By Jordaan Burger, Managing Director, Sage Africa and Middle East
South African businesses are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to improve productivity, automate routine work and support faster decision-making. As organisations adopt AI, many are recognising that trust and transparency are now just as important as capability. When AI systems cannot clearly explain how outputs are generated, employees often spend significant time validating information before acting on it, reducing the productivity gains AI is intended to deliver. This challenge, often referred to as a “Verification Tax”, demonstrates that the real value of AI lies not only in automation, but in trust. As businesses scale AI adoption, they increasingly need solutions that are transparent, explainable and auditable.
For Small and Medium-sized Business (SMBs), where resources are already stretched, trust in AI is becoming just as important as the technology itself. The opportunity lies not only in helping businesses adopt AI and cloud technologies, but in ensuring those solutions are transparent, secure and verifiable. This is creating a new and increasingly strategic role for channel partners.
The technology channel landscape in South Africa is therefore undergoing a fundamental transformation. For decades, the relationship between IT vendors, channel partners, and SMBs was largely transactional. Today, driven by AI and cloud computing, that dynamic has permanently shifted. For South African businesses, digital agility is no longer a competitive advantage alone; it is a critical mechanism for resilience, growth and long-term success. Channel partners are no longer just software resellers; they are becoming trusted advisors helping businesses navigate digital transformation. In an AI-driven economy, trust is increasingly becoming a business imperative.
SMBs are no longer asking for software licenses. They are asking for resilience, efficiency, and a roadmap to navigate digital disruption.
According to Sage’s global report titled ‘SMBs demand for digital advisory services fuels IT channel growth’, 55% of IT resellers reported an increased role in providing strategic advice over the past year. The mandate is clear: technology providers must look at their customers’ overall business needs and guide them well beyond the simple sell-and-buy transaction.
The South African Appetite for Digital Agility
In South Africa, the appetite for this advisory approach is particularly strong. The same report highlights that an overwhelming 99% of South African resellers say cloud-based accounting software will encourage digital agility and advisory services among their SMB customers.
As SMBs increasingly adopt AI-powered tools, the combination of cloud and trusted AI will be critical to unlocking greater productivity and business value. Furthermore, 77% of local resellers cite financial data analytics and reporting tools as valuable for delivering advisory services and helping customers make better business decisions.
AI and Cyber Security: The Dual Engines of Change
While businesses are eager to leverage AI to automate processes and increase efficiency, concerns around transparency, governance, data privacy and accuracy remain significant barriers to adoption.
This creates a clear paradox for South African businesses: while 63% of local resellers say AI and automated services are key to building digital agility, finance leaders are spending up to 13 hours a week validating AI-generated outputs because they do not fully trust them. This “Verification Tax” is not an argument against AI; rather, it highlights the importance of adopting trusted AI solutions that provide transparency, accountability and confidence in decision-making.
For SMBs, every hour spent validating outputs is time that could be spent serving customers, managing operations or pursuing growth. When AI systems provide clear reasoning, visibility into data sources and appropriate governance controls, businesses can spend less time verifying outputs and more time realising the productivity benefits AI promises.
This presents a prime opportunity for channel partners to step in as expert navigators. 68% of South African resellers view cyber security technology as the most important tool for building digital agility over the next 18 months, closely followed by AI and automated services at 63%.
While AI may dominate global headlines, South African channel partners are right to put security first: in a market frequently targeted by cyber threats, a secure-by-design approach must come before opening the floodgates to AI.
The Trust Imperative: Championing “Glass Box” AI
Nowhere is this need for guidance more critical than in the finance function. As channel partners guide their clients through AI adoption, they must address the growing issue of digital trust.
The ‘Emerging Economics of AI in Finance‘ white paper by Sage and IDC reveals a stark reality about how businesses view automation. The report notes that 71% of finance leaders would veto a 99% accurate AI tool if it lacked a human-readable reasoning trace. The market is increasingly demanding “Glass Box AI”, AI that provides clear visibility into data sources, underlying assumptions and decision logic. This is the foundation of trusted AI, enabling organisations to understand, validate and confidently act on AI-generated insights.
For channel partners in South Africa, this means the advisory role must include educating clients on governance and auditability and responsible AI adoption. The most successful partners will be those who help SMBs build confidence in AI through transparency, accountability and clear business outcomes. The competitive differentiator is no longer simply the AI itself. It is the ability to help businesses deploy AI responsibly and deliver trusted outcomes at scale. Reducing the Verification Tax becomes a natural outcome of deploying AI that is transparent, explainable and trusted.
Securing the Future
By focusing on building digital agility, championing transparent AI deployment, and ensuring robust cyber security, channel partners are positioning themselves for sustainable success.
As AI adoption accelerates, channel partners who focus solely on software sales may struggle to remain relevant in an increasingly advisory-led market.
Those who help businesses implement transparent, secure and auditable “Glass Box AI” solutions will become indispensable board-level advisors, capable of guiding SMBs through the next phase of digital transformation. In doing so, they will help businesses move from simply adopting AI to confidently realising its full productivity potential.
