Scale Smarter. Lead Braver.
Thrive in the Age of AI.
South Africa’s national business scale-up initiative – launched by FNB in collaboration with Art of Scale, designed to support South African entrepreneurs in scaling their businesses.
Why Now?
Scaling changes the rules. AI changes the game.
Once a business hits around 20 people, the founders-as-system model buckles. What worked in the startup stage stops working – the company now needs a scalable operating system, distributed leadership, and a stronger economic model. Many businesses stall or fail at this point.
The AI revolution raises the stakes: it amplifies the risks, but also creates once-in-a-generation opportunities to accelerate scale. Over the next 12–24 months, those who harness AI to build scalable organisations will surge ahead. Those who don’t will be left behind.
“Founders at Work makes sure you’re not just keeping up – you’re scaling stronger, faster, and smarter.”
Scaling SMEs isn’t just about your business
-it’s about South Africa’s future.
Scale-ups are the engine of job creation and inclusive growth.
By helping founders break through the scaling barrier, Founders at Work supports stronger businesses, more jobs, and a more resilient economy.
Through high-impact engagements, expert guidance, and peer learning,
we give you:
• Proven scaling frameworks (leadership, teams, systems, capital, growth)
• Practical ways to integrate AI where it matters most
• A trusted network of founders facing the same challenges
Who is this for?
Founders and decision-makers
of growing SMEs
Leaders who feel the weight of growth stretched teams, complex systems, and the pressure to adapt fast in the AI era
Scaling-stage businesses
typically 10–200 staff,
R8m–R150m+ turnover
Free with the qualifying business profile
Free with the qualifying business profile
Free with the qualifying business profile
Free with the qualifying business profile
Free with the qualifying business profile
Free with the qualifying business profile
Free with the qualifying business profile
Free with the qualifying business profile
Free with the qualifying business profile
Free with the qualifying business profile
The Founders At Work Promise
We combine time-tested scaling methods with the tools and insights you need to lead in today’s rapidly changing environment.
This is not an AI course.
It’s a scale-up journey executed through a series of events across the country — with AI woven in as today’s game-changing context.
What you get
Learn
- Summits, masterclasses, and podcasts designed for founders
- Practical, expert-led content you can apply immediately
- Insights on scaling fundamentals (leadership, people, systems, growth) — with an AI-era lens
Connect
- A WhatsApp community – your support network in your pocket
- Daily discussions, peer lessons, and access to experts without logins or extra apps
Apply
- Exclusive event resources: workbooks, checklists, and templates from summits & masterclasses
- Turn insights into action straight away
Proof & Credibility
Built on a Proven Foundation Founders at Work may be new, but it stands on decades of real impact:
Collaboration
Edge growth and FNB have collaborated to fund and assist scale ups for over 15 years,
The Book
The best-selling book, The Art of Scale, is a comprehensive guide that demystifies the obstacles to scale, the path to scale, the science of scale, and the art of scale,
Scaling With AI
Art of Scale provides founders and business leaders with proven frameworks, diagnostics, tools, and coaching that help founders scale using AI.
1039
Masterclass Registrations
80
NPS Score From Surveyed Attendees
465
Community Members
Hear it from our founders.
Proof In Action
Backed by South Africa’s Leaders
For more than 15 years, FNB has been at the forefront of SME development in South Africa — funding, mentoring, and equipping entrepreneurs to grow.
Together, these programs have already helped scale hundreds of SMEs and created thousands of jobs — proof that investing in scale-ups transforms communities and the economy. These initiatives have laid the foundation for the Founders at Work initiative.
This track record also positions FNB and Art of Scale to take these lessons beyond South Africa, as part of Africa’s scale-up story.
Art of Scale is the implementation engine behind Founders at Work.
Built on the top-selling book The Art of Scale, AoS provides the frameworks, diagnostics, and tools that help founders put what they learn into practice.