What comes after Generative AI? And What That Means for African Innovation

Advances the AI narrative beyond generative models toward more capable autonomous systems, expanding AI's addressable impact.

Businesses face strategic pressure to adapt to agentic AI but may see cost and efficiency gains; risk of disruption for slow movers.

Agentic AI aligns with fintech goals of automating financial services, improving fraud detection, and expanding access in underserved markets.

The author's employer, positioning itself as a thought leader in AI adoption in African banking.

Group CIO at Absa, providing insider perspective on AI strategy.

Next phase of AI that promises autonomous decision-making and execution.

Foundation for the current wave, now seen as a transitional phase.

Potential beneficiary of agentic AI for financial inclusion.

Autonomous AI introduces new attack surfaces and failure modes.

Autonomous systems require clear data handling and privacy frameworks.

If AI leads to exclusion or bias, it could harm trust in institutions.

Success depends on coordination across multiple stakeholders and sustained investment.

Africa's infrastructure gaps could hinder deployment of advanced AI systems.

No direct geopolitical tension in the article.

Regulators need to catch up with agentic AI to ensure trust and security.

Not hardware-dependent; software-driven.

Automation may displace jobs in customer service, data entry, and routine decision-making.

Unclear who is responsible for decisions made by autonomous AI agents.