Dell and NTT Data are marketing compact server solutions that allow Kenyan small and medium enterprises to run artificial-intelligence applications on-site rather than relying exclusively on cloud platforms.
Andrew Ngunjiri, general manager for technology solutions at NTT Data, explained that businesses can achieve “sovereign or enterprise AI” without dedicating an entire floor or building to the technology.
The firms describe the offering as “AI in a box”, enabling companies to deploy small language models that perform tasks such as document summarisation, information extraction and customer-service assistance on dedicated hardware placed close to the data source.
NTT Data notes that smaller models require less memory and processing power, making them suitable for laptops, desktops or modest servers, and that organisations can choose a hybrid approach that mixes local and public-cloud resources according to workload, cost and regulatory considerations.
Keeping AI processing on-premises can help firms manage sensitive information in line with Kenya’s Data Protection Act, 2019, which governs personal-data handling and certain cross-border transfers, although the law does not mandate that all business data remain within the country.
Ngunjiri cautioned that the total cost of on-site AI includes not only hardware purchase but also electricity, maintenance, software updates, security measures and technical support, and that a cloud subscription may be more economical for occasional users.
The push aligns with Kenya’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2025–2030, which highlights digital infrastructure and data governance as pillars for expanding the nation’s AI ecosystem, and aims to lower the infrastructure barrier for smaller enterprises.
