While today’s IT leaders sit at the intersection of innovation, risk and human impact, BDO South Africa’s chief information and digital officer (CIDO) Khaya Mbanga says the role is becoming less about systems and more about resilience and shaping a future where AI and human ingenuity work together.
Khaya is candid about his journey into IT, as he describes his path going from being one of only three of the “proper geeks” in his high school computer society, to driving digital transformation at one of the world’s largest professional services firms. This early passion for problem-solving set the tone for a career defined by persistence, quality and understanding the behaviours that drive performance.
Asked what he enjoys most about his role at BDO, Khaya has no trouble identifying his love of variety. “Every day there’s a different challenge. It could be a new emerging technology we’re testing, or it could be helping people grasp the value that technology can bring. I rely on my experience to guide the team through the problem at hand. You’re never bored.”
But the human side of change remains central, he says: “You can’t leave people behind. Technology doesn’t pull business – business determines the outcomes. Then we equip people to use the technology to achieve those goals. Change management becomes the glue that binds it all together.”
It is not, however, all smooth sailing and Khaya is just as quick to mention that high-pressure days are the norm for a CIO. “At senior levels, you’re faced with thousands of competing priorities. You must differentiate what’s urgent and critical today from what can wait. Otherwise, you burn out.”
He also stresses the importance of mapping the “critical path” – those essential steps that must succeed for any initiative to be delivered on time and on budget. “You put your best people on the critical path to ensure success, but projects must also double as training grounds, so future leaders can gain experience.”
Khaya has led large-scale digital transformation across mining, financial services and now professional services. His formula begins with clarity of purpose. “People mistake technology implementation as the goal, it’s not. The goal is the business outcome and the technology is the enabler.”
The importance of people extends into building teams with the right attitude and Khaya believes that while skills can be taught; attitude cannot. “I’ll always choose someone with a great attitude and willingness to learn over technical brilliance with the wrong mindset. A bad attitude poisons a team, but the right one elevates everyone.”
Learning from failures
He applies the same commitment to maintaining a good attitude to his own leadership capacity, even in the face of failure. He believes that no technology career is complete without a major setback and is frank about his own: “Every leader has that one big project that fails. I’ve had mine. It’s tough, but it forces you to plan better, stay closer to the team and obsess about governance. Failure is a wake-up call – if you learn from it, you become sharper and more effective.”
He does, however, believe that while you may fail, excellence should always be the goal, and this extends to how he leads. He says he believes in being a fair but firm leader. “I have very low tolerance for poor quality. I grew up inspired by Panasonic’s tagline, the quest for zero defect. That’s imprinted in me. Everything we deliver must carry the highest level of professionalism and quality.” Yet, he is careful to balance high standards with patience for learning. “Make a mistake once, learn and don’t repeat it. That way the work improves iteratively. I incorporate people’s ideas as long as they help us get better,” he says.
Khaya is determined that this focus on innovation doesn’t become lip service, so much so that he recently launched BDO’s first annual innovation campaign. “People can submit ideas through a portal, and the best ones are developed into projects. There are even prizes because incentives matter. But beyond the campaign, my principle is: think. Always ask if there’s a better way.”
Responsible AI adoption
There is certainly a lot of thinking at BDO when it comes to AI adoption which he says follows the same disciplined, value-first approach. “We’ve implemented four specific AI solutions, always starting with a risk-based assessment. We run proof-of-concepts in controlled environments to prove value, then scale carefully while enacting new policies.”
The firm has introduced acceptable use guidelines, an AI playbook and policies to prevent sensitive data exposure and misuse of new solutions. “We balance freedom to explore with managing risk. Technology must enable business performance, not create new vulnerabilities.”
He explains that his experience in establishing an intelligent automation centre of excellence at a mining company shaped his belief in the power and the responsibility of automation. “We reduced processes that took a week and a half down to 34 minutes using bots (robots). But governance was essential – we built ‘human in the loop’ checks to ensure quality.”
Change management was just as vital, he says: “The employees’ jobs evolved from execution to supervising digital workers. With training and clear operating procedures, they embraced their new roles as supervisors of automation.”
Khaya’s strong focus on the human side of innovation and AI is not without reason. He says that if he was not in IT, he’d be an archaeologist. His fascination with history and cultures comes from a childhood spent moving between different regions of South Africa. “When you understand people’s contexts, you work better with them. You can even resolve conflict before it arises. That’s how you get the best out of people.”
He says that this perspective, combined with his love of the outdoors, mountain biking and reading, keeps him balanced. The book he is currently reading, Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari, in many ways reflects his career and drive – an exploration of how technology might shape humanity’s future. “It’s crazy, but fascinating. And it’s not science fiction - it’s happening now,” he concludes.
