Nairobi, April 19 -- In the bustling heart of Nairobi, a quiet shift is happening that will determine the winners and losers of the next decade.

For years, the conversation around digital transformation in East Africa has centred on the simple act of going digital, moving from paper to screens or launching a mobile application. Today, the stakes have evolved.

As banks, insurers and manufacturers across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania scale to serve millions of people across borders, they are hitting a structural wall.

The traditional way of doing business where growth in customers requires proportional growth in staff is no longer sustainable. To compete in an economy increasingly defined by artificial intelligence, our regional enterprises...