The Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, is set to deploy Artificial Intelligence, AI, across its operations as part of efforts to transform the agency into a faster, more efficient and technology-driven institution.
The Registrar-General of the CAC, Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, disclosed this while speaking at the commission’s 2026 annual retreat, where he said the new AI-driven architecture would fundamentally change how businesses and companies interact with the commission.
He said the initiative, built around the theme, “AI at Scale, Advancing an Intelligent Corporate Registry for Efficient and Trusted Service,” was not merely an annual retreat slogan but a declaration of the direction the commission intended to take.
According to him, the CAC’s digital transformation programme has already produced significant improvements, particularly in business name registration, which he said could previously take two days or more but can now be completed in less than 10 minutes.
He said the new phase would go beyond speeding up existing processes by embedding artificial intelligence across the commission’s operations.
“When we began our digital transformation journey, we made a commitment that the Corporate Affairs Commission would not wait for the future.
“We also promised that our deployment of Artificial Intelligence will be done progressively in phases and in manageable batches. And we have kept that promise,” he said.
The registrar-general said the first phase of the AI deployment had introduced greater speed, precision, automation and productivity into processes that previously required significant human intervention.
He said the next phase was being developed in collaboration with Google and its partners, drawing on international best practices and modern technology architecture.
According to him, the new system will allow prospective business owners to register their businesses through conversations with an AI assistant in their preferred Nigerian language.
He said the system would understand English, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and Nigerian Pidgin, making typing optional for customers who prefer to interact with the platform verbally.
Under the new architecture, he said, applicants would no longer have to wait for an approving officer to manually review every application before determining whether it complies with relevant requirements.
Instead, artificial intelligence would conduct an initial compliance assessment and make recommendations to a human officer where human intervention is required.
The registrar-general also said the new system would streamline identity verification by requiring customers to provide their National Identification Number, NIN, which would be verified through the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, portal.
He said this would reduce the need for customers to submit separate identity documents or signatures of subscribers or company members, while allowing CAC officers to concentrate on applications requiring human attention.
Another feature, he said, would allow applicants to assess the level of compliance of their applications before formally submitting them.
“As the customer uploads the details and documents, the system will grade the application based on its percentage of compliance,” he said.
He added that the portal would identify deficiencies and guide applicants on what needed to be corrected before the application could proceed.
“If the customer fully complies, the system will advise him or her to submit the application,” he said.
The CAC boss said the AI system would also assist customers at the name-reservation stage by helping them determine the appropriate type of application based on the nature of their proposed business.
He said an AI agent embedded in the system would guide applicants throughout the registration process, detect errors and provide appropriate solutions.
According to him, customers would only need to describe the nature of their business activities, either orally or in writing, after which the AI agent would recommend the appropriate direction.
He said the portal would also indicate what was required at each stage of an application, while allowing customers to choose whether to complete the process themselves or through a third party.
The system, he added, would also assist customers when electronic payments fail by recognising failed transactions and guiding them through the resolution process rather than leaving them stranded.
The registrar-general said the new architecture would also address network traffic and system congestion that sometimes forced customers and staff to work during off-peak hours.
He explained that the new system would rely on elastic cloud-based data storage, providing sufficient capacity to accommodate increased demand and eliminate the need for users to wait until late hours to access the platform seamlessly.
He also announced the introduction of a more robust complaint-management system that would enable customers to raise complaint tickets directly and track their progress.
According to him, heads of units and departments, as well as the commission itself, would be able to monitor when complaints were raised, who they were assigned to and how long it took to resolve them.
He said the new portal had been designed with sufficient capacity and resilience to minimise downtime.
Another feature, he said, would allow CAC staff to make certain changes internally, including adjustments to fees and penalties, without having to wait for external service providers.
The registrar-general described the development as part of a broader institutional transformation aimed at ensuring that the commission keeps pace with technological changes and rising expectations from businesses and other stakeholders.
He said the annual retreat had therefore been deliberately expanded from a gathering largely restricted to management and executive officers into a broader platform for leadership development, capacity building, institutional reflection and collective decision-making.
Speaking on the retreat, Mr Magaji said more than 400 members of the CAC workforce participated in the retreat.
“This retreat is not a jamboree. It is not business as usual. It is not a gathering where we come together, listen to speeches, take photographs and return to our offices unchanged,” he said.
He, therefore, urged participants to contribute actively to the development of the new system, saying CAC employees were best placed to identify operational gaps and suggest improvements.
“We want you to contribute. We want you to interrogate. We want you to challenge assumptions. We want you to ask difficult questions, and we want you to make suggestions, because the system we are building is your system,” he said.
He said the objective was for participants to leave the retreat with a clearer understanding of the commission’s direction and the role each staff member would play in building a modern corporate registry.
The registrar-general stressed that while technology could provide the tools required for transformation, the success of the initiative would ultimately depend on the institutional knowledge and commitment of CAC personnel.
“Technology can provide the tools, but our people must provide the institutional intelligence,” he said.
