FORMER Google South Africa chief executive officer Stafford Masie has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) could deepen Africa’s social and economic harm if businesses view it only as a cost-cutting tool instead of a driver of new value creation.
Masie made the remarks during the just-ended fourth edition of the In Conversation with Trevor Ideas Festival under the theme The Future of Human Capital, Innovation, and Ethics in the Age of AI.
The former Google executive urged African leaders to put humanity, ethics, and imagination at the centre of their innovation strategies.
“These technologies are amazing. These technologies are profound. But these technologies are profoundly dangerous. AI will lead to potential dystopia,” Masie said.
“You can go and do more with less. Your operating margin of your business will balloon.
“Your bonus will be incredible. But that won’t be because of AI — it will be because of a lack of imagination on behalf of you as a leader to utilise these tools not to do more with less, but to do more of what was previously thought impossible.
“And that takes character. That takes humanity.”
Masie warned against placing technologists at the centre of strategic decision-making without balancing perspectives.
- Ex-Google executive Stafford Masie to headline Ideas Festival
- Masie pushes for AI use for new value creation
Keep Reading
“That’s ensuring that people like me are not driving the strategy in a business. People like me today are dangerous. We will excite you. You will execute sincerely—but sincerely wrong,” he said.
This comes as AI has become a global disruptor, creating income and availing income for businesses by cutting their costs.
“AI is not the danger. The danger is leadership that doesn’t understand the humanities. We need, as much as we need the technologists in the room, we need the person that understands Greek mythology, Roman history, and journalism,” Masie said.
“Those people are important because they balance out people like me. They’ll go, ‘No, wait — do you understand the implications of what you’re doing?’”
He encouraged Zimbabwean banks not to reduce staff or branch networks in the name of efficiency.
Instead, he called on leaders to use AI to reimagine financial services and unlock new opportunities.
“So, I was encouraging banks in Zimbabwe today not to do more with less bank branches, less people, to rather take the tools and reimagine a whole new portfolio of financial services,” Masie said.
He warned that AI can amplify inequality if left unchecked.
“AI is a superpower, but its kryptonite is inequality,” Masie said.
He said human-machine collaboration should prioritise societal benefit, not just operational optimisation.
“This is not the disintermediation of humanity — this is human-machine symbiosis,” Masie said.
He reiterated the importance of diversity in leadership teams, urging boards to include experts in history, anthropology, palaeontology, and journalism alongside technologists.
Masie said Africa was at a unique inflection point, where technology and human ingenuity could combine to overcome long-standing challenges.
“We don’t need more technology people on boards. What we need are people that understand the humanities — Greek mythology, Roman history, palaeontology, anthropology — to balance out the technology people like myself. Because people like me can do things wrong,” he said.
“We have the opportunity to unlock latent human potential. Technology is finally catching up to the individual in the street, enabling people to deliver services that were previously thought impossible, and to be paid in ways that are secure and equitable.”
While AI presents risks of dystopia, he said the outcome ultimately depends on the character and imagination of the people wielding it.
“The problem is not the tools—it’s the people that wield the tools. If leadership focuses on humanity, ethics, and imagination, AI can become a force for profound social and economic transformation,” he said.
The convener of the festival is Alpha Media Holdings (AMH) chairman, Trevor Ncube.
AMH are the publishers of NewsDay, Southern Eye, Zimbabwe Independent, and The Standard and owns broadcaster Heart and Soul.
