Dell Technologies has warned that many South African data centres are not built to handle artificial intelligence workloads. The company gave the warning at its annual Dell Tech Forum in Johannesburg.
Dell cited its Modern Enterprise Readiness Study 2026. It said 48 percent of South African leaders reported that their data centres and infrastructure were not fully ready. The leaders were talking about their most demanding workloads at production scale, including AI and analytics.
“This is actually a warning as a friend to South Africa, and we have been telling everybody,” said Mohamed Amin, Dell’s senior vice president for the CEEMETA region. He spoke to Hypertext at a media roundtable during the event.
Amin said operators learned about the gap when they tried to run AI software.
“The present data centres, which is part of that 48 percent, found out when they tried to implement AI-related applications, that it simply is not good enough. This is because the design for AI workloads is quite different,” he said.
He then explained the difference. “In a ‘normal’ CPU world, you use one server for one application. Then virtualisation came, and you can use one server for multiple applications,” Amin said.
“AI and GPUs do not work like this, as one node has to work across all the applications, which is a very different design,” he said.
Amin said Dell was working to show local operators why they need infrastructure suited to AI. He said the company’s role was only to advise. Operators would have to take the steps to put modular data centre environments in place themselves.
Dell said its talks with local customers and partners showed that large investments had gone into an older type of data centre technology. The company said AI needs an entirely different design.
In a release to Hypertext, Dell said AI has to grow at a scale that needs strong foundations.
“As organisations move from experimentation to operational deployment, success increasingly depends on modern infrastructure, trusted data, strong governance frameworks and clear alignment with regulatory requirements,” the company said.
Habib Mahakian is Dell’s vice president for Southern and Sub-Saharan Africa. He said local organisations were moving past the testing stage with AI.
“The South African findings show that organisations are moving beyond AI experimentation and becoming much more focused on how they can scale AI securely and turn investment into measurable business value,” Mahakian said.
He said AI readiness depends on what sits underneath it. He listed modern infrastructure, AI-capable devices, trusted data, strong security and the right technology partners.
“What stands out is that South African leaders are not simply looking for more technology. They are looking for greater simplicity, resilience and accountability from their technology partners,” he said.
Agentic AI was the main theme of the Johannesburg forum, Hypertext reported. Dell said it was still holding talks with local customers about data centre designs that suit AI.
Source: this article is based on reporting by htxt.africa. Image: htxt.africa. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Technology desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Werner Jacobs covers technology for Tzaneen Voice. Werner reports on mobile networks, data prices, internet access, smartphones, apps, AI, cybersecurity and South African tech companies. Each story explains what a new product, price change or policy means for ordinary users in South Africa.