also need to understand how that information will be used, how long to keep it and how to classify it. Using the right metadata ensures people understand what information they have at their disposal.”
By integrating information into business systems and classifying it correctly, Mare argued, companies free IT teams from digging through archives while giving end-users quick access to the data they need. This agility not only boosts compliance but also elevates business potential.
Compliance as a driver, not a barrier
Makitle Sekgololo, DMS Team Lead at DSV A/S, emphasised that compliance can be more than a constraint. “This isn’t only about compliance, but also about legacy data. Businesses can’t keep running legacy data in case someone needs it one day,” he said. “In this instance, compliance has helped drive transformation by defining how data is stored, how long it’s stored for and how accessible it is. From there, we can look at how AI helps us elevate that data even further.”
AI, productivity and human potential
The conversation turned to the impact of AI on productivity, with Phil Anderson, National Sales Manager for Digital Business Solutions at Datacentrix.
Citing a UK study, Anderson noted that AI tools saved the average employee at surveyed businesses 26 minutes per day. “If the business wants to elevate human potential, it must understand where those 26 minutes will be spent – manufacturing more product, selling more or driving innovation. That’s where the real business value comes in.”
However, he warned that if companies don’t provide staff with access to secure AI productivity tools, employees may turn to personal accounts and free online solutions, raising compliance and data privacy risks. “One workaround is embedding AI into processes to improve ROI, rather than relying on standalone tools that may be unaffordable for some organisations,” Anderson explained.
Breaking barriers to transformation
As the session drew to a close, Mossa challenged the audience to reflect on their role in business transformation. “How are you, as an individual, taking what you’ve learned today and helping to elevate conversations within your organisation? We need to break the barriers and build the transformation necessary for business survival.”
The discussion made it clear: transformation is no longer optional. Cloud, AI and compliance frameworks are powerful enablers – but it is people, empowered and enabled, who will make business transformation a reality.
If you didn’t manage to attend OpenText Summit Africa 2025, or missed some of the sessions, you can find everything here.
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