Advent of AI and fear of firms losing human touch

In today’s age of chatboxes, ChatGPT and agentic artificial intelligence (AI), there is a major looming fear among business leaders and the workforce alike – of the dying human touch.

The lack of emotional connection is becoming as apparent as the need to adopt new technologies in businesses.

The rush and excitement of not being left behind in this wave is almost superseding the ‘who’ in the matrix.

As customers are being transfigured into data, uncertainty beckons beyond the clouds, with business leaders holding conflicting views on the human aspect in this trend.

The fear of job losses is the crux of these discussions.

Sasini Group Chief Executive Martin Ochieng says job losses are imminent, which is the case whenever a technological advancement hits the market.

He cites ATMs, cellphones and the internet as some of the trends that re-shaped businesses. “These trends have been with us, and people have had jobs all through,” he says.

Ochieng says there is a misnomer and a misunderstanding around AI and the security of jobs.

“If you are an organisation not linking AI to what you are doing, in terms of adopting it, those people will become irrelevant, and they will lose their jobs – let us accept that,” he says.

AI is not a tool but an ecosystem, he insists. “If you look at it that way, the human aspect is integral to its advancement. I don’t think we should be scared that it is stopping us from employing,” says Ochieng.

He points out that at Sasini, he has had cases where job seekers demanded to know what the company is doing on AI.

“If you are not showing them that you are active with your AI approach, they will tell you they are not interested,” he says.

Perhaps this is the reason why talent is at the core of the strategies being deployed by chief executives across the continent.

The latest report by audit and tax consultancy firm KPMG reveals that a significant percentage, 81 per cent, of CEOs across Africa believe that upskilling their workforce in AI will directly impact the success of their businesses in the next three years.

This percentage is higher when compared to global levels at 77.

“This indicates that African CEOs prioritise nurturing AI talent from within their organisations and are investing in long-term skill development rather than relying on rapid external recruitment,” reads the KPMG 2025 Africa CEO Outlook.

The report adds that African CEOs are rethinking how their organisations attract, develop, and retain talent in the age of AI.

A similar trend in workforce priorities, the report notes, is seen as seven in ten (70 per cent) African CEOs say AI has already influenced employee training and development, compared to 79 per cent of global CEOs.

“African CEOs are more proactive in internal workforce reshuffling; they may be missing valuable opportunities to strengthen their talent pipeline by retaining and developing those with high potential, especially in the context of building future leaders in AI,” KPMG says in the report.

KPMG Africa Chief Executive Ignatius Sehoole reveals that even in the firm, entry-level jobs are being re-examined through the AI lens. “Not with a view to getting rid of people that are doing those jobs but reskilling them to do jobs at a higher level because they would be then using AI,” he says.

He says, unlike years back, when one would need spreadsheets and competence in Excel to collate, such tasks are now being left for AI to do. “Where you come in is in interpreting what these analytics are telling you and what actions should be taken,” he says.

When job losses are discussed in relation to AI, the older generation is always perceived to be the target group. But Partner and Head of Advisory KPMG Gerald Kasimu points out that they, too, have a role to play.

“Most of us tend to think that we need to focus on the younger generation. The reality of the matter is that, because we need to have humans in the middle – technology cannot work on its own – the older workforce who have the experience will be able to determine whether the results that come out of the AI models are valuable,” he says.

A concern in this trend, however, is what of industries that thrive in human touch.

For Sasini, known for farming and processing of tea, coffee, macadamia and avocados for export, AI adoption is almost non-negotiable.

What of hospitality, a sector in which Ashish Sharma is?

The Serena Hotel chief executive says in his field, human touch is critical. It should not be lost. “There is artificial intelligence and real intelligence,” he says.

Sharma says the downside of AI is that it is forcing businesses to start programming talent in a particular way, such that if they do not fit in the category the machine has provided, then they do not fit at all.

Body language

He references cases where AI is used to analyse resumes and conduct interviews – assessing body language and awarding scores according to the information fed into it.

“That uniqueness (in humans) then starts to disappear,” he cautions. “One thing AI does injustice to is talents. Every person has uniqueness. Every person has a story.”