Integrove CIO Dries van Jaarsveld believes integration is the cornerstone of enabling modern enterprises. He reflects on how the interconnected nature of his career path has positioned him to drive the technology strategy at one of South Africa’s leading tech firms.
Dries began his career 24 years ago after graduating from the University of Pretoria. His path took a significant turn when he joined Accenture in the Netherlands, immersing himself in complex ERP systems and pioneering methods of integration.
“I spent almost four years in the Netherlands across a bunch of projects. A lot of retail industry and manufacturing projects were quite large in Rotterdam. That was a big introduction for me to integration,” he says.
His initial experiences with integration set the stage for a career marked by a consistent focus on connecting discrete systems into cohesive, efficient operations. This early exposure to integration has had a profound impact on his career, especially since integration was not taught in South African IT curricula at the time.
On returning to South Africa, Dries advanced through the ranks at Accenture, tackling diverse projects in energy, telecommunications and finance. Getting experience from such a variety of industries has been quite useful.
“I think each industry teaches you something different in terms of how quickly they move or the challenges they have,” he explains.
For example, when Dries worked on a high-profile project for Virgin Mobile, he learnt that telecommunications is a fast-paced and fast changing industry with an appetite for open-source technology.
Yet, his experience with Eskom challenged Dries to work in a slower sector, but with more complexity and larger scales. Tasked with upgrading the billing system for the nation’s primary electricity supplier, he handled the demands of an organisation characterised by vast data volumes and intricate infrastructure.
Another sector Dries has experience in is mining, specifically with Anglo American. This project involved a global supply chain transformation, tasking him with integrating multiple ERP systems across diverse geographical locations, including Australia and South America.
Integration is the backbone of everything
The complexity of standardising master data and procurement processes on a global scale pushed Dries to innovate and refine his integration strategies. These diverse experiences laid the groundwork for the establishment of Integrove, a company dedicated to enhancing business integration strategies. Dries's vision for Integrove was born from his passion for creating seamless connectivity across complex systems.
"The name is basically like a protective grove around your integration function," he shares.
At Integrove, Dries's role evolved from focusing solely on integration to encompassing a broader perspective that includes custom development, cloud solutions, data analytics, digitisation and AI. He feels grateful for the nuanced knowledge that integration has given him.
“One of the benefits from integration is that you start to understand the complexities,” he says.
His leadership style at Integrove is people-orientated where mentorship is central. “I enjoy helping and teaching people,” he notes.
Becoming a people-focused leader
This approach extends beyond mere technical guidance, emphasising empowerment and fostering intellectual curiosity within his team. Additionally, Dries has learnt that as a leader he cannot control his team and needs to allow them to be independent.
“That’s one of the things I had to learn or teach myself in terms of letting go. I had to ensure that I put the trust in my people and focus on not giving them too many details, as I am more analytical and can get too involved in the details,” he shares.
His dedication to nurturing talent ensures that his team is not only well-versed in current trends, but also equipped to drive innovation.
Dries's curiosity about the world fuels his adaptability – a necessary trait in the realm of IT. He emphasises the importance of being open to lessons from unexpected places. For instance, his work on large-scale billing systems illustrated this.
“The fact that I sat here – and I came up with this idea – the grounding actually came from two or three things in the past that I thought were so boring,” he reflects. “Appreciate every little thing that you get involved in, even if you think it is the most boring thing.” This is another piece of advice Dries offers that speaks to the value of community.
Since the IT world can seem small, he highlighted how interpersonal relationships within the industry can be a great help – even if they don’t appear to be initially.
“There’s probably some relationships where you think you’ve been dealing with the toughest character in the world. Especially in your younger days. But then you realise as your paths continue to cross that this guy has actually got the world of respect for you and he’s just giving you a tough time. This guy can become one of your biggest allies,” he remarks.
Finding balance in an interconnected world
Not only must you learn from unexpected places, Dries also notes that you must always expect the unexpected in the IT world.
“From a CIO perspective, you're living on the edge, right? A day in the life of a CIO is living on the edge of something catastrophic failing. You’re living on the edge of a cyber attack hitting you. Something that you planned for next week might change in an instant.”
Yet, he reframes this as a driving force for progress. For Dries, challenges are fuel for innovation and important for growth. His commitment to integration reflects a greater understanding of the interconnectedness of all things.
Integration will be necessary for future technologies. “You can’t do AI agents or any of the sexy AI implementations if you don’t have integration. It’s the backbone of everything,” Dries explains.
An example of a trend defining Dries's career exploration is artificial intelligence. His enthusiasm for incorporating advanced AI into both professional and personal spaces is palpable. He spends his free time researching and playing around with different models like ChatGPT, Grok, Mistral, Claude and Gemini and AI automation tools like N8N and Flowise to mention a few.
He is even working on an AI-driven home automation project that would enable him to do advanced lightning detection to protect his appliances. He loves spending his weekends fiddling with technology, listening to AI gurus like Matthew Berman and “The Diary of a CEO” on Youtube or even sharing his IT wisdom with his 11-year-old daughter.
When he is not pursuing his on-screen passions, Dries likes to unplug and spend time in nature observing the wildlife in his backyard to help him maintain balance.
