Accelera Digital Group’s Catherine De Klerk stopped by the ITWeb studio to discuss the implications, concerns and potential of agentic AI.
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We’re at a point where many businesses are realising that agentic AI is what comes next. The shift from one-off prompts in generative AI (GenAI) to intelligent agents that can run end-to-end processes and, ultimately, take meaningful action on our behalf is where digital transformation begins.
“A lot of people have gotten used to using GenAI – it’s something they use day-to-day,” says Catherine De Klerk, customer success manager at Accelera Digital Group (ADG).
“Agentic AI takes a step in a different direction. It still uses the value of GenAI but it automates some of those processes.”
Even with GenAI, writing a proposal, for example, can be a lengthy process where continuous prompting is required. “An AI agent removes the multiple steps needed and automates the entire process. The AI takes action, rather than you being the prompter,” adds De Klerk.
Automation is one of the ways businesses can reduce burnout. It frees people up by removing mundane and repetitive processes. For De Klerk, this means giving employees the time to be creative. Instead of doing something that takes energy away, they’re invigorated.
“Agentic AI can make life easier for people inside the organisation,” she says.
Throughout Africa, there are already strong use cases for agentic AI. From agriculture to healthcare, this is a tool that can help businesses leapfrog, creating localised innovative solutions.
One of the major industries where De Klerk has already seen agentic AI impact is finance. “Financial services have massive amounts of customers and they want to grow. With AI for document verification, instead of going through 10 000 documents a day, they can do 200 000,” she continues. “They no longer have the long process of verifying a document and can actually focus on the customer.”
Catherine De Klerk, customer success manager at Accelera Digital Group.
Although agentic AI is an incredible resource, De Klerk says there are many misconceptions, one being that it can replace people. “You absolutely do need a human in the loop.
“Also, not everything has to be an agent – that will take a lot of time and energy. Rather focus on the specific things that are really important to your business. But start somewhere.”
The idea of AI implementation can be daunting, especially for organisations that believe everything needs to be in place and perfect. De Klerk’s advice is to start small, find the right use cases and build that competency from inside of your business.
“Agentic AI is something that businesses need to take seriously, because it isn’t going to go away anytime soon.”
Powering African innovation
Despite the fact that ADG has teams working in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, De Klerk believes agentic AI is not a tool for big businesses. “In Africa, you get a lot of sole proprietors and entrepreneurs. Often, in the beginning, you don’t have cash flow to hire 30 people,” she says.
Today, businesses can start small and leverage AI for specific roles. Automation is one of the most effective ways to scale. “In Africa, we’re scrappy,” she ends. “We often are innovative and come up with completely revolutionary ways to do things. And now, you don’t need to be technical to be able to leverage the best of agentic AI and get going.”
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