Strategy
Most Kenyan SMEs are asking the wrong question about AI
Ian Obiero · 7 August 2026 · 6 min read
Every week a business owner asks us which AI tool they should buy. It is the wrong question.
AI is not a product you purchase. It is a capability you apply to a specific, expensive, repetitive process. So the first question is not about tools at all — it is about where your business leaks time.
Start with the leak, not the tool
Write down the five tasks your team repeats most often. Quotations. Reconciliations. Customer follow-ups. Stock counts. Report compilation. Now put a number against each: how many hours a week, at what cost.
That list is your AI roadmap. Everything else is theatre.
Why Western playbooks fail here
Most AI content assumes clean data warehouses, credit-card billing, and a dedicated data team. The reality across East Africa is WhatsApp order books, M-Pesa statements, and a two-person finance function. The work is not less sophisticated — it is differently shaped, and it needs implementation partners who have actually operated in that shape.
What a first engagement should look like
Two hours. One process. A concrete 90-day roadmap with owners and costs attached. If a consultant cannot give you that, they are selling you a deck.