By By Farai Gwelo, Executive Director of the African Institute for Digitisation, Data, AI and Society (AI-DDAIS)
AI agents are the long awaited solution African small businesses and entrepreneurs have been needing to revolutionize their operations and lift the burdens they face in their business endeavours.
This year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2025) has been buzzing with fascinating announcements and ground-breaking showcases of some of the biggest, smartest, most advanced, and sometimes downright weird innovations in tech. But what really stole the show for me was NVIDIA’s CEO Jenson Huang’s keynote speech and particularly the part where he spoke about AI agents.
If I’m honest, CES 2025 was not the first time I was hearing about AI agents. I’d been hearing a growing buzz about them, but I’d never really taken an interest to understand what they are all about. Then Jensen Huang’s speech at CES 2025 unexpectedly lifted the fog for me when he painted the picture of AI agents as an “AI workforce”.
His description of the capabilities of this “AI workforce” brought the profound potential of these intelligent systems into sharp focus. Listening to him I couldn’t help but think about how this could be a game changer for African small businesses and entrepreneurs. But of course Jenson Huang’s speech animated the possibilities for me and as I listened on.
I learned that AI agents are intelligent systems that can perform tasks autonomously, using data from various sources, learning, adapting to situations, and continuously improving over time. I immediately began to imagine having an AI worker that can manage a small business’s workflow, or inventory, autonomously personalise customer service among myriad other tasks that AI agents can handle and I knew that every small business owner and entrepreneur needs to know about this!
I mean, African entrepreneurs, much like all entrepreneurs around the world often have to wear multiple hats just to keep their businesses running, and resources are usually limited. I started to see a panorama of the possibilities – AI agents streamlining customer support, sales, and marketing workflows, freeing up time and resources for growth and innovation. It’s a game-changer. To bring this to life for you let’s look at some practical examples of AI agents at work in small businesses:
- Customer Support and Engagement
Imagine a small online retailer using an AI agent to handle customer queries. This isn’t just a simple chatbot; this AI agent can manage complex queries, process customer orders, track delivery statuses, and even make personalized product suggestions. It can understand customer behaviour, anticipate needs, and even recommend product exchanges or upsell based on past purchasing patterns. This takes customer service to a whole new level, offering a personalized experience without the need for a large team.
- Sales and Marketing Automation
AI agents can also streamline sales and marketing workflows. For example, an AI agent can analyze customer data across social media platforms, websites, and sales channels to determine the most effective marketing strategies. Based on customer preferences, it can create personalized marketing campaigns and even suggest the best times to send promotions. By automating these tasks, small businesses can save time and effort, while significantly improving their customer reach and engagement.
- Managing Returns and Exchanges
For retail businesses, managing returns and exchanges can be a cumbersome process. AI agents take this load off by not only automating the return process but by offering smarter solutions. For instance, an AI agent can analyze a customer’s past purchases and behavior to suggest alternative products they might like when returning an item. If the customer is reluctant to return, the agent might offer a recommendation for an exchange, guiding the customer through what’s available, and even proposing a personalized discount. This type of personalized recommendation, based on data-driven insights, improves customer satisfaction and increases sales.
- Workflow Automation for Inventory Management
Small businesses often struggle to efficiently manage inventory. AI agents can assist in this area by analyzing purchase patterns, stock levels, and sales forecasts to automatically adjust inventory orders. These agents can also predict when a product is likely to run out of stock and place orders to restock automatically, saving time and preventing stockouts. This predictive capability helps businesses stay agile, ensuring they can meet customer demand without overstocking.
Having been fully sold on the capabilities of AI agents I began thinking about how small businesses and entrepreneurs in Africa could effectively employ then within their operations and put together the following guide.
1. Define Your Business Needs
Before diving into AI agent integration, it’s crucial for businesses to understand their specific needs. Do you need better customer engagement? Or perhaps you’re looking to automate repetitive tasks like inventory management or marketing? Understanding what you want the AI agent to accomplish will guide the selection of the right platform and agent.
2. Select Appropriate AI Agent Platforms
For businesses looking to integrate AI agents, choosing the right platform is key. NVIDIA offers a suite of solutions that can help businesses build and deploy AI agents. With tools like NVIDIA NeMo™, businesses can create custom AI applications that streamline processes and optimize workflows. NVIDIA NIM™ allows businesses to accelerate AI deployment, while NVIDIA AI Enterprise offers end-to-end solutions to deploy and scale AI in production environments. These platforms help businesses leverage the latest in AI technologies without needing extensive in-house development.
3. Start Small, Scale Gradually
Small businesses should begin by integrating AI agents into one area of their business—perhaps customer support or inventory management—and scale from there. There are AI agents that offer customer service automation, while others help automate workflows by connecting various apps and services. Many of these platforms offer user-friendly interfaces and pre-built integrations that don’t require deep technical expertise, making them ideal for small businesses.
4. Invest in Training and Support
While many AI agents come with pre-built features, training them to understand your business processes and data will ensure they operate effectively. Many platforms offer resources to help you understand and optimize your AI tools. Additionally, small businesses should look into ongoing support options to ensure the integration runs smoothly.
5. Monitor and Adapt
As with any technology, it’s important to monitor AI agent performance and gather feedback. AI agents thrive on data, so the more data you provide, the more refined their outputs will become. This adaptability is one of the major benefits of AI agents—they learn over time, becoming more attuned to your business and/or customers’ needs. Much like human employees, AI agents can be meticulously trained to understand and operate within the unique framework of your business. This training process involves exposing the AI to your company’s data, processes, and objectives, enabling it to adapt and perform tasks that align with your specific needs. By leveraging machine learning algorithms, AI agents analyze data to identify patterns and make informed decisions, continuously refining their capabilities over time.
Following CES 2025, I researched more information on AI agents and their capabilities and I can say that I need no further persuasion that AI agents are the long awaited solution African small businesses and entrepreneurs have been needing to revolutionize their operations and lift the burdens they face in their business endeavours. What an exciting time we’re living in! My wish is for every small business and entrepreneur to know about AI agents and to be supported in employing them effectively in their businesses to drive success. The African Institute for Digitalisation, Data, AI, and Society (AI-DDAIS) is just an email away, ready to support businesses and entrepreneurs in understanding this emerging technology and how it can serve them in their operations.
