Johannesburg, South Africa
Digital transformation may have brought dashboards, data, and payment solutions, but for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in South Africa, one key element is still missing: confidence.
“Adoption and access are no longer enough; confidence is what turns technology into progress,” said Ciarán Quilty, Senior Vice President for International at Intuit, in his article Confidence Is the New Currency in the AI Economy.
According to research from Mastercard’s SME Confidence Index, while 90% of South African SMEs now accept digital payments, far fewer have embraced data-driven systems or artificial intelligence (AI) to guide critical decisions. Across Africa, 76% of SMEs expect revenues to remain stable or grow in the coming year, yet many still hesitate to make the leap from adoption to confident usage.
Quilty highlighted that the real challenge for many SMB leaders is not information, but noise an overload of data points, dashboards without context, and insights that arrive too late. “The result is something quieter than failure: hesitation,” he explained.
AI as a Partner, Not Just a Tool
For Quilty, the promise of AI lies in its ability to build confidence through relevance. He cited examples of AI agents that can flag late-paying customers before an invoice is sent, suggesting small but impactful actions that improve cash flow and trust in the system.
“Technology alone does not build trust,” Quilty noted. “The best results come when AI and human advice work in tandem: spotting patterns, prompting better decisions, and giving leaders the space to think.”
A 2025 ASUS survey found that 77% of South African SMB leaders are ready to adopt AI immediately, with more than half already reporting measurable benefits, such as improved productivity, better data insights, and faster decision-making. However, many still identify skills shortages as a major barrier to deeper integration.
Clarity Over Complexity
Quilty argued that what SMBs need most is not more dashboards but clarity. Instead of overwhelming leaders with trend graphs and predictions, AI should focus on surfacing actionable insights.
“One shows you the issue. The other helps you solve it,” he wrote, emphasizing the importance of AI systems that narrow decision fields and build trust.
The Next Evolution
Looking ahead, Quilty stressed that confidence must be treated not as a secondary benefit but as a central driver of progress. “If we want to equip leaders for what comes next, we need to design for confidence. That means building systems that strip away noise, surface what matters, and let leaders lead.”
