South Africa’s biggest bank by customer numbers just told the market something every university in the country should pay serious attention to. It indicates a step change in the skills companies need, and the bank is taking charge of this upskilling.

Capitec‘s latest annual report shows a focus on artificial intelligence (AI) training, as it put 568 employees through cloud-focused learning last year with staff clocking nearly 43,000 hours on Udemy Business and Pluralsight. The bank is running its own masterclasses in SQL, Java and JavaScript, and has built internal “centres of mastery” across engineering, data and payments.

This is more than a skill investment story. While continuous upskilling remains a vital corporate responsibility, it signals how rapidly the capabilities required by industry are evolving, making it vital for higher education and industry to work together more closely. That is a gap that institutions of higher learning, private and public, increasingly need to address.

A pattern is emerging within our schooling system that needs highlighting as South Africa faces its next major technology decision.

In coding and robotics, with the best intentions, directives were given, curriculum was developed, and then the move forward stalled.

We are beginning to see take shape again with artificial intelligence (AI), writes Celeste Labuschagne, PhD candidate, and lecturer and learning framework developer at Belgium Campus iTversity.