Business

77% of South Africa businesses AI-ready, over half see benefits — TradingView News

Published

2 days ago

July 8, 2025

Staff Writer

A new Asus survey reveals that 77% of South African business decision-makers are ready to adopt AI tools immediately, with over half already experiencing measurable outcomes. These findings point to a tech-savvy market that is not just exploring AI, but actively using it to improve productivity, sharpen decision-making and enhance customer experiences.

The results come from the Asus 2025 Future of SMBs report, which surveyed South African business leaders on how small and midsize businesses (SMBs) are navigating digital transformation. The findings reflect not only a strong appetite for innovation but also growing confidence in AI’s real-world impact.

“There’s real momentum behind AI adoption in South Africa. Instead of holding back, businesses are embracing these tools to solve real challenges and unlock new opportunities,” says Marce Heath, business head of marketing at Asus South Africa.

South African SMBs lead in AI readiness

The survey reveals a market that is both confident in technology and pragmatic about its potential:

– 77% are ready to adopt AI immediately

– 51% are already seeing clear business outcomes

– 43% expect to see benefits within 1–2 years

– 92% agree that adopting AI helps retain younger employees

Respondents cited the following advantages:

– Improved productivity and operational efficiency (76%)

– Stronger data insights and analytics (67%)

– Faster, more informed decision-making (54%)

Even with this optimism, South African SMBs are approaching adoption strategically. Data security, system maintenance and the need to stay current with emerging technologies remain key concerns. This points to a preference for sustainable, long-term solutions over quick fixes.

The South African findings align with broader insights from Asus’s global white paper, Why SMBs Are Backing AI for Global Growth, based on research in 32 markets. Around the world, SMBs are leveraging AI to expand into new markets, navigate linguistic and operational barriers, and build long-term partnerships rather than short-term transactional relationships.

Rather than chasing scale for its own sake, many are opting for controlled, tech-enabled growth, with AI and trusted digital infrastructure playing a central role in helping businesses adapt with confidence.

Asus devices designed for the AI era

To support this shift, Asus has developed laptops and desktops tailored to the demands of intelligent, connected work. The Asus Expert P Series combines enterprise-grade security with collaboration-enabling features, such as real-time translation, automated meeting summaries and transcription, watermarking and smart system optimisation.

Powered by Asus AI ExpertMeet and Windows 11 Pro, these tools are helping teams collaborate securely, work more efficiently across time zones and adapt to hybrid work environments with ease.

“Technology should accelerate growth, not complicate it,” adds Heath. “With our AI-ready devices, we’re equipping South African businesses with practical, secure tools that support how they work today and into the future.”

It’s this blend of performance, usability and peace of mind that makes Asus devices a natural fit for the AI-driven priorities emerging across the local business landscape.

Behind the insights: Inside the Asus SMB study

The Asus 2025 Future of SMBs report surveyed 101 South African business leaders across industries, including general managers, IT specialists and procurement professionals. It forms part of a broader global study conducted across 32 markets to understand how SMBs are responding to technological change.

To access the full Asus 2025 Future of SMBs report or learn more about Asus Business, visit SMB AI white paper.

For media inquiries

Clockwork contact: Tshepi@clockworkmedia.co.za

Asus contact: marce_heath@Asus.com

About Asus

Asus is a global technology brand that provides innovative and intuitive devices, components and solutions to deliver incredible experiences that enhance the lives of people everywhere. With its team of 5,000 in-house R&D experts, the company is world-renowned for continuously reimagining today’s technologies. Consistently ranked as one of Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies, Asus is also committed to sustaining an incredible future. The goal is to create a net zero enterprise that helps drive the shift towards a circular economy, with a responsible supply chain creating shared value for every one of us.

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Business

EU unveils AI code of practice to help businesses comply with bloc’s rules

Published

5 hours ago

July 10, 2025

Associated Press

By KELVIN CHAN, Associated Press Business Writer

LONDON (AP) — The European Union on Thursday released a code of practice on general purpose artificial intelligence to help thousands of businesses in the 27-nation bloc using the technology comply with the bloc’s landmark AI rule book.

The EU code is voluntary and complements the EU’s AI Act, a comprehensive set of regulations that was approved last year and is taking effect in phases.

The code focuses on three areas: transparency requirements for providers of AI models that are looking to integrate them into their products; copyright protections; and safety and security of the most advanced AI systems

The AI Act’s rules on general purpose artificial intelligence are set to take force on Aug. 2. The bloc’s AI Office, under its executive Commission, won’t start enforcing them for at least a year.

General purpose AI, exemplified by chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, can do many different tasks and underpin many of the AI systems that companies are using across the EU.

Under the AI Act, uses of artificial intelligence face different levels of scrutiny depending on the level of risk they pose, with some uses deemed unacceptable banned entirely. Violations could draw fines of up to 35 million euros ($41 million), or 7% of a company’s global revenue.

Some Big Tech companies such as Meta have resisted the regulations, saying they’re unworkable, and U.S. Vice President JD Vance, speaking at a Paris summit in February, criticized “excessive regulation” of AI, warning it could kill “a transformative industry just as it’s taking off.”

More recently, more than 40 European companies, including Airbus, Mercedes-Benz, Philips and French AI startup Mistral, urged the bloc in an open letter to postpone the regulations for two years. They say more time is needed to simplify “unclear, overlapping and increasingly complex EU regulations” that put the continent’s competitiveness in the global AI race at risk.

There was no sign that Brussels was prepared to stop the clock.

“Today’s publication of the final version of the Code of Practice for general-purpose AI marks an important step in making the most advanced AI models available in Europe not only innovative but also safe and transparent,” the commission’s executive vice president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, Henna Virkkunen, said in a news release.

Originally Published: July 10, 2025 at 6:44 AM PDT

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Business

AI/R Company Launches AI-Powered Platform to Streamline Corporate Hiring Processes

Published

5 hours ago

July 10, 2025

The Manila Times

With AI/Quick-Match, the AI agent Llia cuts hiring costs by up to 80% and reduces time-to-hire by up to threefold

SAN FRANCISCO, July 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AI Revolution Company (AI/R), a global leader in AI-driven business transformation, has announced the launch of Llia, its next-generation AI agent. Through its flagship product AI/Quick-Match, Llia delivers data-driven hiring decisions, helping companies make smarter, faster, and more cost-effective recruitment choices.

Designed as a “plug-and-play” solution, AI/Quick-Match seamlessly integrates with existing recruitment tools to accelerate hiring, reduce expenses, and ensure better candidate matches. The platform enhances HR teams by aligning talent profiles with organizational needs, automating candidate screening, conducting technical and behavioral interviews, and providing in-depth analytics-transforming the recruitment process from end to end.

“Automating interviews saves recruiters valuable time and delivers more accurate evaluations. With AI-driven insights and data-backed feedback, companies can make more confident hiring decisions. In fact, AI/Quick-Match has been shown to reduce recruitment costs by up to 80% and accelerate the hiring process by up to three times,” explains Maycon Zamunaro, CTO of Invillia, the AI/R company behind the platform. In just one month since its launch, the tool has powered over 1,000 interviews and led to approximately 100 successful hires.

Llia was created to be a natural extension of human teams-an AI agent that connects data, intelligence, and knowledge to support better decision-making and empower organizations.

Soon, three more products will be added to the Llia suite: AI/Team-Management, AI/Onboarding&Training, and AI/Performance-Review, enabling the platform to support every stage of the organizational lifecycle.

According to Alexis Rockenbach, Global CEO of AI/R Company, Llia is redefining how companies approach recruitment and talent management. “Its integrated and highly customizable products allow it to operate across all phases of the employee journey: attraction, retention, management, and development. Llia isn’t just an assistant-it’s a strategic pillar for scaling people and teams,” he states.

About AI/R

AI/R, headquartered in California, is an Agentic AI Software Engineering company that leverages its powerful ecosystem of proprietary AI platforms and hyper-specialized tech brands to drive the global enterprise revolution. Through its proprietary AI platforms and strategic partner platforms, AI/R is reshaping industries and setting new standards for business innovation and productivity. By embedding AI into every aspect of its operations, AI/R’s mission is to make the AI revolution a revolution for everyone, empowering human talent and raising the bar for digital transformation. Let’s breathe in the future.

Contact

Milena Buarque Lopes Bandeira

[email protected]

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