Nairobi, Kenya July 10-More than 80 per cent of Kenyan CEOs are using digital solutions, including artificial intelligence, to streamline their supply systems and cut costs by improving their distribution systems.
A survey involving more than 50 CEOs done by Xetova, a Kenyan-founded technology company, shows that there has been mass exodus from legacy systems to modern technologies in the past five years, with four out of every five organisations interviewed reporting to have implemented digital solutions within the last year.
“While a few firms started the journey of shifting their operations to digital systems a decade ago, most organisations began adopting frontier technologies in the past five years with the Covid-19 pandemic catalysing the urgency of automating business operations and supply chain processes,” says an executive summary of the Xetova survey whose full report will be released on Wednesday, July 13.
The founder and CEO of Xetova, Bramuel Mwalo, says Kenya’s tech ecosystem has already started making Artificial Intelligence (AI) not only the corner stone of its digital transformation, but also a critical tool in improving product and service quality.
Xetova is a Kenyan startup that focuses on innovative tech solutions to solve procurement inefficiencies through use of AI.
“Organisations are already using AI to reduce operational costs, improve customer experience and keep their businesses on a profitability trajectory,” said Mr. Mwalo, citing the survey.
The survey found that machine learning, AI and robots are increasingly shaping Kenya’s policy and decision-making providing roadmaps towards cheaper and more sustainable supply chains.
The Covid-19 pandemic that was first reported in Nairobi in March 2020 has further accelerated the digital shift, the Xetova survey found.
“The utilisation of digital tools allowed us to gain deeper understanding of which markets and channels were most affected by the pandemic and how to better support them,” said Debra Mallowah, the Coca-Cola Vice President for East and Central Africa.
UAP-Old Mutual, a general insurance provider with over 1.2 million customers across 17 countries, in early 2021 adopted the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) platform, which eliminated the need of data capture from a printed version.
The platform also provided visibility of the status of submitted invoices for both the insurance provider and the hospital, eliminating the need for manual reconciliation for the majority of its medical business claims.
“Digitisation can entirely remove the need for physical documentation which brings about efficiencies and – importantly – improves service delivery timelines. With the entire world going digital, medical insurance is no exception,” said the Old Mutual Group Acting Managing Director, Jeff Ogalloh.
The full report provides deep insights on experiences by over 30 businesses and government agencies.
Xetova tailors insights-as-a-service solutions across Africa by leveraging on information technology and data analytics to help organisations build on resilience and innovation sustainability.
The company was listed among the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2020 health security and pandemic finalists that were set to receive $2 million (Sh236 million) funding.
It employs talented software engineers and data scientists to develop technology-led solutions for clients.
Xetova handles the full spectrum of data-based insights needs for buyers, suppliers, financiers and distributors.
