Linda Olumide, a specialist in cross functional transformation and digital infrastructure development within the telecoms sector, has said that artificial intelligence alone does not guarantee better business outcomes. She stressed that without strong decision making frameworks, the introduction of AI into organisations may deliver speed but not real value.
Olumide explained that across fast growing businesses, especially in Nigeria’s telecoms and technology enabled sectors, the real challenge is not lack of data but the quality of decisions made under pressure. According to her, talent related decisions often determine whether growth plans succeed or fail, even when leadership does not immediately recognise it.
She noted that many organisations expand into new markets without building the right internal skills early enough. As a result, they are forced to hire reactively, pay high costs for external talent, and assemble teams that appear strong on paper but struggle when market conditions change. These choices, she said, later show up as delayed expansion, shrinking margins and weak execution.
Olumide observed that the rapid adoption of AI globally has outpaced organisational readiness. While companies from Lagos to London are deploying advanced tools, many have failed to redesign how decisions are made and interpreted. This, she said, has created a growing gap between technological capability and actual commercial impact.
She explained that AI delivers the most value when it supports human judgment rather than replaces it. When workforce data is linked to commercial planning, leaders can better understand talent gaps, execution risks and growth pressures. However, this also forces leaders to confront difficult trade offs, such as whether to reskill existing staff, slow expansion or accept higher costs.
Drawing from experience in a telecoms expansion project, Olumide recalled how predictive hiring tools correctly flagged future skill shortages. Despite the accuracy of the data, leadership failed to act effectively because they relied too heavily on dashboards rather than interpretation. Internal skills existed but were trapped in siloed teams, leading to costly external hires and delayed market entry.
She concluded that organisations that gain the most from AI are those that clearly define where human judgment remains essential. In volatile markets like Nigeria’s digital economy, she said, AI should make uncertainty more visible, not hide it. Ultimately, how leaders respond to that visibility is what shapes long term growth and resilience.