Delegates at this week’s African Boating Conference were treated to a highly interactive presentation by Treeshake founder and digital strategist Dave Duarte, who urged local boatbuilders to embrace artificial intelligence to drive company-wide effectiveness.
Addressing delegates on day two of the ABC, Duarte framed AI not merely as an efficiency tool, but as a foundational utility. “AI is the new electricity, it is less like a tool and more like a utility,” Duarte explained. “Just as electrification transformed every industry during the industrial revolution, intelligence itself has become a fundamental resource that can power your business to be more effective.”
Rather than settling for modest 10 to 30% incremental efficiency gains, Duarte challenged marine executives to move into a full “redesign phase,” positioning generative AI as a primary project partner and workflow orchestrator. To navigate the shift successfully, he advised companies with more than 10 employees to establish an internal “centre of excellence” driven by dedicated AI leaders.
Ultimately, Duarte emphasised that effectiveness, rather than simple speed, remains the true benchmark: “Better products produced faster, that is where we get the exponential gains.”