Nigerian businesses need to take a more active approach to understanding and controlling their data as cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) adoption increases, according to Country Head, Zoho Nigeria, Kehinde Ogundare.
Ogundare made the call during a fireside chat with the Managing Editor at Techeconomy, Joan Aimuengheuwa, during the maiden edition of GrowthX by Techeconomy in Lagos, where they discussed enterprise technology and data privacy.
Ogundare encouraged businesses to look beyond regulatory compliance and consider where their data is stored, who can access it, how it is being used, and the level of control they have over their information.
“From a business owner’s standpoint, what is your understanding of data sovereignty? What do you know about your data? Do you know where it is stored? Do you know how it is being used? Who is processing your data? Who is accessing it and what kind of control you have over it?”, he rhetorically queried.
He said these considerations have become increasingly important as businesses adopt cloud and AI technologies. He also urged businesses using AI platforms to understand how their data may be handled, particularly whether business information could be used to train AI models.
The need for stronger data controls is particularly relevant for businesses handling sensitive customer and financial information.
Ogundare said security and privacy should form a central part of technology procurement, with businesses accessing the infrastructure, business continuity, security, privacy, and access controls offered by technology providers.
Beyond security and privacy, Ogundare highlighted that businesses should consider whether technology investments deliver measurable value and can scale alongside their operations.
He warned that businesses risk losing confidence in technology when significant investments do not result in improvements and instead make processes more complex.
He added that technology should work with existing business processes and be capable of adapting as organisations grow.
“Because technology should work with your operation, you don’t have to change your operations for your technology to accommodate it. You should be able to customise the technology to fit into your process, and, eventually, you will be able to optimise your processes when technology shows you some gaps, and then you scale up from there,” Mr. Ogundare added.
For Nigerian businesses adopting cloud, AI, and enterprise software, Ogundare said technology decisions should therefore extend beyond cost to include security, privacy, control, scalability, business continuity, and the value the technology will deliver.
