Meet the CIO | Absa CITO Johnson Idesoh on AI, Cyber and the Future of Banking

Why It Matters

Absa’s AI‑centric strategy and sizable software write‑off signal a broader shift in African banking toward digital resilience and strategic re‑investment. The move underscores how AI and cyber‑security are becoming essential for competitive advantage and risk management.

Key Takeaways

• Absa recorded a R2.4bn (~$130m) software impairment for FY 2025
• AI is the top agenda for Absa’s CTO, tied to strategy
• Internal AI agent resolved 11,000 employee queries with 90% success
• Legacy COBOL code on IBM z16 hinders modernization despite new hardware
• Absa pushes AI‑driven cyber defenses and apprenticeship‑style developer training

Pulse Analysis

African banks are accelerating AI adoption as regulators tighten oversight of financial services. Absa’s recent R2.4 billion software impairment—approximately $130 million—reflects a strategic pivot toward a pan‑African, client‑led model that demands faster, data‑driven decision‑making. By reallocating capital from legacy assets to AI‑enabled platforms, the group aims to stay ahead of competitors while meeting heightened compliance expectations across the continent.

Cyber‑security has become a parallel battlefield, with threat actors leveraging generative AI to discover vulnerabilities at scale. Idesoh argues that banks must turn the same technology inward, using AI to automate vulnerability scanning and remediation. Absa’s internal AI support agent, which has resolved 11,000 staff tickets with a 90% success rate, illustrates how intelligent automation can shrink response times and free security teams for higher‑order tasks. This approach not only reduces operational risk but also builds a culture of rapid, data‑centric incident handling.

Despite modern hardware like IBM’s z16 mainframes, many African banks remain shackled by decades‑old COBOL applications. The persistence of these legacy systems hampers agility and inflates maintenance costs. Absa is tackling this by promoting apprenticeship‑style training for developers, shifting away from traditional senior‑junior hierarchies toward skill‑based pathways. Coupling talent development with AI‑assisted coding tools promises to modernize core banking functions while preserving critical business logic, positioning the institution for sustainable digital transformation.