How skills-development support and R&D incentives can help fund and retain the people behind an AI project.

dgm is an independent integration partner for osFoundry — it is not affiliated with osFoundry’s maker (OS LLC) and has not yet completed an integration project for any client.

Which incentives help attract and retain the people behind an AI project in South Africa? Mostly skills-development support and the section 11D R&D incentive — which fund training and research, not the purchase of AI software.

What is available for people

  • The Skills Development Levy and SETAs can support staff training, including building AI skills.
  • The section 11D R&D tax incentive can support a company’s own R&D — which is the work that the people behind an AI project do — through a 150% deduction, subject to mandatory DSI pre-approval.
  • These make it more economical to develop capability in-house, but they fund training and R&D, not a subscription.

What it means for your business

  • The incentives support skills and research — not buying an AI subscription for the team.
  • The team can then use a tool like osFoundry with usage-based pricing, but that adoption is a separate, commercial decision.

The honest framing

Public support in South Africa funds the company’s own research, development or innovation, or gives it a tax break — it does not buy an off-the-shelf AI subscription. The section 11D R&D tax incentive offers a 150% deduction on approved R&D, requires pre-approval by the Department of Science and Innovation and has been extended to 31 December 2033; the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) and the Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency (SEDFA, formed in 2024 from SEDA and SEFA) fund innovation and small enterprises; and DTIC sector programmes such as the Global Business Services (GBS) incentive and the automotive APDP support specific industries. Separately, Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) is a procurement and empowerment scorecard, not a grant: a supplier’s B-BBEE level affects how many procurement points its customers earn, so it shapes who buyers prefer rather than paying for software. dgm is not a registered or accredited provider of any of these programmes; it can advise a beneficiary or act as a subcontractor.

Where dgm comes in

dgm is an independent integration partner that helps organisations in South Africa adopt the osFoundry platform — from identifying the first practical use case, to setting it up, to connecting AI to the systems you already run. dgm can help identify which parts of your activity might qualify — without committing that any incentive will be granted. dgm operates separately from osFoundry’s maker (OS LLC) and has not yet completed an integration project for any client, so everything above is a proposed service rather than a delivered outcome. If you would like to weigh up a practical first step, dgm would be glad to think it through with you. Arrange an introductory call with dgm.

This article is general information and is not legal, financial or tax advice. Incentives, tax rates and regulations change; always confirm the current position with an official source (SARS, the Department of Science and Innovation, the dtic, the Information Regulator, the FSCA or the relevant authority) or a qualified adviser before you act.