SAS urges African insurers to embrace bold AI strategies for future success

SAS is urging insurers across Africa to prioritise governance from the outset to avoid costly trust gaps and compliance failures.

Itumeleng Nomlomo, Senior Business Solutions Manager at SAS in South Africa.

By Dumisani Sigogo

SAS, a global provider of analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions headquartered in the United States, has issued a bold call to African insurance companies to prioritise the adoption of AI technology or perish.

SAS warns that as generative AI (GenAI) quickly reshapes the insurance industry, the sector in Africa must prioritise governance from the start to prevent costly trust gaps and regulatory failures.

Building on recent global customer success, including Polish insurer PZU's landmark collaboration with SAS AI Governance Advisory, the business is now urging African insurers to implement governance-first frameworks that promote both innovation and integrity.

“AI is redefining what is possible in insurance, but the speed of adoption often leaves governance playing catch-up. Trust is not built after the fact. It must be engineered into every model, each customer interaction, and all decision systems,” says Itumeleng Nomlomo, Senior Business Solutions Manager at SAS in South Africa.

This local push comes as SAS continues to expand its portfolio of AI offerings globally. SAS’s broader strategy includes the rollout of domain-specific AI agents within its SAS Viya platform, enabling insurers to automate complex decisions while maintaining oversight through built-in ethical guardrails.

“The reality is that many African insurers are still modernising core systems while navigating regulatory uncertainty. This makes governance even more essential not less. A unified approach to AI governance gives insurers the structure and foresight to innovate responsibly while protecting their customers and brand,” says Nomlomo.

To support this shift, SAS recently launched the AI Governance Map, a free online assessment that benchmarks an organisation’s governance maturity across four key domains: oversight, compliance, operations and culture.

The tool provides tailored recommendations, enabling insurers to pinpoint gaps and take pragmatic next steps without overhauling existing infrastructure.

Nomlomo notes that “Insurance is fundamentally about trust. As we build more automated, AI-powered experiences for customers, from claims processing to personalised product design, we must ensure those experiences are explainable, inclusive, and bias-free. That is not a technical problem. It is a governance imperative.”