DigiBlu, a leader in digital workforce implementation across Africa, and Thoughtonomy have signed a partnership to deliver the first SaaS-based Intelligent Automation solution in Africa.

Amongst the first organisations to be taking advantage of the new partnership is a premier South African financial services group, which is deploying the Intelligent Automation platform within its subsidiary in Namibia to process a number of core customer onboarding and account management processes which largely depend on systems at the parent in South Africa.

Terry Walby, CEO and founder of Thoughtonomy, says: “Intelligent Automation offers organisations looking to set up or expand operations in emerging economies across Africa a rapid, agile and cost-effective means to do so.

“By deploying a flexible virtual workforce within these operating units, businesses can deliver a first-rate service to customers without having to develop a sizeable infrastructure, which is invariably slow, difficult, or prohibitively expensive.

“Our platform also opens the door to a large number of AI capabilities, giving companies the flexibility to automate a wide variety of processes across their business without encountering technical barriers. Already we’re seeing clients benefiting from this innovative, infinitely scalable approach to international expansion.”

DigiBlu becomes Thoughtonomy’s first partner in Africa and will build out a dedicated Thoughtonomy delivery and managed service Centre of Excellence.

Walby adds: “We’re delighted to partner with DigiBlu who are the standout experts in Africa when it comes to implementing a digital workforce, with a strong track record of supporting both African and international businesses.”

Steve Burke, CEO of DigiBlu, comments: “Thoughtonomy’s Intelligent Automation platform will be a real game changer in Africa, enabling non-African organisations to enter new markets in the region, as well as allowing local businesses to expand their footprint, bringing greater investment and more jobs to emerging economies.

“We’re hugely excited about the potential of this partnership and see huge opportunities for our clients across a range of sectors, including financial services, logistics and mining, to leapfrog into the 4th Industrial Revolution space while leveraging their legacy IT.”

Thoughtonomy’s Virtual Workforce integrates artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and robotic process automation (RPA) to emulate human workers in executing existing business processes. It frees up employees’ time, allowing knowledge workers to focus on higher value tasks.

Deployed as a Software as a Services (SaaS) platform, it allows companies to increase productivity rapidly.