Ghanaian businesses that fail to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) risk falling behind as the technology transforms industries, while workers who continuously upgrade their skills stand to benefit from new opportunities, the co-founders of AI training platform Built have said.

Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Thursday (16 July), Built co-founders Joshua Amoah Baah, a software engineer, and Maud Hotor, a product designer, said AI is no longer a future concept but a present-day tool capable of improving productivity, reducing costs and streamlining business operations.

Baah argued that the greater danger was not irresponsible use of AI but ignoring the technology altogether.

“Ignoring it altogether is the worst one,” he said.

He said AI would increasingly automate routine tasks such as customer service, administration and business processes, allowing companies to improve efficiency rather than eliminate human workers.

“I think it’s going to create new opportunities,” Baah said, adding that workers who fail to upgrade their skills risk becoming obsolete, much like previous waves of technological change that automated banking and other services.

The founders urged Ghanaian businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to adopt AI gradually instead of treating it as a marketing buzzword.

According to Baah, many businesses make the mistake of trying to introduce AI without first understanding or improving their existing processes.

“They tend to bolt it on rather than understanding the foundation of their business,” he said.

Hotor said AI had emerged from her own frustrations as a startup founder, where hiring designers, developers, marketers and other professionals was often prohibitively expensive.

She said AI could simplify many of those processes, allowing entrepreneurs to automate repetitive tasks and focus resources elsewhere.

“For most small businesses, many AI products are already free or affordable,” she said.

The pair highlighted customer service, administrative work, business reporting and product photography among the areas where SMEs could immediately deploy AI tools to improve productivity and cut operational costs.

However, they stressed that AI should complement rather than replace professionals.

“People think AI is going to replace designers, but it’s helping us work faster,” Hotor said.

On education, the founders called for universities to integrate AI training into their curricula and encourage students to learn how to use the technology responsibly rather than prohibit its use.

They also urged greater investment in Ghanaian AI startups and researchers.

“There are companies like Kaya AI and Mino Health doing great work,” Baah said. “If government invests more in local talent, it will change how we develop our own AI solutions.”

Looking ahead, the founders said Africa has an opportunity to become a creator of AI-driven innovation rather than simply a consumer of technologies developed elsewhere.

“AI is no longer a future conversation,” Baah said. “The question is whether we are prepared to use it responsibly and competitively.”