Geoffrey Andima has spent his career trying to find the simplest and most efficient IT solutions. As Old Mutual Uganda’s CIO, he is applying the same instinct to artificial intelligence, using it to streamline processes and modernise systems at the insurance company.
Geoffrey Andima's friends have nicknamed him "error 404," perhaps because he's the person they turn to whenever they hit a browsing problem. And they'd be right to, since Geoffrey describes himself as a driver of IT efficiency.
For someone who built a career troubleshooting, manning logs and fielding late night system alerts, tasks that tend to leave most IT professionals frayed at the edges, Geoffrey carries a certain air of ease about him. It comes through in his manner of speech, confident and unhurried.
As country head of IT at Old Mutual Uganda, Geoffrey oversees technology across three regulated entities under one shared roof, general insurance, life insurance and an investment group, each required by law to hold its own chief financial officer, but sharing a single technology function through what the group calls a shared services model.
"It would not make financial sense to have a country head of IT for each business," he says.
Geoffrey sits on the executive committee, where his mandate is less about the daily mechanics of the network and more about making sure that the IT division and the rest of the business move in the same direction.
The device that would sweep the office
For nearly two decades, Geoffrey has made a name for himself making complicated technology disappear quietly into the background as he strongly believes that IT should be simple and efficient.
"Why I drive IT efficiency is that I like things simple. If a device can help me sweep the office, I get it. If there was a device that would automate getting tea, I would make sure I get it. I like working simple, and I like when things are delivered fast."
That preference for simple, efficient solutions has consistently paid off, winning him the Old Mutual Group CEO Award twice, among other accolades. Yet he remains modest about these achievements, brushing them off with a simple 'I try.'
Embracing AI
His quest for simple and effective IT solutions has seen Old Mutual Uganda integrate AI in insurance processes in an initiative to also replace some of the company’s obsolete systems.
“We are trying to see all the available options of incorporating AI both on cyber and also on the customer facing front,” he says.
While the company’s adoption of AI may seem like a replacement of human input, Geoffrey is adamant that both humans and AI can coexist.
"At the beginning, everyone thought AI would reduce the workforce in the short run, but there are situations AI cannot fix on its own. Models come with bias, and you still need human judgement to catch that. A model may learn to deny someone a service based on how they are labelled, without ever revealing that this bias influenced its decision,” he says.
Geoffrey did not arrive at this conviction by chance but out of his own experiences in the two decades of his career.
"I have seen companies lay off people, and now they are trying to hire them back, because they have realised that however much AI be used to develop systems, there are integrations between systems from different companies that AI simply will not manage," he says.
AI best practices
However, he also emphasises on the importance of proper training on AI both for productivity and for security purposes.
"You would be surprised, people do not understand the right way to use AI, and the bills go up for those who subscribe. If you prompt it with garbage, it will give you garbage," he says.
Interestingly, even with the current speed at which technology is evolving with AI, Geoffrey does not expect a new wave of disruption.
"I would call it the sustainability and adoption phase. I would not say we have fully adopted AI at Old Mutual, but we have implemented it partially. It is one thing to deploy AI solutions and models. It is another thing entirely to have people who can check and manage them," he says.
Outside the office
Away from the exco suite, Geoffrey is, in his own description, no introvert. He plays football most Fridays, follows rugby and swims, and turns up reliably in the stands for Kampala Old Boys (Kobs) Kampala's rugby side, and for his local football club SC Villa Jogoo, alongside a long-held loyalty to Liverpool FC.
"People tell us it is a team for old people, but some of us still support it," he says.
