As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to reshape business operations, company directors and secretaries have been urged to not only adopt AI but also ensure their teams are prepared to work alongside it.
At the 15th Annual Conference organised by ICSA Uganda in partnership with KPMG Uganda at Mestil Hotel, experts said that AI adoption should be strategic, ethical, and accompanied by proper governance frameworks.
Jane Okot P’Bitek Langoya, Chairperson of ICSA Uganda, stressed the importance of reskilling staff, noting that AI cannot replace human judgment or emotions.
“AI does not have judgment, it does not have emotions. So it cannot decide things like human beings. How do we help reskill staff? So that we are not chasing away staff, but they are working with AI,” she said.
She also highlighted the ethical risks of AI, including deepfakes and misuse of personal data, urging firms to establish AI Ethics Committees.
Josephine Okui Ossiya, CEO of the Capital Markets Authority, warned that AI brings disruption but also opportunities.
“As you’re all aware, artificial intelligence is here with us and it is causing a lot of disruption. But we have to be mindful that the use of artificial intelligence comes with responsibility,” she said.
Okui emphasized that companies must be clear on why they are adopting AI and how it will be used, and that AI should be integrated into risk management strategies.
CPA Stephen Ineget, Country Manager of KPMG Uganda, added that AI adoption comes with challenges, such as cybersecurity threats, data quality issues, and ethical dilemmas, and urged companies to put strong governance systems in place.
Patrick Ayota, Managing Director of NSSF Uganda, said AI adoption is not just about technology but about preparing people and organisations.
“The issue is no longer the power of artificial intelligence, but our readiness to govern it with wisdom and responsibility,” he said.
Linda Ford, the Chief Executive Officer of the Chartered Governance Institute, warned that Uganda has a unique opportunity to avoid the mistakes made elsewhere by putting governance frameworks in place before fully embracing artificial intelligence.
She stressed that AI adoption must begin with strong oversight systems.
“We know that AI is here to stay, but actually, Uganda’s got a real opportunity to put in place the governance frameworks that need upfront, get the governance right before wider adoption of AI. That’s the lesson that’s been learned from other places across the globe who are now having to catch up having not done that to start with.”
Ford said organisations should anchor AI use on clear principles, especially around risk and board competence.
“By putting into place some principles that really govern AI, make sure that it’s informed by principles around risk assessment, around critical thinking, around making sure that boards are skilled in understanding AI, it means that Uganda can now get ahead of some of the risks.”
She further cautioned that AI increases exposure to cyber threats and data breaches, urging governance professionals to prioritise data protection.
“A huge amount of the risk comes from losing control of your data. In Europe, in the UK, we’ve seen a number of cases where accidentally, people have lost control of the data. One example we heard was a company secretary who had used an AI tool to produce the Annual Report without realizing that the consequence of doing so was that it put confidential, sensitive company data essentially out there on the internet. So people are using AI innocently, without fully understanding that if you’re going to do it, you need to do it within the protections of your own internal systems, rather than using maybe open source platforms.”
