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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.    

Rail is one of the most efficient forms of transport in the whole world for both passengers and freight. Although the sector is thriving in the developed world, the same cannot be said of the sector in less developed countries where it is burdened by the ageing infrastructure, financial constraints, operational inefficiencies and environmental concerns. However, the digital workplace can be a panacea to the above predicaments.  As such, the study sought to assess the influence of the digital workplace on organisational development in the railway industry, moderated by digital leadership and psychological safety. Guided by the positivism research philosophy and the deductive approach, the study adopted a quantitative research design where a survey was utilised to collect primary data from 194 participants working in the railway industry in Bulawayo, Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South provinces.The study found that digital workplace has a positive impact on organisational development. It was concluded that digital workplace, digital leadership and psychological safety are important in improving organisational development. There is need to invest in robust digital infrastructure which prioritises the rollout of secure and high speed digital communication platforms across all railway stations and operational points to ensure real-time information sharing.