Deloitte says Africa Generative AI practice will harness the power of innovation and technology to unlock unprecedented possibilities.

Consulting firm Deloitte has launched a generative artificial intelligence practice for the African market.

The company says it is bringing together industry experience, skilled AI engineers and alliance partners to build generative AI solutions to accelerate the business innovation pace.

Deloitte says its Africa Generative AI practice will guide clients and business leaders as they design their strategies and leverage technology to create innovative AI-fueled applications.

“This will significantly alter business processes and bring efficiency gains and productivity improvements. The collective power of data management, analytics, intelligent automation, and artificial intelligence is significantly shortening investments returns for businesses on a journey to being insights-driven organisations,” says the company.

Deloitte notes AI and generative AI have already begun transforming industries with their capabilities to analyse unstructured and structured data and model it in a way that makes sense to humans.

The firm says this simplifies the engagement between humans and digital systems, enhancing productivity and innovation at an accelerated pace.

Quentin Williams, director and AI leader for Deloitte Africa, comments: “There’s been extensive discussion across industries around the capabilities of generative AI technology and its potential to revolutionise the way we work, how it allows for digital systems to understand us as humans, without effort; and for us humans to create digital systems, and solutions quickly and at scale.”

He adds: “Think about humans with machines, strategy with insights, cost reduction through automation, data with purpose, speed with precision. The power of this symbiotic relationship has never been more significant.”

Jania Okwechime, partner, data analytics and AI leader for Deloitte West Africa, says: “Through our Africa Generative AI practice, we will harness the power of innovation and technology to unlock unprecedented possibilities. We aim to increase AI fluency within the market, grow AI talent on the continent and, together with our alliance partners, take enterprise-scale generative AI solutions to our clients.

“Through this practice, our clients now have access to AI labs, accelerated use-case development, and large language model managed services – all within our ‘Trustworthy AI framework’. The vast potential of AI combined with human insights is set to revolutionise industries and amplify economic growth. We are fostering sustainable development across the African continent.”

For Ryan Norris, director, AI and data business Leader for Deloitte Africa, the practice will allow enterprises to leapfrog to their next-level innovation, accelerate digital advancement and generate new economic opportunities. He says: “We will harness that power, move faster and with greater precision that improves decision-making and creates mutually beneficial connections with customers.”

Wessel Oosthuizen, associate director for digital risk solutions and Africa AI Institute leader at Deloitte Africa, says: “We can help organisations build the infrastructure, collect and manage the right data, train the right models to create generative AI solutions that are effective and scalable, and validate prebuilt models to ensure alignment to your firm’s ethics and values. All while managing regulatory risks through the Deloitte Trustworthy AI framework.”