The Bank of Botswana (BoB) is ramping up AI adoption, with Alice Kgathola, Strategic Planning and Risk Management department director, stating that AI is already deployed in a limited manner, with plans for further expansion. The BoB has adopted AI in 'now-casting' for real-time economic estimates. Kgathola noted that AI is used in financial institutions for fraud detection, credit risk, economic forecasting, supervisory analytics, and office automation, and the bank has an AI working group. The BoB is incorporating AI into procuring a data management system and will use it for payment systems oversight and financial stability models. The central bank is also procuring an AI-driven chatbot for its knowledge centre. Ruth Baitshepi, the BoB’s Digitalisation and Innovation Hub coordinator, said a survey of AI adoption across the financial services sector found that providers are far ahead in using AI for customer outreach and automating complex processes, as well as for market analysis and scoring. She stated there is a need for regulatory frameworks to govern the ethical use of AI. Botswana has also developed a draft AI policy currently being debated by stakeholders, with a view for adoption possibly by the end of the year.