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Organisations in emerging markets, particularly on the African continent, are transitioning from linear value chains towards complex platform ecosystems, and Generative Artificial Intelligence is accelerating this shift. GenAI introduces new skill demands, hybrid human-machine roles, and the need for adaptive continuous learning. In the African context, leaders must navigate this alongside infrastructural brittleness, institutional voids, and the need for contextually grounded governance. This study explored how senior leaders in an African financial institution make sense of and navigate GenAI-enabled transformation. The study adopted a qualitative, exploratory, and constructivist case design, involving the purposive sampling of seven senior leaders from a financial institution, who were interviewed. Data was thematically analysed. The findings reveal that in some African emerging economies, financial institutions face transformational challenges stemming from strategic misalignment, capability fragmentation, and tensions between global technological pressures and locally rooted ethical expectations. The study provides a contextually grounded account of how senior leaders in an African financial institution interpret GenAI-enabled transformation amid infrastructural fragility and institutional voids, guiding executives and policymakers in creating sustainable value within GenAI-driven digital ecosystems. The value-add of the article lies in challenging the applicability of canonical Western-centric models to African contexts and in advancing a contextually grounded understanding of leadership sensemaking.    

Understanding the role of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) on the future contact centre managers in the South African Police Service (SAPS). The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of 4IR on future contact centre managers. 4IR has been discussed in different contexts, but its precise effects on the future of contact centre managers are still unclear, and this research intends to bridge this gap. This research employed a qualitative approach within interpretivism to gather information from 12 participants who fit the predetermined criteria using a nonprobability convenience sampling. ATLAS.ti was utilised to analyse data. The study found that the 4IR impacts the development and transformation of contact centre managers' roles, while also automating contact centre operations. Key themes identified in the study include the adoption of advanced technology, capacity building, rapid response, improved customer experience, and the facilitation of remote work and collaboration, all of which are essential for the future roles of contact centre managers within the SAPS. This has the potential to assist managers within the SAPS contact centres in comprehending the consequences of 4IR and embracing the use of disruptive technologies in contact centres. The study will assist the contact centre managers in ensuring the development and redefining of new skills and roles to enhance productivity in contact centres.