Adapt or die, businesses told

COMPUTER Society of Zimbabwe (CSZ) Harare chapter chairperson Blessing Chiome has urged business players to quickly adapt to the new technological advancements to transform, create and capture value for their customers or perish.

Speaking at the CSZ 2023 summit underway in Victoria Falls, Chiome said traditional businesses were facing new threats triggered by the advent of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).

“Now, the new technologies present opportunities to develop new revenue models and new ways to deliver value and reach customer savings,” she said.

“Businesses that are able to adapt and transform their business models will be well-positioned to succeed in the digital age. However, businesses that fail to adapt will risk being left behind.

“So, to survive and thrive in this new environment, businesses need to be able to consult their business models. This means rethinking the way they create, deliver and capture value.”

Chiome said AI was helping businesses by automating tasks, improving decision-making and creating new products.

“Technologies are disrupting the traditional business models at an unprecedented pace and facing new threats. If you’re not careful of the disruption, you will be disrupted,” she said.

“But whether you are the start of the disruption or you are the starter, you need to be part of the transformation.

This points to a gap between knowledge systems and practical applications for the enhancement of business models and applications.

“The effective employment and adaptation of emerging and disruptive technologies would see a quantum leap in their contribution to the conceptualisation, shaping and execution of business models, processes, products and services.”

Speaking at the same event, Agrippa Mugwagwa, the managing director for Xarani said new technologies were ushering in great opportunities for businesses to create income profiles that are less risky and resonate with the younger generation.

“One of the opportunities that technology is presenting is the expectations of the new democracy that’s coming in the market making it possible for us to resell AI and technology services and create income that has a different risk profile to the traditional lending as well as payment business that the group has,” he said.

“So, the disruption that is happening, if you do not change or evolve, your sources of revenue are definitely at risk because you are going to be disrupted by other players.

“If you look at the financial service landscape, you can clearly see that the players, religious companies, in-box, and e-cookers, are beginning to build, an ecosystem of services that is beyond just religious, like payments, lending, payroll and insurance and giving a better experience to media, banks and with the more digital DNA that resonates with the demographics of young people.”

He added that: “If you do not change your business model if you do not ingest data and analytics and this type of intelligence into your business, you are definitely going to be left behind.”

In terms of different technologies, AI is the usage of data and analytics to provide superior experiences, risk mitigation, as well as meeting the needs of the customer.

“Superior customer experience is going to be delivered by those that do it. They will definitely not need to go to the bank or the branch to be able to access services. These are just related. Onboarding has gone digital,” he said.

He said payments were already digital while lending or borrowing is also going digital.

“Buying stocks on the stock exchanges is also now digital. And partnerships and digital ecosystems are so key and fundamental,” he said.

The summit is running under the theme Transforming business models in the era of digital disruption.-newsday