This was discussed this week at SAP Innovation Day Kenya, one of a series of global events held by the software company.

Companies across East Africa are stepping up their innovation efforts to unlock new growth opportunities.

This came up this week during SAP Innovation Day Kenya, which is one of a series of global meetings hosted by the software company in key markets across the world.

The Kenya event followed similar events staged in South Africa and Nigeria in May and July, respectively.

SAP Innovation Day Kenya brought together business and technology professionals from around East Africa to discuss the most recent strategies and approaches to technology-driven innovation.

The role of business Artificial Intelligence (AI) in driving the region's next wave of innovation and growth was a key topic of debate.

This came as interest in AI is growing across Africa due to the promise of increased efficiency and scale. In Kenya, AI has been designated as a significant thematic focus in the country’s National Innovation Agency's Strategic Plan 2023-2027, particularly its usage for developing new solutions for biotech, urban planning, and climate change initiatives.

"Interest in business AI and cloud ERP solutions are at an all-time high as companies seek to reimagine their business future by leveraging powerful technologies. Powered by the latest digital transformation capabilities and supported by a rich ecosystem of expert partners, companies throughout East Africa are accelerating their innovation efforts and unlocking new growth opportunities," said Hardeep Sound, regional sales director: Emerging Africa at SAP.

He noted that organisations East Africa region are investing in business transformation and technology for greater efficiency and resilience

Johannes Dressler, managing director for emerging Africa at SAP, added: “Every organisation in the region and globally is striving to understand how to leverage technologies such as AI, which have become necessities instead of luxuries. To remain competitive and thrive in turbulent markets, companies today need to connect their end-to-end processes and drive greater efficiency, innovation, revenue and profitability.”

Similarly, Evert-Jan Tromp, vice president of cloud and innovation: EMEA at SAP stated that the present focus is on laying the groundwork for organisations to adopt and benefit from technologies such as AI.

He explained: "Enterprises are transforming their capabilities to establish a clean core that can drive their success with AI and other emerging technologies.”

Tromp went on to say that the SAP partner ecosystem is critical in helping businesses understand the processes and best practices that speed adoption and enhance value realisation.