TCS+ | FNB's Christoph Nieuwoudt on the AI revolution

Loading player...
First National Bank’s Christoph Nieuwoudt is one of the leading South African – and global – experts on artificial intelligence.
The financial services group’s chief data and analytics offer, Nieuwoudt joins Duncan McLeod on TechCentral’s TCS+ business technology show to explain why, in his view, South African organisations cannot afford to ignore the revolutionary changes that will be driven by AI in the years ahead.
Nieuwoudt, who graduated with a doctorate in engineering focused on machine learning long before AI was a hot-button topic, talks about his doctoral thesis and his career history, which included co-designing the computer engineering degree at the University of Pretoria.
In this episode of TCS+, Nieuwoudt unpacks:
• What exactly is involved in being a chief data and analytics officer;
• Why AI is critically important to the FirstRand Group and its subsidiaries, including First National Bank and Rand Merchant Bank, and what it allows the group to do differently – and better;
• What it means for FirstRand and FNB/RMB customers;
• The importance of generative AI in business and what it means for productivity gains;
• The applications of AI in banking;
• FirstRand’s AI reskilling initiative – why it’s important, and the outcomes that are expected;
• Ethical, legal and reputational considerations around AI, and FirstRand’s approach to these;
• The people element – and the real fear that people could lose their jobs;
• The cultural and change management issues to be aware of when implementing AI-led initiatives; and
• What youngsters interested in this field should be studying.
Don’t miss a fascinating conversation!
26 Jun 2023 English South Africa Technology · Business

Other recent episodes

TCS+ | Vox on AI, data rules and omnichannel communication for SMEs

Phone calls, e-mails and in-person conversations were once the only ways businesses could talk to their customers. Social media changed that. Marketing, customer acquisition, sales and support now happen across a growing number of channels. That brings clear benefits, but it can also leave businesses with a fragmented communication ecosystem…
26 Oct 14 min

TCS | The Cape Town firm quietly connecting Eskom, Pep and 6 000 ATMs

Réan van Niekerk Metacom has spent 25 years designing its own routers and running private networks for some of Africa's biggest retailers, without a cent of venture capital. In this episode of the TechCentral Show, founder Réan van Niekerk tells Fanie van Rooyen how the Cape Town company came to…
23 Oct 36 min

TCS | Frogfoot sees bigger fibre deals coming

Frogfoot plans to keep buying smaller fibre network operators in South Africa’s suburbs as the market consolidates, but CEO Shane Chorley stopped short of ruling out a sale of the business. “I’d be ignorant to say that we would ignore any offer,” Chorley said on the latest episode of the…
8 Oct 40 min