The State of AI Adoption in East Africa: 2026 Report

For the third consecutive year, Craqt Research Labs surveyed organizations across East Africa to understand how AI adoption is evolving in the region. This year, we expanded our sample to over 200 organizations across Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda.

The headline finding is clear: AI adoption is accelerating, but unevenly. Financial services and healthcare lead with 45% and 38% of organizations respectively having at least one AI system in production. Agriculture and government lag behind at 15% and 12%, despite having some of the highest potential for impact.

The most common entry point for AI adoption remains workflow automation, with 62% of organizations starting their AI journey by automating repetitive processes. This aligns with what we see in our consulting work: automation delivers quick wins that build organizational confidence for more ambitious projects.

A notable shift this year is the rise of AI agents. While still early, 18% of respondents report experimenting with agentic AI systems, up from just 4% in our 2025 survey. This mirrors the global trend but suggests that East African organizations are moving faster than many expected.

The biggest barrier to adoption remains talent. 71% of organizations cite a lack of internal AI expertise as their primary challenge, followed by data quality (58%) and budget constraints (43%). This underscores the critical role of training and capacity building in the adoption journey.