NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 25 — Artificial intelligence is moving deeper into Kenyan businesses, but the next phase of adoption is likely to be defined less by how many companies are using the technology and more by whether they can turn it into measurable returns.

📻 Breaking It Down

The question is no longer simply whether Kenyan businesses are using AI. It is whether the technology is changing how they operate — cutting costs, improving productivity, increasing sales or creating new sources of revenue.

Recent research suggests the country has moved rapidly into AI adoption, with businesses deploying the technology in customer service, software development, marketing, credit scoring, fraud detection and other functions.

But the distance between deploying AI and scaling it across an organisation remains significant.

📌 What You Need to Know

A 2025 survey of Kenyan business professionals found that 96 per cent of organisations had begun their AI journey, while 35.2 per cent had achieved widespread or advanced implementation. Lack of technical expertise was identified as a major barrier by 48.8 per cent of respondents.

Customer service was the leading area of AI investment, cited by 54.8 per cent of respondents, followed by software development at 51.2 per cent and marketing optimisation at 36.2 per cent.

The figures point to a market that has largely moved beyond asking whether AI has a place in business. The harder question is whether companies can integrate it deeply enough to produce measurable business value.

For smaller businesses, AI is lowering the cost of accessing capabilities that previously required specialist teams or significant investment in technology.

Abraham Mbuthia, CEO and co-founder of digital business solutions provider UzaPoint, said AI was compressing the time required to perform tasks that previously demanded substantial human effort.

“Some of the tasks that used to take maybe months, years to be accomplished are now getting done in a very short period of time.”

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya