CIO South Africa returned to eThekwini for an exclusive session featuring the nation’s top IT and finance professionals, aimed at exploring the true impact these executives have within the boardroom.
On 18 September, in partnership with Principal Partner Makwa IT, CIO South Africa hosted a dinner centred around the theme of boardroom influence in Durban. The key takeaway? True influence often starts beyond the confines of the boardroom itself.
The word must have spread fast from Cape Town to Durban about CIO South Africa’s popular icebreaker, the quiz cards. The instructions were simple: pick a card, introduce yourself, and answer the question on it.
One card asked, “If you could swap roles with anyone in your organisation, who would it be and why?”
“I’d swap roles with my chairperson because he’s always working on some interesting and ambitious projects on the continent and abroad,” the guest responded.
Another guest drew parallels between his previous career and current role. “I’d write a book about going from physical crime to cybercrime because I previously worked in law enforcement before getting into IT,” he said.
On the sporting front, the national rugby team has served as an inspiring example of a ‘dream team’. When asked which sports team his own team would resemble, the CIO cited the Springboks, with Siya Kolisi as their most valuable player.
The conversation then shifted from ideals to the realities of boardroom dynamics and their true impact. “If your business is thriving, you’re not necessarily busy in the boardroom. But when a downturn hits, that’s when the real work begins,” one executive noted.
Boardroom influence
For another CIO, storytelling and visualisation have become critical and this happens even before you enter the boardroom.
“It happens over lunch perhaps, it even happens months in advance of that board meeting. By the time you get to exco, you have already built a solid foundation for buy-in – boardroom influence doesn’t happen in the boardroom itself, but rather outside of it,” he noted.
A CFO across the table shared those sentiments and said getting that buy-in starts outside the boardroom; it’s those watercooler conversations that foster influence.
For another guest, real influence comes from how you empower others. Considering the employment challenges the country faces, they believe that influential leaders have a huge role to play in creating opportunities for work. “I’ve personally brought some youngsters into our organisation, who had no IT background to speak of, but it was important to give them that exposure and opportunity to learn about the discipline and ultimately work in it,” he said.
The community’s co-host and partner agreed with the CIO, pointing out that they have also created opportunities from their own solid business relationships. “As a Cisco Gold partner, we’ve absorbed some of the former Cisco employees in our company based on the existing relationships we had with them,” they noted.
From a skills perspective, one CIO noted that there needs to be a diversity of skills on the board that will also shape the kind of influence they have on the board. “Group-think can be harmful – having people with a similar background – and can be limiting. It’s important to have different views.”
In contrast, one guest shared an example of how not coming from a similar background as his fellow exco members has worked against him. “I want to have a voice, but the industry that I’m in makes it difficult because I work with people from a specific profession and I don’t speak that language, which makes it difficult for me at times,” he said.
Appetite for projects
The topic of buy-in on projects then came and it was quite clear on the CFOs side of the table that for any project to even be considered, there needs to be a strong business case and likely ROI upfront. “You also need to keep an eye on the clauses or loopholes in these contracts. They often lead to contractual disputes or create a gap for them to creep in.
Another guest shared an interesting observation around projects. “When things go well in IT, people start to ask questions, unlike in finance where when things go well , it’s a good thing,” he said.
The relationship between the CFO and CIO is also important on the board. “I have a good relationship with my CFO,” one guest commented. “When there’s millions on the line, it’s important to have alignment.”
One CIO couldn’t agree more on alignment. They have a cashflow meeting with their finance team every Friday. “As a CIO, it’s important for me to know when the spend has come through and there’s alignment on that,” they said.
Alignment can sometimes be clouded by what one guest coined as project post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “When an IT project has failed in the past, it’s hard to get buy-in on a new one, and managing that is a project of its own,” they commented.
Mutual respect and being stern was something the guests all agreed on. “When it comes to the bottom line, tough decisions have to be made, especially when money is concerned,” they added.
It’s also about managing doubt between exco members. One CIO shared a story of how he made it his mission to change those views who were very opinionated when it came to spending and IT.
“I once dealt with an exco executive who was highly sceptical of IT and would question every decision during our exco meetings,” he recalled. “He believed the IT budget somehow came from operations, which posed a real challenge for me. I had to work on shifting that mindset, both inside and outside the boardroom.”
The evening concluded with a public sector guest sharing insights into their unique challenges with influence. “There’s an interesting dynamic when it comes to watercooler conversations in my environment,” they noted. “The level of red tape we face is often frustrating, and projects take a long time to get greenlighted, which significantly impacts service delivery.”
Those in attendance were:
- Akesh Bansee, Unilever Vice President: Finance
- Chris Kistasamy, Makwa-IT CEO
- Desan Pillay, Wits Business School CDO
- Eugene Van Der Lingen, Africa Health Research Institute CIO
- Hamzah Assmal, Al Baraka Bank GM: Digitalisation
- Ian Duvenage, MakwaIT Business Development Manager
- Kim Sim, Mr Price Group CIO
- Nomahlubi Sonjica, CIO South Africa Community Manager
- Pramy Moodley, Sappi CFO
- Praneel Nundkumar, Mr Price CFO
- Prishendra Venketsamy, IT Risk and Security Manager, Grindrod
- Reabetswe Rabaji, CIO South Africa Managing Editor
- Rishi Birbal, MakwaIT Chief Strategy Officer
- Ruban Naidoo, Ethekwini Municipality IT Manager
- Servasen Moodley, Busamed Group Head of IT
- Shashika John, Grindrod Group CIO
