As cyber threats become more sophisticated and persistent, organisations across East Africa are rising to the challenge. The latest Digital Trust Insights (DTI) Survey for the East Africa region, titled “Strengthening Cyber Defences: The Road to Resilience in East Africa” reveals a significant shift in priorities, with 74% of businesses in the region placing cyber risks at the top of their agenda—well above global averages. It’s clear that cybersecurity is no longer just an IT issue; it’s a critical business imperative.

By 2027, 40% of power and utilities will deploy AI-driven operators in control rooms, reducing human error risks, but increasing cyber-physical system security vulnerabilities, according to Gartner, Inc. The 2025 Gartner CIO and Technology Executive Survey indicated that 94% of power and utility chief information officers (CIOs) plan to increase their AI investments in 2025, with an average spending increase of 38.3%.

A recent IDC report titled, Leveraging AI to Overcome ESG Compliance Challenges, highlighted that over 25% of businesses in Asia/Pacific rank Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) compliance requirements as their top challenge in the next 12 months. Being an export-reliant regional economy, the Asia/Pacific region is highly sensitive and influenced by regulations in western markets. Countries and businesses in the region must transition to more sustainable and ESG-compliant economies to ensure economic growth and maintain competitiveness. The small number of countries that have levied some form of carbon tax, such as Japan, Singapore, India, and Indonesia, are export-heavy economies that are more sensitive to shifts in global regulations and, as a result, are the early adopters.

According to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker , global smartphone shipments increased 2.4% year-over-year (YoY) to 331.7 million units in the fourth quarter of 2024 (4Q24). This marks the sixth consecutive quarter of shipment growth, closing the whole year with 6.4% growth and 1.24 billion shipments, marking a strong recovery after two challenging years of decline. We expect the market to continue growing in 2025, albeit at a slower pace, as refresh cycles continue growing and pent-up demand is fulfilled.

As artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes the digital landscape, business leaders must confront a perennial -- but growing -- paradox: how to secure operations against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats while simultaneously enhancing customer and employee experiences to stay competitive. 

In a recent BizTechReports Vidcast, Stephanie Aceves, Senior Director of Product Management at Tanium, shared insights on the evolving cybersecurity landscape and the considerations decision-makers must prioritize to ensure their organizations remain secure, resilient, and competitive.

The gaming industry, once synonymous with double-digit growth, now finds itself at a crossroads. Rising interest rates, the return of players to offices and classrooms post pandemic, and high-profile games failing to meet expectations have fundamentally reshaped the gaming landscape. The industry now faces a cascade of challenges: project delays, significant layoffs, and even shuttered studios have become all too common.

The report, which surveyed 4,701 CEOs across 109 countries and territories, also finds that 42% expect to increase headcount by 5% or more in the next 12 months – more than double the proportion who expect headcount decreases (17%), and up from 39% last year. The percentage is highest (48%) among smaller companies (less than US$100 million) and those in the technology (61%), real estate (61%), private equity (52%) and pharma and life sciences (51%) sectors.

By 2027 mobile app usage will decrease by 25% due to AI assistants according to Gartner, Inc.

Smartphone users will turn to AI assistants, such as Apple Intelligence, ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Meta AI, and others to replace apps for many functions. In addition to the impact of AI assistants, apps will be consolidated across separate brands and companies, creating mobile app partnerships or consortiums to reach more users per app at scale and defray the cost of creation and maintenance.

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing into SAP’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) ecosystem is reshaping the business landscape, according to experts who participated in a recent CIO Online executive discussion held under Chatham House Rules. 

In the wake of that session, BizTechReports convened Don Mishory, Managing Partner at Storm Reply, and Jaydeep Rathore, Senior Innovation Architect at AWS, for a vidcast to explore the strategic, operational, financial, and technological implications of this transformation.

An unpredictable global environment and advancing AI and intelligent technologies are driving fundamental shifts in the risk landscape and insurers’ relationships with clients and regulators in Europe, says a new research report from Information Services Group (ISG), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.

The intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and healthcare holds immense promise, but achieving its full potential requires a careful balance of innovation, privacy, and regional inclusivity.

So says Julia Komissarchik, CEO of Glendor, in a recent BizTechReports vidcast in which she highlighted how her company is tackling some of the most pressing obstacles in the healthcare AI space: training AI models on sensitive medical data, addressing data silos, and ensuring diverse representation across regional healthcare datasets.

As businesses adapt to an increasingly fast-paced and complex environment, IT leaders are being called upon to play a more strategic role in driving transformation. At a recent virtual roundtable hosted by CIO Magazine and PwC, technology executives from finance, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and other industries discussed how restructuring the relationship between business and IT can unlock greater value and enable continuous innovation.

The expanding use of AI is driving enterprise interest in data operations (DataOps) to orchestrate data integration and processing and improve data quality and validity, a new research report from leading global technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG)

Organizations must act now to prepare for the looming threats of quantum computing while leveraging generative AI to enhance cybersecurity and operational efficiency. This was the consensus among industry leaders during a CIO Magazine virtual roundtable co-hosted by Ben Corll of Zscaler. The discussion brought together executives from various sectors to examine the dual challenge of mitigating quantum risks while capitalizing on AI-driven opportunities.

CFOs are planning smaller pay increases for employees in 2025, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc.

A poll of 300 CFOs and finance leaders in October 2024 found that while compensation remains a top area for budget boosts, second only to enterprise technology spending, pay increases have been slowing down for three years in a row (see Figure 1). For example, only 61% of CFOs are planning to increase average employee compensation in 2025, compared to 71% in 2024 and 86% in 2023.

AI is becoming intrinsic to every aspect of how companies operate, and we predict 2025 will bring a new age of innovation – one that moves away from chasing AI use cases to using AI to power business strategy.

BOSTON, AI remains a top priority for business leaders worldwide in 2025, with a strong focus on reaping tangible results from their AI initiatives. This year, one in three companies globally is planning to allocate over $25 million to AI.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Semi-annual Services Tracker, the Indian IT Services market grew by 6.4% year-over-year (YoY) in 1H2024, contributing 79.2% of the overall IT & Business Services market. While this growth marks a slight moderation from 6.7% in 1H2023, it reflects sustained investments in digital transformation, cloud migration, and GenAI adoption. Indian enterprises remained committed to critical IT initiatives, prioritizing cost optimization and operational efficiencies to drive competitiveness.

According to the recent IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Healthcare Industry 2025 Predictions – Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) Implications, IDC predicts that by 2027, the Asia/Pacific Healthcare industry will save up to $110 billion by significantly optimizing clinical, operational, and administrative workflows through intelligent automation.

New business models, a rapidly expanding remote workforce and increasing demand for real-time, automated systems powered by AI are driving payroll transformation, according to a new series of research reports from leading global technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG).