CIO South Africa hosts first-ever joint CIO and CFO Dinner, an intimate, diverse, and impactful discussion in the Mother City.
The CIO Dinner, themed ‘Boardroom Influence’ was a series of firsts. the first-ever collaboration between CIO South Africa and CFO South Africa, and the first CIO Dinner held in the Mother City. Organised in partnership with Makwa IT, the dinner fostered critical conversations about the growing role of executives in safeguarding corporate reputation.
Tryn Restaurant, nestled in Steenberg Farm, which happens to be The Cape’s first farm, established in 1682, and just 20 minutes from the bustling heart of the Mother City, was the perfect venue for this occasion.
CIOs and CFOs play pivotal roles in guiding their organisations through digital transformation while maintaining financial health. By understanding boardroom dynamics and effectively influencing board decisions, these executives can ensure their initiatives receive the necessary support and resources.
The topic that dominated the dinner table was the influence and responsibility CIOs and CFOs had on their respective company reputations.
It wouldn’t be a CIO Dinner without the popular, yet challenging icebreaker. This time, CIO South Africa’s community manager, Nomahlubi Sonjica, handed out quiz cards. The instructions were simple: pick a card, introduce yourself, and answer the question on it.
One card asked, “If you could have dinner with anyone related to technology and finance, who would it be and why?”
“It wouldn’t be one person in particular, but rather players in my field – retail. I’m more interested in dining with counterparts from large international retailers to discuss their challenges, how they address them, and how those issues relate to us here in Africa. I’m thinking of companies like Tesco and Walmart rather than a single individual,” one guest replied.
Another card asked, “If you could swap roles with anyone in your organisation, who would it be and why?”
Reflecting on a previous role, one guest joked, “I’d swap with my former staff for a day. That way, I’d get everything done for me – by me.”
One question sent a guest down memory lane. “What’s one thing you miss about your first job?” The guest responded, “My first official job was as a programmer, and I miss the freedom coding offered. No office drama, just me and a solvable problem. Especially now in the digital age, being a coder is still a kick-ass job.”
With the starter out of the way, guests dug right into one of two very big topics at boardroom level. Surprisingly, none of the two had anything to do with executives wanting a voice at the table, but rather singing the same song, the first consensus being around cybersecurity.
“It’s all about cybersecurity now,” one guest pointed out. “The board has raised their concerns around cybersecurity and breaches or rather the fear of them. However, you have to be very open and transparent about where the organisation is at and share that information with them, and try to put their minds at ease – a common discussion in board meetings.”
One CFO in attendance agreed, adding that cybersecurity insurance has become a frequent topic in board discussions. Cyber-insurance covers losses from various cyber-incidents, such as social engineering scams and ransomware attacks. “It’s no longer a grudge purchase but an absolute necessity,” one guest remarked. “It’s not a matter of if it will happen, but when.”
“We’re scrutinising cyber insurance policies now in order to understand them better and determine if we’re getting the greatest value out of them,” one CIO commented.
A CFO across the table highlighted where the cyber-attackers are mostly channelling their efforts. “Anything that can be monetised is a big target, with so much of people’s information already out now, it’s more around the monetisation opportunities around credit cards, for example,” they noted. “Unfortunately, everyone will at some point experience a hack; it’s just a matter of when it happens.”
Shock therapy
One CIO still believes that responsibility still lies with the entire organisation and its people. He’s learned that experience is the best teacher in terms of driving the seriousness of cybersecurity home.
“The best way to get people to take cybersecurity seriously is to do simulations and conduct phishing simulations,” he said. Phishing simulations are programmes where organisations send realistic phishing emails to employees in order to gauge their awareness of attacks.
“The idea, he added, is to take those cybersecurity lessons at work into their own homes: there needs to be a culture around it.
In fact, get someone into a board meeting to do a live simulation and you’ll see how the CEO will invite you back more often to have more conversations around cybersecurity. “Suddenly, phishing simulations are being completed on time,” the CIO noted. “Today, people are inviting us to conferences that normally talk about financial advice and nothing to do with IT. Now people want that slot because they see what could happen if they don’t take it seriously.”
There’s another piece to this: the reputation piece. “Reputation is key, you don’t just protect the organisation from a cyber perspective, but at a reputational level,” one CFO commented.
And it’s not only about protecting the organisation, but managing the people working with the organisation that can potentially damage its reputation. “Third-party exposure and reputational damage are very real things,” a CIO highlighted. “Sometimes a breach can come through a third-party so it’s important that we put the necessary controls in place to ensure the company isn’t exposed, such as third-party and cybersecurity assessments, an absolute must.”
As the evening progressed, the conversation shifted to the two-pot retirement system. “The way people are withdrawing funds from the two-pot system is almost a reflection of the population’s financial literacy. There’s no strong justification for why so much is being pulled out,” one guest observed.
“If you’re using that money for groceries now but risk starving in retirement, it doesn’t make sense,” another guest added.
“It highlights how Eurocentric we are as executives,” a third guest chimed in. “People are struggling to afford basic necessities – that’s the real issue. It’s a serious indictment on both corporates and government. What are we truly doing to create lasting wealth in this country?” he concluded.
Those in attendance were:
- Douglas McNeilage, MakwaIT
- Francois Swanepoel, Oceana Group CIO
- Ian Duvenage, MakwaIT Business Development Manager
- Lazola Ngqaza, SanlamConnect CIO
- Mark Tudor, PicknPay Group CIO
- Muhammad Brey, Sea Harvest CFO
- Nomahlubi Sonjica, CIO South Africa Community Manager
- Reabetswe Rabaji, CIO South Africa Managing Editor
- Yunus Mukuddem, Woolworths Head of Finance
