Dell Forum takes on the hard work of scaling AI

South African businesses are moving rapidly from testing artificial intelligence to working out how to support it across everyday operations, putting pressure on everything from data centres and security to employee devices.

That will be the focus of Dell Technologies Forum Johannesburg 2026, which takes place at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit on 3 November. Dell Technologies says the event will bring together business and technology leaders to examine the systems companies need if they want AI projects to move beyond pilot programmes and into wider use.

The timing reflects a sharp rise in AI spending. IDC forecasts that spending on AI in Europe, the Middle East and Africa will reach $319-billion in 2026, up 19.2% year on year. That growth is more than three times faster than overall IT spending in the region.

For companies, those budgets extend well beyond buying access to AI software. Large-scale use depends on computing capacity, access to usable company data, security controls and systems that can recover when something goes wrong. Dell is using the Johannesburg forum to focus on those less glamorous parts of the AI boom.

Habib Mahakian, vice president for Southern and Sub-Saharan Africa, CEEMETA, at Dell Technologies, said organisations had moved into a new phase of AI adoption.

“For organisations in South Africa, the priority is no longer exploring what AI could make possible, but making sure the infrastructure, data, devices, security and governance foundations are ready to support it at scale,” he said.

One of the main topics will be the practical work required to scale AI through an organisation. Early AI projects can run on a limited set of data or through cloud services, but wider deployment can create new demands around storage, processing, access controls and integration with existing business systems.

The forum will also examine infrastructure modernisation. Dell says companies need technology platforms that can cope with AI, analytics and data-heavy workloads while remaining manageable for internal IT teams. For South African organisations, that discussion often includes the cost of replacing ageing infrastructure while keeping older systems running.

A separate focus will be sovereign AI and trusted data. The term generally refers to keeping greater control over where data is stored and processed, which technologies are used to handle it, and which legal or governance rules apply.

It has become a bigger issue as businesses and governments examine where sensitive information goes when AI services are hosted across different countries and cloud platforms.

In South Africa, that debate intersects with privacy obligations under the Protection of Personal Information Act and with the requirements of companies operating in regulated industries. Dell says governance and compliance will form part of the Johannesburg programme alongside the technical choices around infrastructure.

AI PCs and other intelligent workplace devices will also feature. PC manufacturers have spent the past two years adding neural processing units, or NPUs, to laptops and desktops so some AI tasks can run directly on the device.

Local processing can improve speed and privacy for selected workloads while reducing dependence on cloud computing. The business case still depends heavily on the software employees use and on companies finding tasks that benefit from running AI on the PC itself.

Dell says the forum will demonstrate how AI-ready workplace devices can be used for productivity, collaboration and security.

Cyber resilience forms another part of the programme. As organisations place more data and business processes into AI-supported systems, they also increase the damage that can follow from compromised accounts, corrupted information or ransomware.

The forum will cover data protection, recovery and governance as part of infrastructure planning. This becomes particularly important when AI tools have access to large volumes of company information or can act across business systems.

Attendees will hear from Dell Technologies executives and specialists and see live demonstrations of the company’s infrastructure and device technologies. Dell is also positioning the event as a place for customers to compare their AI plans with those of other organisations facing similar technology and budget decisions.

The Johannesburg event forms part of Dell Technologies Forum, the company’s global series of customer and partner gatherings. Local discussions are expected to focus heavily on the cost, governance and infrastructure implications of deploying AI in South African organisations, where technology teams are being asked to support new workloads while maintaining existing systems and security requirements.

Mahakian said: “As conversations around sovereign AI, cyber resilience and trusted data become more important across South Africa, Dell Technologies Forum Johannesburg will help customers focus on the decisions that matter, how to modernise with confidence, reduce complexity and build technology environments that can support long-term business value.”

Registration for Dell Technologies Forum Johannesburg 2026 is open through Dell Technologies.

To register for Dell Technologies Forum Johannesburg 2026, follow this link.

* Jason Bannier is a data analyst at World Wide Worx and deputy editor of Gadget.co.za. Follow him on Bluesky at @jas2bann.