I’ve just returned from Dreamforce 2025 in San Francisco, where leaders from around the world were talking about what comes next in the “agentic era” – a future where AI systems don’t just automate tasks, but plan, reason and act independently to achieve complex goals. What struck me most is how relevant these conversations are to Africa right now.

Across the continent, businesses are being asked to do more with less. They’re expected to grow faster and serve more people, but budgets and teams aren’t growing at the same pace. AI can help bridge that gap: not by being a shiny new tool, but by becoming a dependable partner that takes on the heavy lifting. To get there, we need more than technology. We need the right functions inside our organisations to guide and manage this adjustment so that it remains safe, ethical and genuinely useful.

From where I sit, these five functions are essential for any African business preparing for this new era:

1. AI agent management: Turning ideas into action

This role ensures that AI is used for the right reasons and for clear business outcomes. It starts with identifying where AI can make a measurable difference, whether that’s improving customer service, speeding up internal processes, or advancing financial inclusion, something we’ve already seen by companies like Absa, which is using AI to deliver faster, more accessible banking services.

Given the understandable skepticism around AI in Africa, especially concerns about job losses or data misuse, anyone using an AI agent must show real, practical benefits. It’s time to move from experiments to work that actually matters.

2. AI risk and governance: Building trust from the start

AI use  is impactful when people trust it, which requires strong safety barriers from the very start.
Africa faces a unique challenge: many global AI models are trained on data that doesn’t reflect our languages, cultures or contexts, which can create bias, errors, and even harm in some cases, as we’ve seen with content systems that fail to moderate hate speech in African languages.

Robust AI governance, people, process and technology puts the right checks in place: bias testing, transparency reviews, data protection and ongoing monitoring. This isn’t about introducing more red tape; it’s about building and maintaining  trust. If AI tools are going to act and make decisions independently, the safeguards must be solid, visible and consistent.

3. AI operations management: Scaling for dependability

The reality is that most – almost 95% – AI pilots fail. Often it’s because companies try to build everything from scratch, only to run into security risks, bad data or runaway costs.

In Africa, failed pilots are even more painful because budgets are tighter. The AI operations management function prevents this. It handles the day-to-day running of AI systems, by deploying them properly, keeping them stable, monitoring performance and making sure they stay secure.

Working inside this function is the AI platform engineer, whose job is technical and hands-on: they connect agents, data and applications into a single, reliable workflow. They make sure the system runs smoothly around the clock and can deploy digital labour when demand grows.

AI management teams must keep the operation steady and aligned with the organisation’s needs; the platform engineer makes the machinery actually work.

4. AI Workforce Training & Development: Bridging tech and talent

Technology only works when people understand how and when to use it. This is where the training function becomes critical.

A significant digital literacy gap exists, with only half of African countries including computer skills in their school curricula. The AI learning and development manager must prioritise structured training, moving from basic AI awareness to role-specific capability development, ensuring employees are prepared for the “human-agent collaboration” that defines the future of work. Salesforce’s latest Slack Workforce Index shows people using AI are 81% more satisfied with their job than those who aren’t, making training a critical function for talent attraction and retention.

5. AI workforce integration: Augmenting human potential

This is about fostering seamless, productive collaboration between human employees and AI systems. The goal is to augment human capabilities, enabling employees to focus on creative and strategic tasks and reduce friction.

By automating repetitive and time-consuming activities, AI can free employees to focus on high-value work and strategic initiatives. We’ve seen real-world success, such as Secret Escapes increasing autonomous resolution rates from 10% to 30%, which allows human employees to focus on higher-value interactions. The AI collaboration strategist defines the essential interaction points and optimises collaboration models to ensure AI enhances our human ingenuity.

Africa’s opportunity in the agentic era

The move toward agentic systems isn’t just another tech upgrade. It changes how work actually gets done. For Africa, it’s a real opportunity because it has the potential to deliver better public services, faster responses, and the ability to grow without inflating limited budgets.

These five functions, from governance to workforce integration, give organisations the structure they need to use AI safely and effectively. Without them, AI is guesswork, but with them, it becomes something that can genuinely support growth.

After witnessing many AI success stories at Dreamforce, one thought kept surfacing: while success and profit are noble causes, Africa has a duty to set the bar higher and use AI as an opportunity to elevate its people and solve real human problems.

Can we, as Africans, afford to miss this opportunity to make meaningful change on a continent that knows too well the price we pay for being left behind? Africa’s AI success starts with each of us taking up the responsibility to participate, develop ourselves, train our people, rethink our workflows, and place skills where they’ll make the biggest difference. We need AI solutions that reflect our values and serve our people.

• Linda Saunders, Country Manager & Senior Director Solution Engineering, Africa, Salesforce