Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (Mubas) has challenged executives to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) as a driver of innovation and organisational change.
Mubas Management Development Centre manager Ella Kangaude made the call on Thursday at the opening of the Executive Management and Leadership Seminar in Mangochi District held under the theme ‘Embracing AI and digital transformation for effective leadership and management’.
She said the centre aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice by equipping leaders with practical skills to address emerging challenges, including AI.
“AI has come to stay and leaders must be at the forefront of embracing it because the world is changing rapidly and organisations that fail to adapt risk being left behind,” said Kangaude.
Kangaude said Mubas organised the seminar after a survey revealed reluctance among many Malawian organisations to embrace AI.
She likened the hesitation to early resistance toward mobile phones, WhatsApp and Facebook, technologies once feared but now integral to daily life.
Sparc Systems Limited founder and chief executive officer Wisely Phiri, who was the guest speaker, urged executives to lead AI adoption rather than leaving it to information technology (IT) specialists.
He warned that sidelining strategic leaders prevents organisations from fully realising AI’s potential.
Phiri commended Mubas for targeting executives, saying they are best-placed to break institutional silos and drive AI integration.
“We have seen companies focusing on training IT experts while leaving out executives who make strategic decisions, and that creates silos which prevent organisations from fully benefiting from AI,” he said.
