SAP SD Consultant

The quiet risk in corporate Nigeria's AI rush. Nigerian companies are racing to adopt AI. But most are doing it wrong in ways that expose them to serious risk. Stanislaus Martins introduces BROAI, Bring Your Own AI, and why it should be keeping boardrooms up at night. Stanislaus Martins AI Consultant, Marketing Leader, Technology Builder Ask Stanislaus Martins what Nigerian companies are getting wrong about AI and he answers the question by telling you what happens in the first ten minutes of most of his meetings. "I ask the CEO, are you using AI? Proud yes. Every time. Then I press a little. Finance is pasting numbers into a free ChatGPT account. Research is dropping proprietary insights into Claude. HR is running employee data through DeepSeek because a friend said it was good for dashboards. The MD is on his phone using whatever app he downloaded last week." He calls it BROAI. Bring Your Own AI. A deliberate echo of BYOD, the Bring Your Own Device wave that had corporate IT losing sleep a decade ago. In his view, it is putting some of the country's most valuable companies at real risk. The warning arrives at a moment when people are paying attention. Aleph Group, the global infrastructure company behind digital advertising and fintech solutions in more than 130 high growth markets, has just promoted Martins to Managing Director, Sub Saharan Africa. He is the first Nigerian to hold the position, and his remit, previously focused on West Africa, now covers the full region. Twenty years in the room. Martins is not a commentator. He has spent over two decades inside the rooms where these decisions actually get made. He started at Insight Publicis and left as Head of Digital Business, with a client list that read like a who's who of Nigerian brand building: Pepsi, Tecno, Heineken, Gulder, Star, MTN, FCMB, Coca Cola, Peak Milk, 7UP, Nestlé and more. He crossed to Jumia as VP of Performance Marketing and later VP of Advertising, helping the ecommerce platform scale its ad business during its most aggressive growth years. Meta came next. He served as Agency Partner for the entire Sub Saharan Africa region and led the rollout of Meta's Authorised Sales Partnership programme across the continent, the first of its kind in Africa. He joined Aleph as Regional Meta Director for SSA, rose to Managing Director for West Africa, and with this week's appointment takes on the full Sub Saharan mandate. Outside the corporate roles, he has trained marketing, sales and ecommerce teams for Nestlé, MTN, Jumia, Meta, Konga, ADMARP, ADVAN and several others on hands-on AI adoption, digital sales, performance marketing, and business management. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) and the National Institute of Marketing Nigeria, a Certified Digital Marketing Expert from the Digital Marketing Institute Ireland, and holds the AWS Certified Cloud Architect Professional certification. Academically, a Bachelor of Education from the University of Ibadan, the Senior Management Programme from Lagos Business School, and an MBA from the Quantic School of Business. It is that combination, agency, platform, client side and trainer, that shapes how he reads this current moment. "The chatbot is the front door. The value is behind it." "We keep forgetting something simple," he says. "These models learn from what you feed them. When you pour confidential client data, financials, company secrets and people data into several different free tools you do not own and do not control, you are not using AI. You are leaking." He is just as frustrated that the conversation in Nigeria has shrunk down to chatbots. "AI is not the popup that says hi, how can I help you today. That is the front door. The real value is behind it." He likes to use a retailer in Ogun State as a thought exercise. "The chatbot version of AI is the popup. Fine. We see it every day. The real version is an integrated system that knows which products are about to go out of stock based on the weather, salary week, and last year's pattern. Pricing that adjusts across thousands of SKUs because a competitor moved overnight. A recommendation engine that learns each customer well enough to send the right message on the right day in the right tone in the right language. Fraud detection catching a stolen card before the order ships. The warehouse rerouting itself because a delivery van broke down in Lekki traffic. A finance team closing the month in two days instead of ten because reconciliation runs itself." That, he insists, is proper AI deployment. Not a tool somebody downloaded on the commute home. The questions he thinks leaders should be asking. For Martins, 2026 is not about adopting more tools. It is about asking better questions. What tools are approved. What data are they connected to. Who is accountable when something goes wrong. What does good actually look like for this particular business. Where is the real value, and where is it just convenience. How can existing systems be made smarter rather than replaced wholesale. Does the leadership team need an AI advisor sitting alongside them. "One integrated strategy. Same solution. Same local data. All departments. Safe, secure, accountable. Not everyone in the company throwing company information into different models to learn from." It is the line he tends to repeat in workshops. "Stop celebrating that you are using AI. Start asking what it is learning from, and who owns the answer. The companies that figure this out in 2026 will pull ahead. The ones that do not will find out the hard way." For Nigerian boardrooms, and increasingly for policymakers thinking about the country's digital economy posture, the advice comes from someone who has spent twenty years building the rails everyone else is running on. *Stanislaus Martins advises and trains blue chip businesses across the region on the practical application of Marketing, Technology and AI in business growth. He writes at www.martins.com.ng.* AI strategy Nigeria BROAI corporate AI risk AI adoption Nigeria Stanislaus Martins AI security WANT TO DISCUSS THIS? Every article comes from real experience. If this resonated, let's talk.

Aleph, a global digital advertising company and official media rights distributor for FIFA World Cup 2026 in the Philippines, has launched a multichannel distribution model ahead of the tournament's 12 June start. The company is deploying the Aleph Arena digital hub to host over 5,000 exclusive content pieces throughout the competition. The distribution strategy includes live streaming of 40 matches free on YouTube, whilst all 104 matches will be available via WCTV by Aleph Arena through BlastTV. Content will be distributed across YouTube, TikTok and X, featuring behind-the-scenes footage, creator commentary and tactical analysis tailored for Filipino audiences. The model aims to provide immediate access to tournament content across multiple screens, with a daily show called "Football Natin 'To!" anchoring the digital experience.

Aleph taps former WPP Media leader Arshan Saha to drive APAC growth. Global digital advertising enablement firm Aleph has appointed Arshan Saha as regional managing director for Asia Pacific, bringing on board the seasoned digital advertising executive with more than 17 years of experience across media, adtech and platform businesses. Based in Singapore, Saha will report directly to Ignacio Vidaguren and lead Aleph's regional strategy and operations across APAC. He will be responsible for scaling the company's footprint, strengthening platform partnerships, and maximising value for advertisers and partners across the region's diverse markets. The appointment comes as Aleph looks to deepen its presence in one of the world's fastest-growing and most dynamic digital regions. "I am very happy to welcome Saha to Aleph. He brings 17 years of experience in the advertising industry, launching and scaling data-driven businesses across Asia Pacific's most complex and competitive markets, including China, India, Australia and Southeast Asia," said Vidaguren. "His product and platform expertise, paired with a genuine commitment to mentorship and innovation, will be invaluable as we continue to raise the bar for what's possible in digital advertising across APAC." Meanwhile, Saha said the opportunity to lead Aleph's next phase of growth across the region was one he was excited to take on. "APAC continues to lead with pace in innovation and transformation, creating limitless potential, and the opportunity to lead Aleph's growth across this incredibly diverse and fast-moving region is one I'm delighted to take on," he said, in a statement shared with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE. "Aleph's combination of global scale, top-level platform partnerships, and deep local execution is unmatched, and I look forward to working alongside our talented teams across the region to unlock new possibilities for our partners, our clients and the wider digital ecosystem." In his new role, Saha will oversee Aleph's operations across 15 Asia Pacific markets, helping brands and advertisers access the company's portfolio of media and technology partners, including TikTok, Pinterest, Spotify, Microsoft, Snapchat, Google, Reddit, X and Criteo. According to Aleph, Saha's experience launching and scaling data-driven businesses across key markets such as China, India, Australia and Southeast Asia will support the company's ambitions to accelerate growth across APAC and further strengthen its relationships with global platform partners. The company currently operates across more than 130 high-growth markets worldwide and partners with over 50 digital platforms, providing advertising, payments and digital enablement solutions through a network spanning more than 90 offices globally. Prior to joining Aleph, Saha served as CEO for Singapore and Malaysia, as well as media management and delivery for APMEA at WPP Media. In that role, he oversaw the group's media agency operations across Singapore and Malaysia, comprising more than 1,000 employees, while driving product enablement, partnerships and operational excellence across more than 3,500 practitioners throughout the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa region. Before that, Saha was CEO of GroupM Singapore and Malaysia, as well as CEO of GroupM Nexus APAC, spending close to four years with the organisation before its transition into WPP Media. His media and adtech credentials also include a nine-year stint at Xaxis, where he rose to become CEO of APAC, helping scale the programmatic advertising business across the region. Earlier in his career, he spent three years at Innity as regional director for Southeast Asia. Earlier this year, the Audi Revolut F1 Team announced Aleph as its official partner, signalling an intent to turn one of the world's most global sporting platforms into locally meaningful brand engagement. The partnership brought the two together with a shared focus on translating worldwide visibility into relevance across key markets. With Formula 1 spanning a 24-race calendar and reaching fans across continents, the collaboration is positioned as a strategic play to ensure the team's presence resonates beyond the racetrack.