Absa Bank Urges Young Professionals to Master AI Skills or Risk Being Left Behind
Absa Bank Ghana has called on young professionals to actively harness artificial intelligence (AI) as a tool for career advancement, warning that failure to engage could see them outpaced by peers who do.
The message came during a webinar under the bank’s ReadytoWork skills development programme.
The session, themed “Level Up Your Career with AI Skills,” featured three industry practitioners who explored what AI proficiency entails, potential risks and steps Ghanaian professionals should take to remain competitive.
Jeremiah Amlanu, Software Engineer and Tech Innovation Lead at Techies for Impact, emphasized the transformative effect of AI on workplace output.
“A single individual familiar with AI can now accomplish the work of five to ten people. Proficiency in AI boosts your productivity and increases your value in the labor market,” he stated.
Employers are increasingly assessing performance differently and a junior professional skilled in AI tools can outperform a senior colleague who lacks such expertise, reshaping hiring dynamics even if job descriptions are yet to reflect this change.
Nicole Nanka-Bruce, Founder of Belmont Solutions and AI Practitioner, stressed that AI competence is not limited to programming. True literacy involves selecting the right AI tools, crafting effective prompts, and knowing when human oversight is required.
“AI is more than coding, it requires literacy: understanding which tool to use, how to use it and when human judgment is needed. The greatest risk is outsourcing thinking instead of tasks. AI should supplement your work, not replace your critical thinking.”
Alexander Kobina Nsiah, Technical Product Lead at Absa Bank Ghana, presented a practical “3D framework” for leveraging AI: draft, diagnose, and decide. The approach encourages professionals to generate initial outputs using AI, verify accuracy and relevance and then make informed decisions.
“AI is both an opportunity and a challenge. The role shifts from performing tasks to supervising AI to perform them, requiring sharper critical thinking,”Mr. Nsiah noted.
The panelists also shared actionable steps for developing AI skills: master prompting, focus on one AI platform to gain fluency, and maintain critical judgment by treating AI output as a starting point rather than a finished product. The session underscored that AI proficiency is essential for young professionals entering Ghana’s workforce. While the tools are accessible, strategic engagement remains crucial.
ReadytoWork is Absa Bank’s educational initiative designed to prepare young people for a seamless transition from school to employment. The programme provides online learning in work skills, people skills, money management, entrepreneurship and creative thinking.
Advanced modules cover emerging areas such as digital literacy, blockchain, the gig economy, project management, and computational thinking.
