Africa's Top Business Leaders Chart AI Future at Johannesburg Summit

Artificial intelligence has moved from the margins of African business strategy to its center, and on Thursday, 27 August 2026, the people making the decisions that will shape that shift will gather in one room.

The CNBC Africa AI Summit 2026 will take place at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, running from 09h00 to 17h00 with registration opening at 08h00. The event has been relocated from its originally planned venue at The Maslow Hotel to the larger Ballroom space at the Convention Centre, a direct response to surging delegate demand. That shift in venue is itself a signal of how quickly AI has become a priority across African business and public life.

For ordinary citizens, the stakes are concrete. Banks, energy providers, governments and major enterprises are now building AI adoption into their core planning for the next decade. The decisions being made in boardrooms and policy offices today will determine how AI affects jobs, financial services, public infrastructure and the rules that govern everyday life across the continent. The summit brings those decision-makers into a single forum.

“Look at who’s on this stage: the CEOs running Absa, Discovery Bank and PwC, the researchers at IBM and CSIR building the underlying science, and the regulators and academics stress-testing it. These are the people developing AI in the country, signing off on budgets, deploying it into banking systems and writing the rules around it. If you want to know what’s being built in South African business right now, this is the one day a year it’s all in one room,” said Sid Wahi, Founder of the CNBC Africa AI Summit and Vice-Chairman of CNBC Africa.

Roberta Naicker, Chief Executive Officer at CNBC Africa, put it plainly. “AI is not a side conversation for African business anymore. It’s central to how banks, energy providers, governments and enterprises are planning their next decade. The AI Summit continues CNBC Africa’s role in convening the leaders who are shaping AI’s future across Africa.”

The summit operates under the theme “Where AI Meets the Future” and structures its day around eight conversations. These cover AI agents and next-generation automation, governing AI in the African context beyond regulatory frameworks, the future of African enterprise under AI transformation, sustainable energy and smart infrastructure applications, how AI is rewiring global finance, AI’s impact on human cognition, the future of work in an AI-driven economy, and investment trends from major technology players. Each thread connects directly to services and systems the public depends on.

The speaker roster reflects that breadth. Kenny Fihla, Group Chief Executive Officer of Absa Group, will participate alongside Dion Shango, Chief Executive Officer of PwC. Academic voices include Prof. Letlhokwa Mpedi, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Johannesburg, and Prof. Basie von Solms, Director of the Centre for Cyber Security at the University of Johannesburg. Prof. Catherine Botha, who specializes in philosophy, AI ethics and governance at the University of Johannesburg, will address the governance questions that matter most to the public.

Technology and infrastructure perspectives come from Steven Santini, Secure Power Vice President for Sub-Saharan Africa at Schneider Electric, and Sabine Dall’Omo, Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Sub-Saharan Africa. Research and development expertise is represented by Jabu Mtsweni, Executive Cluster Manager at CSIR NextGen Enterprises and Institutions, and Dr. Ndivhuwo Makondo, Research Scientist and Manager at IBM Research Africa.

Meanwhile, the financial services contingent is substantial. Banking and financial services speakers include Hylton Kallner, Chief Executive Officer of Discovery Bank; Johnson Idesoh, Group Chief Officer of Information and Technology at Absa; Cheslyn Jacobs, Chief Executive Officer of GoTymeBank; and Mark Nasila, Chief Data and Analysis Officer at FNB Risk. Governance and policy representation comes from Kutlwano Chaba, Chief Digital Officer at SALGA.

Additional speakers include Kaushik Chattergee, Senior Vice President at Zenzar South Africa; Nicky Verd, a digital futurist and AI thought leader; Tertius Zitzke, Group Chief Executive Officer of 4SightHoldings; Dr. Bongani Andy Mabaso, Group Chief Technology Officer at Altron Group; Nabeel Rajab, Technical Solutions Architect at Cisco SA; and Richard Walker, National Head of Risk Advisory Services at BDO South Africa.

Media accreditation and delegate registration are available through CNBC Africa’s event coordination team. Whether the governance frameworks and deployment decisions discussed on 27 August will adequately protect and benefit the broader public, or primarily serve the institutions deploying these systems, remains the open question hanging over the day.