Turn AI into revenue, Odundo tells media

African media outlets must move beyond adopting new technologies and find ways to turn artificial intelligence (AI) and digital platforms into sustainable sources of revenue, Nation Media Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Geoffrey Odundo has said.

Mr Odundo challenged corporate executives, content creators and policymakers to rethink how local industries use digital infrastructure to generate economic value.

He spoke on Tuesday, October 28, at the sixth Nation Digital Summit in Nairobi.

The two-day summit, themed The Intelligence Shift: Power Platforms and the future of Digital Africa, brings together media executives, technology entrepreneurs, investors and government representatives to explore how digital activity can translate into sustainable revenue and keep more wealth within African economies.

Mr Odundo said that despite high levels of digital consumption in the region, local platforms and creators continue to capture only a fraction of the economic value generated.

“The biggest conversation we have today is AI  and we keep asking ourselves what AI will do for us. The question about how our businesses are adopting these new technologies is a very big one. How are entrepreneurs developing new solutions using these new tools? How are our creators reaching global audiences?” Geoffrey Odundo posed

Read: How AI is transforming traditional work into digital systems

Kenya ranks among the leading markets for per capita digital content consumption, particularly on video-sharing platforms, but local creators remain poorly positioned to capture a significant share of global advertising revenue.

Mr Odundo cited Kenya’s reported high TikTok usage as an example of the gap between digital engagement and the economic benefits retained locally.

“What this tells us about the power of the platform is that we have to be able to now transform this into opportunity. Who is building these platforms? Who is monetising them? What knowledge and intelligence is shared through them? And where does the economic value reside around them,” he said.

He said African businesses must move from being consumers of global digital platforms to developing solutions, reaching wider markets and building business models that generate local returns.

However, Mr Odundo cautioned that the adoption of AI must be accompanied by safeguards against misinformation, disinformation, deepfakes, algorithmic bias and content manipulation.

“The use of these technologies is not just efficiency," Geoffrey Odundo said. "What are the risks? Misinformation and disinformation will come. So governance is a big problem, and that is key to ensure what we do is clear. Our conversation about intelligent organizations and the future of work is a very big aspect of what we are going to discuss here,” he said.

He said media organisations and other businesses must prepare their workforces for changing roles while establishing governance frameworks that protect public trust and ensure responsible use of emerging technologies.

Read: Parliament moves to rein in AI before technology outruns law

Nation Media Group said the summit is part of its efforts to connect public and private sector leaders, encourage partnerships and support the development of Africa’s digital economy.

"Convening the summit is an institutional responsibility to inform, connect, and empower society.Through journalism, platforms, and partnerships, we want to help ideas find people, resources, and scale, while providing visibility, scrutiny, and trusted information. Africa's next digital chapter will not be determined simply by technology availability, but by the choices we make about how we use it, the value we create, and the people we empower.,” he said.

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