Digital technology can free human talent to do more creative tasks

By Elmar Els – Enterprise & Integration Architect at Coca-Cola Beverages Africa

Bryanston, South Africa – The evolution of digital technology has transformed everything – from how people interact in their social and work lives to how businesses operate and innovate. Until recently, this transformation has followed a largely linear trajectory. 

However, with the rapid global adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, robotics and other transformative technologies, we’ve reached an inflection point. From here on, change will be exponential. 

In fact, the pace of IT evolution will never again be as slow as it is today. 

This is why Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) has embraced a digital transformation strategy designed to “bend the curve” of adaptability – ensuring the business keeps pace with this accelerating change. 

At the core of this approach is a guiding principle: change is never pursued for its own sake – whether we’re applying AI, automating processes or reimagining workflows, the golden thread is always “ease of doing business”. 

This principle drives our customer obsessed approach to digital transformation and innovation. As CCBA accelerates its digitalisation journey, we remain focused on delivering value through what has been dubbed “exponential IT”. 

Ultimately, the role of group IT is to understand real-world processes and challenges, and to develop solutions that make life easier for its customers – whether those customers are CCBA employees, management, or the businesses that buy our products. 

Realising the full value of digital tools requires a mindset shift – from both employees and IT business partners – to drive adoption and unlock potential. 

Take our e-commerce platform, MyCCBA, for example. It empowers customers to place, track and process orders via an app, at their convenience, rather than waiting for a visit from a sales representative. But to fully leverage this tool, we must rethink the role of the sales rep. If they’re still doing most of the order-taking, we’re missing the point. Technology should be a force multiplier for human effort – not a replacement, but a redefinition. Sales reps can now evolve into business developers. 

This shift also impacts how we approach recruitment and skills development. 

AI can handle much of the routine work that consumes time better spent on creative and strategic tasks. As a result, we need to move away from role-based thinking and focus instead on the skills required in this new era. 

One such skill is “prompt engineering” – the ability to give AI the right instructions and ask the right questions to get the best result. This is just like having a conversation with a colleague: you provide feedback, request changes, and iterate toward a better outcome. 

From an IT perspective, this means moving beyond the traditional “IT desk” and becoming embedded in every part of the business. Only by being close to the action can IT business partners truly understand customer pain points and contribute meaningfully to the ease of doing business – with IT as an enabler. 

For CCBA, our approach to partnering with customers for growth means deeply understanding and prioritising the needs of customers – whether they’re retailers or end consumers. We aim to deliver value that goes beyond simply selling beverages. This aligns with our vision to refresh Africa and create shared value. 

Partnering with customers at CCBA means customer-centric execution through understanding the unique needs of different market segments across Africa and ensuring product availability at the right time, place, and price. We leverage data and analytics to anticipate customer demand and preferences.  

But it’s also about delivering value beyond the product – offering best-in-class service to retail partners and helping customers grow through insights, promotions, and tailored support.  

For us, this is what customer obsession looks like. 

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Matthew Welz

General Counsel, CCBA

Matthew joined us from the Clicks Group, a JSE Top-40 company, where he has been the Head of Legal and Company Secretary since 2016. In this role Matthew successfully navigated a highly regulated environment, including overseeing compliance with company laws and the JSE Listings Requirements. As company secretary, he managed governance at Board level as well as being the Chairman’s chief of staff. Prior to this, Matthew was a Legal Manager with Anglo American, a major multinational diversified mining group, which includes three companies listed on the JSE, with extensive operations across Southern Africa.