Sterling Bank CEO Advocates for AI Development
Managing Director and CEO of Sterling Bank Limited, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman has said it is critical for the government and corporate bodies to pay attention to the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to remain competitive in the emerging global economy.
In a keynote address at the just concluded Innovate AI Conference in Lagos themed, “Adapting AI For Nigeria, Crafting Intelligent Solutions for Our Unique Landscape,” Suleiman warned that neglecting AI could jeopardize efforts aimed at enhancing business efficiency and national competitiveness. He said countries and companies failing to embrace AI risk falling behind, as AI-driven technologies offer the potential for significantly higher productivity.
He said, “If we fail to pay attention to artificial intelligence, all our efforts at ease of doing business, national competitiveness will come to nought because those who deploy technology on this scale will be able to deliver higher productivity than we do. And for those of us in the private sector, the same way the country will become less competitive is the same way in which companies that fail to embrace AI will become less competitive and they will die.”
Highlighting the transformative power of AI, Suleiman underscored the need for nations to formulate sovereign AI strategies and foster ecosystems conducive to AI investment. He cautioned against the concentration of AI-driven wealth and power, advocating for intentional efforts to ensure equitable distribution and stability in the future.
He said, “Countries that do not have a sovereign strategy around AI, those that do not have the ecosystem that attract investment in AI, those that do not provide the roadmap for people to develop this technology stand the risk of being carried away.
“If we do not domesticate this tool there is a high risk that while this technology has so much capability to enhance the capability of those who invested in it, those capabilities will be more powerful in reducing global inequality, improving global healthcare and giving access to higher quality education.
“It is true each time there is a major technological breakthrough, there is a shift in wealth and power. Some nations will become more powerful and richer and in most cases, when this power or wealth is concentrated in a few countries it leads to a shift in geo-politics.”