South Africa Has Too Many Retail Stores, Pick n Pay CEO Says
The top five retailers in Africa's most-industrialized economy opened more than 700 stores last year, according to company filings. They have set up 230 already this year.
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Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
7 Business Lessons For AI
From above photo of an anonymous African-American woman analyzing business graph on a laptop ... More computer while sitting at restaurant desk with notebook, pen and eyeglasses. When considering any implementation of AI in a business, leadership teams have a weighty responsibility. This is an approach that people want to get right. They face a few challenges – that the technology is so nascent, that there doesn't seem to be a lot of road maps available for companies, and that many people instinctively distrust large language models to automate processes. So what's to be done? A Leader's Perspective Here's where I recently got some insights from a paper written by Lidiane Jones, who was previously head of Slack, and CEO of Bumble, a major dating platform. Jones breaks down some of the aspects of AI implementation that C-suite people are looking at. Data Transfers and Governance Jones points out that transformations like ETL (extract, transform, load) and ELT (extract, load, transform) predated AI, but data is still siloed in many cases. One solution Jones touts is an 'omnichannel data strategy' – this, she writes, 'will ensure privacy and security of your data, ease of access for business applications, offer real time capabilities and can integrate with your everyday tools.' Compliance with Financial Data Rules For example, Jones speaks about the need to focus on compliance in some areas. 'Every company has critical financial data, subject to audit, regulation and compliance that must be carefully protected,' she writes. 'Normally, for more scaled companies, this data sits on an ERP system. Every CEO, CFO, COO and CRO needs critical real-time insight from these systems, to determine how the business is performing against plans, how expenses are tracking against the budget or how a change in employee investment … will affect the overall cost structure and velocity of the business, among numerous other capital allocation considerations.' Business Intelligence for the Win In terms of general business intelligence, Jones spins a story to illustrate: 'Imagine a Sales Executive who develops a multi-year high trust relationship with one of a company's most important large customer, and she decides to leave the company for a better career opportunity,' she writes. 'Historically, though there will be good information about that customer and notes from this leader, much of her institutional knowledge leaves with her. Corporate human knowledge exists within organizations, and is shaped by the culture, people and business processes.' She then addresses the role of workflow tools and other platform resources. 'Collaboration software of all kinds like Slack, Google Workspace and Teams … have a lot of people's knowledge embedded in them that is hardly ever nurtured,' she adds. 'Unstructured data like this is highly effective in training LLMs, and can provide opportunities that haven't existed before - like capturing the sentiment of what this large customer loved the most about their relationship with this Sales Executive.' She also gave a nod to the potential difficulties, conceding that ' it might feel daunting to expand data strategy planning to be as broad as this,' but notes that partnering with vendors and other firms can help. 'Phasing and prioritizing how you bring more of your data into a single system is key to making progress and capturing business value along the way,' she writes. Agents do the Agenting Jones also makes an important point about the use of AI agents. It goes sort of like this: we're used to computers doing calculations, and digesting and presenting information, but these new systems can actually brainstorm on their own to change processes. 'In many instances, agents can optimize workflows themselves as they determine more effective ways to get the work done,' she writes. A Story of Implementation Citing ChatGPT's meteoric rise, Jones talked about using these technologies in the context of her work at Slack, which is, after all, a business communication tool. She chronicled the firm's connection with companies like OpenAI circa 2017. 'At the time, when I was leading Slack, it was exciting to collaborate with OpenAI, Cohere and Anthropic to use their LLMs to help our customers with some of the most challenging productivity challenges at Slack,' she writes. The challenges she enumerates: 'finding a conversation they knew they had but couldn't remember in what channel, or help customers manage the large amount of messages they received with summaries and prioritization, optimize search for information discovery and so much more.' Then, too, the company created tools. 'We introduced Slack Canvas based templates to help our customers quickly create content based on their corporate information, and captured Huddles' meeting notes and action items, and that was just the beginning,' she explains. 'The capabilities of LLMs gave us the opportunity to solve real-world customer challenges in a pleasant and insightful way, while maintaining the experience of the Slack brand.' Calling this kind of thing the 'table stakes' of the new corporate world, Jones walks us through a lot of the way stations on the path to what she calls 'co-intelligence.' That includes workflow automation, agentic AI, multi-agent systems, and new interfaces. Our AI Brethren Here's one way that Jones characterizes managing an AI: 'Considering autonomous agents as truly 'digital workers' can be a helpful framing for questions we already think of today with 'human workers' like: how does the employer track the quality of the work done? What systems does the digital worker have access to? If the company is audited, how do we track what steps and actions were taken by the digital worker? If the digital worker's actions turn malicious, how do we terminate the agent?' As for the extent of agent autonomy, Jones suggests that fully autonomous agents will be able to handle a complex or 'scoped' job on their own, conceding, though, that 'even an autonomous agent, like a human, needs a job scope and definition - or a set of instructions - on the job at hand.' This new world is one we will have to reckon with soon. Four Principles of Leadership Jones finished with a set of ideas for those who are considering these kinds of deployments. 1. Be hands-on: as a leader, stay close to what's happening 2. This one goes back to prior points: working with vendors and partners is a plus 3. Build an AI-first culture with AI-native projects 4. Find the value for your company I found this to be pretty useful for someone who is contemplating a big move in the age of AI. Some of the best ideas for leadership can be gleaned from TED talks, conferences, and these kinds of personal papers on experience with the industry.
Bloomberg
3 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Nigeria's Aliko Dangote Retires as Chairman of Dangote Cement
Aliko Dangote has retired as chairman and director of Nigeria's Dangote Cement Plc, the company he founded, according to a statement. He will be replaced effective immediately by Emmanuel Ikazoboh, the company statement said, while Mariya Aliko Dangote was appointed to the board.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
SOUEAST Unveils New Chapter in Egypt, Strengthening African Market Presence
CAIRO, July 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SOUEAST launched four new models in Egypt, marking a significant expansion in the African market. The event, themed "Ease Your Life", was held at Cairo's iconic landmark – Alamain Boulevard North Square, showcasing the brand's commitment to elevating users' automotive consumption experience with innovative concepts. (Image 1: SOUEAST Launched in Egypt) SOUEAST: Reborn in 2024, expanding globally with urban-focused vehicles. With a presence in over 30 countries and regions, the automaker has established more than 144 sales and service networks worldwide. SOUEAST targets the urban premium market with its "6+2+1" product matrix: 6 urban SUVs; 2 urban sedans; 1 lifestyle pickup truck. Covering segments from B to D-class, the lineup includes both fuel and hybrid powertrains, with pure electric models planned for the future. This diversified portfolio ensures tailored solutions for diverse markets and customer needs. The launch featured four new models: The flagship smart luxury SUV S09, urban intelligent C-segment SUV S07, urban stylish C-segment SUV S06 and compact urban SUV S05, covering almost all segments of the SUV market. These vehicles are designed to meet the diverse needs of drivers, offering a blend of style, comfort, and advanced technology. The S09, with its luxurious features and robust performance, is tailored for those seeking a premium driving experience. The S07 and S06, on the other hand, cater to the urban youth with their intelligent features and stylish designs. The S05, with its compact and agile body, is ideal for city commuters, providing versatile mobility for both urban roads and narrow alleys. At the launch event, Andy Yuan, Assistant President of SOUEAST International, stated: "SOUEAST's vision is enabling more youth around the world to have an EASE urban mobility experience." He further emphasized SOUEAST Motor's strong confidence in the Egyptian market. According to the plan, SOUEAST and its partner will engage in comprehensive collaboration across market operations, customer service, branding, and channel development to deliver an integrated user experience. By 2025, SOUEAST aims to establish 15 sales outlets and 5 after-sales service centers in Egypt. Additionally, two new CKD models will be introduced between 2026 and 2027. SOUEAST has recently entered North African markets, including Morocco and Libya. Its latest launch in Egypt marks a major breakthrough in the brand's strategic expansion across Africa. With this continued market growth, SOUEAST is poised to open a new chapter in its global development. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at CONTACT: Contact Person: Frida Fu Email:
