TCS - The TechCentral Show

The pace at which artificial intelligence is reshaping the threat landscape is outstripping the ability of most organisations to defend themselves, with shadow AI, synthetic identity attacks and a looming quantum computing disruption all converging at once.

That’s the view of DataGroupIT CEO Werner Lindemann, who joined Duncan McLeod on the TechCentral Show to unpack what business leaders should be doing about AI and information security.

Lindemann, who spent more than 30 years in senior roles at BCX and Clickatell before joining the security solutions distributor, says the African threat environment is no longer a watered-down version of what is happening elsewhere. Attackers are deploying the same AI-powered tools globally, and AI-enabled phishing campaigns now achieve click-through rates that traditional defences were never designed to withstand.

A bigger blind spot, he argues, is shadow AI – employees pasting sensitive data into unapproved AI tools without oversight. Lindemann says this is fast eclipsing the shadow IT problem of the past decade because the tools are free, frictionless and often invisible to security teams.

The conversation also tackles the credibility crisis facing identity verification. With AI now able to clone a CEO’s voice in real time or generate synthetic profiles that pass biometric checks, Lindemann believes traditional verification methods are fundamentally flawed. A big challenge is helping boards understand the issue in business rather than technical terms.

Lindemann also weighs in on the rise of the chief AI officer role, following Sanlam’s recent appointment, and on whether African organisations are equipped to adopt AI at the pace global peers are setting given the continent’s acute skills shortage.

The discussion closes on quantum computing. Lindemann challenges the conventional view that the quantum threat is a decade away, and outlines what business leaders should be doing now to prepare for the post-quantum cryptography world – even if the risk still feels distant.

Award-winning South African film director Donovan Marsh has pivoted to artificial intelligence filmmaking and believes generative AI tools could fundamentally reshape how movies are made – and who gets to make them.

Marsh, whose 30-year career includes directing the Hollywood submarine thriller Hunter Killer starring Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman, the Spud films and iNumber Number, is the latest guest on the TechCentral Show.

The economics, he tells TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod, are extraordinary: a single complex scene in a traditional production requires crews, equipment, locations and days of scheduling, while AI tools collapse much of that overhead into work that can be done at a desk.

But Marsh is clear that the creative work has not disappeared. He still directs shot by shot, much as he would on a conventional set, and uses a patchwork of different AI tools – no single product yet does everything. He has found that simpler prompts produce better results, saying over-prescription tends to degrade output quality.

Marsh acknowledges the disruption this implies for camera operators, lighting crews, set designers and extras. But he argues that AI filmmaking could prove liberating for smaller filmmaking markets like South Africa, where the budgets to make ambitious local movies have dwindled.

He has co-founded Dragon Studios AI with Ronnie Apteker and Stephen Cholerton, and is developing what he believes will be among the first AI-generated feature films. The tools are not quite there yet for a full 90-minute production, he says, but the gap is closing fast.

Marsh also weighs in on where the so-called “uncanny valley” still trips up generative video, the future of the acting profession and what AI filmmaking could look like by 2029.

MTN South Africa has launched Pi, a digital-only mobile operator that runs on MTN’s network but operates as a standalone brand, offering contract-free mobile and home 5G connectivity through a single app, with no call centres, no credit checks and no lock-in.

In this episode of the TechCentral Show, TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod talks to Divyesh Joshi, chief commercial officer at MTN South Africa, about the thinking behind the launch and what it signals about the direction of the local telecommunications market.

Pi’s pricing is aggressive: R79/month for 500 voice minutes and R199/month for 20GB of mobile data, for example, alongside home fixed-wireless broadband plans.

McLeod asks whether Pi is essentially MTN’s fightback against Telkom, which has been quietly gaining prepaid market share with competitive data pricing – and whether the launch is also a response to mobile virtual network operators like Melon Mobile.

The conversation explores what Pi means for MTN’s margins, particularly on voice, and whether the aggressive pricing on calls is an admission that voice has become a commodity in a market where many consumers have shifted to WhatsApp for calls.

McLeod also asks whether Pi represents MTN’s attempt to get ahead of a structural shift in how people consume telecoms services – drawing a parallel with MultiChoice’s failure to adapt quickly enough to changing market demands in the video entertainment space.

A key question is what happens to MTN’s existing SuperFlex product, which targets a similar customer base. Is Pi going to cannibalise MTN’s own subscribers?

Finally, McLeod and Joshi discuss MTN’s new eSim-based roaming deals, which offer data at R12/GB in markets like China and France – though curiously, roaming in eSwatini, where MTN has a subsidiary, costs R85/GB.

Don’t miss the conversation!

The South African Post Office has been in business rescue – a form of bankruptcy protection – since July 2023. Business rescue practitioners Anoosh Rooplal and Juanito Damons have made it clear to parliament that the entity will not survive liquidation unless a R3.8-billion bailout is received soon.

With some 5 500 jobs on the line, the big question is: is the Post Office worth saving? Rooplal spoke to TechCentral’s Nathi Ndlovu and was asked that question.

In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Rooplal talks about:

• The case for the bailout: The business rescue practitioners have already received R2.4-billion from government, while bailouts for the Post Office over the past decade amount to nearly R10-billion. Rooplal attempts to answer why this latest funding request is worth it.

• The current state of the Post Office: Rooplal outlines what the R2.4-billion tranche was used for and what the R3.8-billion request would do, if provided. He also details what the future state of the entity might look like and how, without much in terms of income, salaries are currently being paid.

• The need for a state-owned postal service: Even if national treasury were to agree to save the Post Office, does it have a place in a modern digital economy?

• External funding and asset sales: If the business case for the Post Office’s revival is so strong, why have the businesses rescue practitioners not sold or rationalised assets or gone to the open market for funding?

• Social grants and Post Bank: Rooplal explains what would happen to the many grant recipients processed via the Post Office should it not survive business rescue.

• Private sector partnerships: The department of communications & digital technologies in November issued a request for information seeking private sector partnership proposals. Rooplal explains the “chicken and egg” problem at the core those discussions.

• No more options: Chapter 6 of the Companies Act compels business rescue practitioners to file for liquidation if they see “no reasonable prospect” of rescue. Rooplal explains why he and his associate, Damons, are close to pulling the trigger.

Don’t miss the discussion!

Artificial intelligence isn’t just changing how work gets done, it’s rewriting the rules of business. Organisations are scrambling to redefine processes and job descriptions, while employees are grappling with new tools and new ways of thinking that are transforming the way they approach their daily tasks.

In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Antony Makins, acting CEO at TForge and chair of the special group on AI and robotics at the Institute of IT Professionals South Africa, unpacks the skills revolution unfolding alongside the AI one.

Makins delves into the patterns emerging across organisations and the broader labour market as AI adoption accelerates.

He also explores the mindset shift it’s imposing on the workforce, and which roles are being hit hardest by AI-driven changes to how we work.

He delves into the opportunities that exist despite the very real threat AI poses to jobs – and what government can do to create an enabling environment for workers to adapt to a labour market increasingly shaped by AI, machine learning and data analysis.

Don't miss it the conversation!