With South Africa facing one of the world’s highest youth unemployment rates, the need to translate AI investment into inclusive economic opportunity is even more urgent. 89% are increasing AI investment across at least one finance use case. For South African organisations, these pressures are amplified by persistent economic constraints and the need to improve productivity without significantly increasing costs. “South African businesses don’t have the luxury of pursuing transformation without a clear commercial case,” says Villars. For South African CFOs, balancing AI-driven productivity with employment and skills development will be one of the defining leadership tests in the years ahead.