In Africa AI must pay for itself early or it doesn't survive - KPMG One Africa

Many companies are claiming that their priority for 2026 is to make full use of artificial intelligence (AI), but what is the reality?

According to the newly released KPMG Global Tech Report, AI is now seen as a strategic necessity, not just industry hype.

However, while 68% of organisations surveyed worldwide aim to reach the highest level of AI maturity by the end of 2026, just 24% are there today.

The report asks: Can ambition match reality, and can organisations keep one eye on the next wave of innovation while delivering on today’s agenda?

“The future belongs to leaders who turn intelligence into advantage", says KPMG International's Guy Holland.

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The new report identifies that while expectations are high and adoption is rapid; scaling can introduce additional complexity and returns vary widely:

• 68% of organisations surveyed aim to reach the highest level of AI maturity by the end of 2026, yet only 24 percent are there today.
• 88% are investing in building agentic AI into their systems.
• 74% say their AI use cases are delivering business value, but only 24% achieve ROI across multiple use cases.
• 90% plan to grow partnerships and tech ecosystems over the next year, yet 53% still lack the talent needed to bring their digital transformation plans to life.
• 78% agree they must take more risks on emerging technologies to stay
  relevant

Stephen Grootes interviews Marshal Luusa, Partner: Technology & Innovation

Lead at KPMG One Africa.

What the report shows is that the gap between ambition and realisation is not access to technology, but alignment around skills readiness and the ability to execute at scale. "Those high performance companies we're seeing are moving beyond pilots and embedding AI into their core operations."

The conversation has moved from possibility to payback, Luusa says, and this is particularly relevant to Africa.

"What we're seeing in Africa is specific to cost and affordability reality - in Africa the economics matter more because cloud power, connectivity and specialised skills all cost more relative to margins."

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The discipline of being cost conscious is not a weakness but actually a competitive advantage, he says: "In Africa, AI must pay for itself early or it doesn't survive."

"The companies that are doing a little bit better than most, are able to raise the bar for AI and don't lead with experimentation - they're saying 'OK, I'll lead with productivity and cost reduction, and if AI can get traction when it reduces either fraud, improves collection, shortens cycle times or lowers operating costs, if it can demonstrate that early payback then we can scale it."

Scroll up to the audio player for more insights from KPMG Global Tech Report 2026