Absa’s AI chatbot reaches 1.6m users

Absa’s AI chatbot reaches 1.6m users

Johnson Idesoh, group chief information and technology officer, Absa Group. (Photograph by Lesley Moyo) Absa Group says its agentic artificial intelligence (AI)-based chatbot handles over 100 000 queries per month from approximately 1.6 million users. This, as the banking group continues to modernise its core platforms, positioning technology as a strategic lever for growth across…

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Absa’s AI is writing its code and answering its calls

Absa’s AI is writing its code and answering its calls

More than 1 400 Absa developers are now using AI-assisted coding tools, including GitHub Copilot and Anthropic’s Claude Code, the bank disclosed on Wednesday in a statement on its first-half technology performance. It is the second disclosure of an AI development stack by one of South Africa’s big four banks in a week. Standard Bank named…

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Absa’s silence and the banking MVNO move no one has tried

Absa’s silence and the banking MVNO move no one has tried

South Africa has four banking MVNOs (Capitec Connect, FNB Connect, Standard Bank Connect and Nedbank Connect), and they’re all essentially running the exact same playbook. The logic is simple enough: use a mobile product to deepen the banking relationship, gather behavioural data between transactions and create sticky switching costs as a customer’s financial life grows….

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Absa’s defence against frontier AI cyberthreats: more AI

Absa’s defence against frontier AI cyberthreats: more AI

Absa Group CITO Johnson Idesoh Absa Group will deploy AI-powered “super agents” to scan its systems for vulnerabilities and shorten patch cycles as it prepares its defences against a new class of frontier AI models capable of finding and exploiting software weaknesses at speed. Group chief information and technology officer Johnson Idesoh told TechCentral’s Meet…

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Absa’s tech chief maps AI’s future path

Absa’s tech chief maps AI’s future path

Johnson Idesoh, group chief information and technology officer at Absa Group. The next phase of artificial intelligence (AI) will be defined by autonomous agents, human-AI collaboration and Africa’s ability to build technology ecosystems suited to its own realities. This came to light at ITWeb’s AI Summit 2026, where Johnson Idesoh, group chief information and technology…

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