By President Ntuli, Managing Director of HPE South Africa
In 2026, enterprise leaders received’t simply be navigating change, they’ll be constructing the aircraft mid-flight. As the brand new 12 months kicks off, the tempo of technological development is accelerating, redefining the very material of enterprise. The normal boundaries between enterprise and expertise have all however disappeared — tech is enterprise, and enterprise is tech. This convergence calls for agility, daring decision-making, and innovation in movement. In a world powered by exponential leaps in AI, cloud, and digital ecosystems, transformation is now not a challenge with an finish date, however quite a steady journey. Success is dependent upon how briskly you possibly can evolve with out dropping altitude.
Listed below are the highest traits shaping enterprise modernisation in 2026, and steering round how leaders can keep forward.
Effectivity takes centre stage as organisations rethink virtualisation
South Africa’s persistently subdued progress outlook is forcing leaders to sharpen their deal with effectivity. Regardless of enhancements in electrical energy provide, the financial system stays caught in low gear, and that actuality is reshaping IT priorities.
For many years, virtualisation has been the spine of enterprise infrastructure. However rising licensing prices, and the widespread adoption of hybrid cloud environments are prompting a rethink. Add to that the calls for of AI workloads, and it’s clear: the outdated playbook now not works.
Leaders are asking robust questions: How will we scale back prices with out sacrificing efficiency? How will we modernise with out including complexity? The reply lies in adopting a extra open, versatile strategy to virtualisation — one which optimises current investments whereas simplifying operations throughout each hybrid and personal environments.
To start out, companies ought to audit their present environments to uncover underused sources and get rid of overprovisioning. Leveraging AI-driven insights may also help right-size workloads and consolidate digital machines for larger effectivity. On the similar time, lowering licensing prices requires a strategic shift towards open platforms that help a number of hypervisors, easing dependency on expensive proprietary options. Lastly, planning for hybrid flexibility is important: options that combine seamlessly throughout non-public, public, and edge environments permit organisations to modernise at their very own tempo with out disruption.
Effectivity isn’t nearly trimming prices — it’s about constructing a basis for agility and innovation.
From pilots to proof: The strain to speed up AI worth
The race to show AI ambition into tangible enterprise outcomes is intensifying. In South Africa, IT leaders face mounting strain to maneuver past pilots and ship measurable affect. But, this urgency collides with a tough fact: with out strong infrastructure and clear, well-governed knowledge, even essentially the most superior AI fashions will fail.
The trail ahead begins with readability. Leaders should determine high-impact use circumstances that align with enterprise aims and might scale efficiently. On the similar time, investing in knowledge curation and governance frameworks is non-negotiable. Fragmented datasets should be reworked into centralised intelligence to unlock actionable insights.
Turnkey AI options provide a sensible technique to speed up progress. Prebuilt platforms allow companies to deploy AI purposes shortly with out reinventing the wheel, lowering complexity whereas guaranteeing efficiency. In a local weather of tight budgets and excessive expectations, these ready-to-go techniques may also help leaders show worth quick, whereas laying the groundwork for long-term resilience.
Safety all over the place is essential to resilience
Cybersecurity is getting into a brand new frontier. South African organisations are dealing with heightened publicity, with solely 8% reporting no knowledge breaches prior to now three years, far beneath world averages. The rise of AI-powered threats, from malware and provide chain assaults to deep-fake social engineering, is amplifying threat and demanding a brand new mindset. Conventional, reactive approaches are now not sufficient.
The problem for native leaders is twofold: strengthen defences whereas accelerating innovation. But fewer than a 3rd of firms are investing considerably extra on proactive measures. Adoption of rules and practices like knowledge minimisation and accountable AI is restricted. These weaknesses matter as a result of AI-driven assaults exploit poorly ruled techniques.
As an alternative, safety should be “in-built, not bolted on”. Meaning embedding cybersecurity rules, like zero belief, into each section of the enterprise and expertise lifecycle, from design and growth to deployment and upkeep. Leaders ought to prioritise proactive measures reminiscent of steady monitoring, rigorous testing, and governance frameworks that anticipate evolving threats. Equally crucial is fostering a tradition the place safety is everybody’s accountability, not simply an IT perform.
In an period the place AI accelerates each alternative and threat, resilience is dependent upon making safety a design precept, not an afterthought.
Rethinking roles and constructing collaborative, future-ready groups
As expertise turns into inseparable from enterprise technique, the strains between roles are blurring. Conversations about AI and cybersecurity can now not sit solely with CIOs or CISOs; they have to contain HR, finance, and operations. Enterprise selections are actually tech selections — and vice versa.
African CEOs are signaling this variation, with 67% redeploying workers into AI-enabled roles. Already, leaders recognise that digital literacy and AI fluency are important management traits. In truth, these rank among the many high three capabilities for contemporary executives.
With this in thoughts, South African companies should redesign roles to mirror convergence throughout features and shut crucial abilities gaps. Meaning embedding AI and cybersecurity consciousness into each division, fostering cross-functional groups, and investing in steady studying. HR should lead cultural transformation, finance should perceive tech-driven funding priorities, and boards should have interaction deeply on threat and resilience.
The long run workforce isn’t simply tech-savvy, it’s built-in. Firms that embrace this can unlock agility, innovation, and resilience in an period outlined by speedy change.
Constructing the aircraft whereas flying isn’t only a metaphor, it’s the fact for South African enterprise leaders navigating 2026. Success will hinge on having the precise techniques, expertise, and expertise in place to adapt at pace. From rethinking virtualisation and accelerating AI adoption to embedding safety and redefining roles, resilience is dependent upon sturdy foresight. Those that put money into stable foundations whereas delivering fast wins is not going to solely keep airborne, they’ll chart the course for progress.
