Kathy Gibson reports – South African corporates are fully embracing generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), which is well on its way to being used as a mature and useful tool.
This is the headline finding from the South African GenAI Roadmap 2025 presented today by World Wide Worx CEO and principal analyst Arthur Goldstuck, who says that the technology might not be fully mature, but local organisations are well on their way.
For instance, more organisations have officially adopted GenAI as an approved tool, although there is still a big pool of shadow AI usage: 32% of businesses report informal or unregulated GenAI use, a further 20% report a mix of official and unofficial GenAI use;.
But companies are starting to move from experimenting to real use cases. Although there is a big difference in how they use GenAI today compared to how they visualised using it last year. In 2024, Goldstuck points out that enterprises almost unanimously expected to use the tools for text or written content, closely followed by video and audio creation.
This year, 100% of respondents are using or planning to use GenAI for written content and for predictive analytics.
“But there was a surprise drop in its use for video and audio creation,” Goldstuck says. “This is possibly because the tools for these application are limited or expensive, so the results have not been satisfactory.”
Last year, most of the GenAI usage was Chat GPT, and this remains the most popular application, but CoPilot has seen a big increase, probably because Microsoft is building it into Office tools, Goldstuck explains.
The impact that GenAI has on companies is starting to demonstrate a more mature environment. Last year’s most significant impact of productivity has been overtaken by competitiveness, which has moved into first place at 86%. While productivity is still in second place at 83%, enhanced customer service has more than doubled to 66% to take third place.
“This finding as a surprise,” Goldstuck says. “But as companies realise that GenAI can help to improve customer service and competitiveness, they have taken their eye off the productivity ball. People are realising that this is all about the customer. There is no point in being more productive if you are not giving the customer a better experience.
“This is a big takeaway from this survey: customer experience must rule AI strategy.
To be successful, there are several vital elements that must be in place, Goldstuck adds. This list is led by cybersecurity, which 97% of respondents said is the more important factor.
At the same time, strategy for AI use has dropped from 96% last year to 90% this year. “The fact that this has fallen tells a story,” Goldstuck says.
Budgets have also fallen, but this could be because tools like CoPilot are not built in.
Oversight in terms of governance and policy are at just 84%, while culture has fallen from 93% to 84%.
Critical governance measures include clear principles for oversight, accountability, and responsible use. It enables organisations to build trust, reduce risk, and drive long-term value.
“The findings tell us that companies are trying to find their way in GenAI, but they have realised they cannot succeed with a full cybersecurity stance.”
The current use of GenAI is largely taking place in a regulatory and ethical vacuum, Goldstuck warns. “The longer this continues, the more harm can be caused, to both businesses and individuals, before these guardrails are in place.
“Without governance, organisations are walking blindfolded into a future shaped by AI. That might be exciting, but it is not sustainable.”
Cost is still the single biggest barrier to successful GenAI adoption, at 39%. This is followed by data privacy at 29%, lack of skills at 28%, and resistance to change at 27%.
‘But none of these are massive – all below 40%,” Goldstuck points out.
The roadmap also identifies two areas of opportunity. The first is business and societal impact, with more than 75% of respondents having no measures in place to monitor or reduce the energy use and footprint of GenAI.
The second is skills development, with a massive 87% of businesses having committed to GenAI upskilling or training of employees.
There has been a big shift in how people thought they would use AI compared to how they are using it this year. In 2024, it was expected that AI would be most useful for product research, marketing content and market research.
This year, people are mostly using for more email content – which has risen from 44% last year to 94% this year. This is following by report writing at 87%, market and product research as 74%, marketing content at 68%, data analysis at 59%, training material at 51%, website content at 44% and social media content at 41%.
“So it is all about content,” Goldstuck points out.
While its use is widespread, organisations are still behind on their GenAI strategy. The survey finds that only 14% have a companywide strategy, with 22% building a strategy in some areas and 9% with a strategy under development.
“So altogether, only 45% of companies have a strategy or are working on one. A huge 34% don’t have one, although they are talking about it; and 22% don’t have one at all.”
That being said, it is clear that GenAI is here to stay, Goldstuck adds. “Last year we saw the shift from concept to reality. This year, we can see the destination. Those that use GenAI are going all-in on multiple users cases, which is a sign the market is heading for maturity.
“We are not at maturity yet, but we are all-in on AI.”
Tony Bartlett, director: data centre specialist sales at study sponsor Dell Technologies South Africa, points out that the opportunity for GenAI is promising, but it comes with some risks.
“Despite the growth and benefits, the study shows there is a high prevalence of shadow AI, and gaps in policies and governance. In some cases, there is a lack of strategic oversight.”
Dell Technologies is well-positioned to guide organisations through their AI and GenAI journeys, he adds.
The company operates under three core principles: understanding customer priorities aligning solutions with business goals, and delivering measurable outcomes, Bartlett says.