The Tribune

By Annelia Nixon

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

Adoption and use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools is the only way The Bahamas will be able to compete globally, a technology specialist argued yesterday.

Montino Roberts, founder and chief executive of Proficient Business Services (PBS), told Tribune Business he believes Bahamian businesses will fare well with the introduction of AI and succeed in incorporating it into their businesses despite ongoing trust concerns and lack of knowledge about its usage.

Noelle Russell, founder and chief AI officer at the AI Leadership Institute, encouraged attendees at the PBS AI and Innovation Forum 2025 to implement an ARC strategy - which represents awareness, readiness and competitive advantage - in the early stages of their AI journey.

“ARC, and it's literally in the order in which you will find success,” Ms Russell said. “A stands for awareness. So that's the first step. Everyone needs to realise that AI is for everyone in the company. It is not a tech thing. It is not a business thing. It is an everyone thing.

“And when you ignite everyone with awareness, they are going to innovate on behalf of your customers… This is what Jeff Bezos did in Amazon. He gave all of us the power to actually use the technology in the company to just make our own lives better, which then made our customers’ lives better. So awareness is key. If you do that right, and you get everyone educated on how to build an AI system... 

“But if you know how to build an AI system, the next step is readiness, which is where you learn by doing. You put your fingers on the keyboard and you build something,” Ms Russell added.

“And then the last one is that if you do that right, if you get everyone educated, and then you give them the ability to put their fingers on a keyboard and build something, you will achieve a competitive advantage. That's what competitive advantage looks like.

“That's why Microsoft is winning. That's why Amazon is winning. It's because they unlock their workforce to innovate on behalf of the company. And that's, I think, why every company can do this.”

Mr Roberts said conferences like the one held yesterday “give actionable tasks that people can execute on. It's conferences like this that allow us to follow her whole method, awareness, readiness, and then that gives us a competitive edge. It's not as if AI is not being used. The question is: Is it being used to the level of efficiency that needs to be used so it could transform their business?”

Speaking to the distrust persons have about AI, Ms Russell encouraged the creation of communities of interest around AI. “It's very similar to what I did at this big consulting firm, where I got a bunch of people together on their own,” she said. “These are things you can do in your company.

“One, create a community of interest around AI. I created a community of interest called ‘I Love AI’. It's a free community anyone can join. And every Friday, I open up a Zoom, anyone can get on it, and I just answer questions on AI. Create a community.

“Your ambassadors in your organisation, they will rise up all by themselves. You don't have to promote them. You don't pay them... they already are doing AI kind of as a side hustle. So welcome that in. Create a community of interest, not practice, because community of interest means you don't have to be technical. You have to be an engineer. You can be anyone. But then for those that want to go faster, further, you create a community of practice inside the company.”

Mr Roberts added: “The way you start is you have to try it first. Noelle came back and mentioned it again. You want to be a producer before you become a consumer, because you know the proof is in the pudding, as we say at home. But if you could allow people to get the opportunity to see what it can do for themselves, and they understand the guard rails of what it cannot do, then trust automatically builds, because trust is relative, right?”

He added that Bahamian business leaders must partner with companies such as PBS to prepare for AI. Mr Roberts said The Bahamas is ready for AI and it will allow for a competitive edge.

“I do believe, from a business standpoint, one of the things that is necessary is to allow companies like PBS to be a trusted partner,” he said. “We're already a trusted ICT partner. So AI is only another vertical that we just stand up. And the reason for that is because before you start paying money, they will provide you with consultancy. So they give you an idea... All these models that exist, they're cookie cutters. That's not what you need.

“I think we've been ready for it because I think that's the only thing that's really going to allow us to have the competitive edge to compete at a global market. Everyone else is using it, and they're using it as a competitive edge. So AI is not replacing people, but I guarantee it will replace those who don't use it.”