CIO South Africa recently caught up with Takealot group chief technology officer Clive Charlton and here is what he shared about his role.
Managing traditional retail e-commerce alongside fast on-demand delivery is no small task. Takealot group chief technology officer Clive Charlton leads an engineering team of 420 people across South Africa. As global giants enter the local market, Clive balances rapid innovation with strict cost controls. His main focus remains on unifying his teams and developing world-class local engineering talent.
What makes you excited to get up in the morning?
For me, having been here for a few months, the excitement lies in understanding the sheer complexity of our operations. We run both traditional retail e-commerce and on-demand delivery, which is a very complicated mix of two completely different business propositions. Managing the software engineering behind both models is a highly complex problem to solve.
The competitive landscape in South Africa is also incredibly energising. Two years ago, there was very little competition, but today we face global giants in both retail shopping and on-demand services, alongside strong local competitors in food and grocery delivery.
At the same time, we are seeing a massive shift in consumer buying habits. People are going to physical shops far less and receiving multiple home deliveries every day. Seeing the direct, physical impact of our work across South Africa is amazing.
However, operating at this scale is a huge challenge. When you process millions of orders, even a tiny change – like a 20 percent increase in the fuel price – has a substantial impact on our logistics.
What keeps you up at night?
Artificial intelligence is fundamentally changing how our business operates and how we deliver software. It is an exciting time across all verticals, but what remains largely unresolved is how to manage the costs of these technologies.
The large language models being released are growing increasingly capable, which helps us deliver software much faster. However, they are also becoming extremely expensive. We have to find ways to balance these costs while addressing security and compliance.
Some global companies have gamified token usage, giving their engineers unlimited access, which has led to runaway costs. I prefer to take a pragmatic, safety-first approach. We must use AI to accelerate our software delivery to ensure we do not fall behind, but we must do so with proper guardrails and cost controls in place.
What is the biggest shift you have had to make in how you lead or think about your role in the last 12 to 18 months?
The biggest shift is transitioning from consultative roles into an internal leadership position at Takealot, where I am directly responsible for delivering value to the business and the wider group.
This change has required a completely different mindset. While I still rely on the same management tools and methodologies to guide my software engineering teams, I now view everything through a direct business lens. Rather than participating in a consultative process with an external client, the engineering decisions and changes I make now directly impact our bottom line.
When you eventually step away from your role, what do you hope to have left behind?
I want to see our complex engineering team working in complete lockstep. Currently, our three distinct business units operate fairly independently in many areas. I am making concerted efforts to bring them all together under a single, unified engineering banner.
I also want to leave behind a mature team that has the structured mechanisms required for personal development and continuous learning. We have a team of about 420 engineers based primarily in Cape Town and Johannesburg, with some in Durban and Gqeberha.
We are fortunate to have a strong brand that attracts highly talented people. However, we also have a large cohort of young engineers who need guidance. I want to keep the flywheel turning by attracting young talent from all walks of life, providing them with mentorship, and helping them grow into the world-class engineers I know South Africa can produce.
