AI’s Promise and the ‘More with Less’ paradox: The leadership choice we must make -By Dr. Dotun Ayeni
Something remarkable is happening across Africa. Business people who once needed entire engineering teams can now build platforms using Gen-AI tools like Claude, Gemini and ChatGPT, and agentic tools like Lovable, Base 24 and Bolt.
I’m not talking about simple websites – I refer to the creation of sophisticated business solutions. The democratisation is real: domain expertise, tech-savviness, and AI mastery equal unprecedented entrepreneurial opportunity.
But here’s the paradox that keeps me up at night. The same tools that create these opportunities are closing departments and ending careers. Recent headlines tell the story (for example, Amazon’s recent layoff of workers in its corporate division, including in HR) – roles are being eliminated, not just transformed. And in African contexts, where labour markets are already fragile, families depend on single incomes, and social safety nets are thin, this disruption hits harder than in Western economies.
So let me ask the question many are avoiding: do organisations have an ethical imperative to support their workforce through this transition? I believe they do. And it’s not just about being nice – it’s about sustainable business.
The ‘more with less’ narrative sounds efficient until you consider what happens to communities when livelihoods disappear overnight. African business leaders have a choice to make. We can chase short-term efficiency gains, or we can build people-centred transformation frameworks that bring our workforce along.
What does this look like practically? Proactive AI literacy programs. Honest communication about role evolution. Investment in reskilling for adjacent capabilities. Recognition that AI will create new positions: AI Comms Specialists, AI Talent Acquisition Specialists, Chief AI Business Operations Managers, Human-AI Collaboration Managers – if we prepare people for them.
Africa has always been about leapfrogging – mobile money over traditional banking, solar over grid infrastructure. We can leapfrog traditional career disruption patterns too by building ethical AI adoption frameworks now, not after the damage is done.
The real competitive advantage isn’t doing more with less. It’s doing more while bringing people along. This is Africa’s AI leadership imperative for 2025 and beyond.
Download “AI Ethics in Africa’s Media and Communications Landscape: A Readiness Framework for 2026 & Beyond” at [bhmng.com/AIEthicsWhitePaper]
Dr Dotun Ayeni is a Lecturer in Human Resource Management at Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland, and Director at BHM Holdings UK. A Chartered Member of both the CIPD (UK) and CIPM (Nigeria), she explores how digital tech, AI, and flexible work are reshaping the future of work, with a specific focus on talent and informal work practices across Africa.
