Zambia has taken a step toward accelerating enterprise-level artificial intelligence adoption following an executive AI briefing convened by the Ministry of Technology and Science in partnership with Pranary.
The Executive Artificial Intelligence Briefing, held on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, brought together 30 senior decision-makers for a focused discussion on deploying AI at scale in 2025. The session aimed to equip C-suite leaders with practical roadmaps, governance frameworks and leadership insights aligned with Zambia’s digital transformation agenda.
Minister of Technology and Science Felix Chipota Mutati described artificial intelligence as a national imperative, comparing its importance to essential utilities such as electricity. He said AI does not require deep technical expertise to use, but does demand strong leadership, adequate infrastructure and mindset shifts to deliver impact.
Mutati emphasized that AI should complement human intelligence, with wisdom, judgment and ethical responsibility remaining human roles. He identified four key enablers for AI adoption in Zambia: strengthened digital infrastructure, reliable energy supply, continuous skills development and trust built through collaboration and governance.
The people dimension of AI transformation was highlighted by Dr. Lelemba Phiri, director at ATG, who said more than 70 percent of digital transformation initiatives fail due to organisational readiness and leadership challenges rather than technology constraints. She described AI as the most significant workplace shift since the rise of the internet and warned that misalignment between leadership behaviour and strategy often undermines adoption.
Phiri noted that skills now have a lifespan of three to five years, making continuous learning essential. She outlined leadership mandates that include visible executive adoption of AI, output-based performance measurement, psychological safety, institutionalised learning, and rewards for efficiency and innovation.
From an enterprise deployment perspective, Pranary Chief Executive Officer Sandras Phiri urged leaders to treat AI as a business transformation initiative rather than an IT project. He said Zambia has an opportunity to leapfrog traditional digitisation by adopting agentic and generative AI systems capable of delivering value within weeks.
He also pointed to the untapped potential of proprietary data across sectors such as mining, finance, insurance and public administration, stressing the importance of executive ownership and governance.
The briefing underscored the need for organisations to assess AI readiness before deployment, with attention to governance, executive accountability, strategic clarity, data advantage and risks linked to unauthorised AI tools.
The overarching message from the session was that AI is no longer optional. Participants agreed that responsible, people-centred adoption of AI could help drive productivity, resilience and inclusive growth in Zambia. Leaders were urged to invest in skills, strengthen governance and embed AI into core decision-making to shape the country’s next phase of digital and economic transformation.
