Interview

Mark Williams-Wynn didn’t plan for a career in e-waste recycling. Today, as CTO of EWaste Africa, he's combining engineering, AI, and innovation to help tackle one of South Africa's fastest-growing environmental challenges.

Kuben Nair, CTO at Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, once thought IT wasn’t for him. But his career path eventually brought him back to tech – this time with purpose: helping South African youth realise their potential.

When Fikile Sibiya finished matric, her heart was set on becoming a journalist. Today, the e4 Strategic chief information officer uses that same curiosity to navigate the age of artificial intelligence, build resilient technology foundations and empower the next generation of African problem-solvers.

Jörg Fischer, chief information officer of Standard Bank Group, explains how the bank transitioned AI from a series of isolated experiments into a structured business capability.

CIO South Africa recently caught up with Vinoliah Martin, chief technology officer at PwC South African Technology and Innovation Centre (SATIC), and here is what she shared about her role.

Dr Eugene Wessels turned a school floppy disc into a prosperous career. Today, as group chief technology officer of King Price Insurance, he is navigating the most disruptive technological moment of his career, while still making Sunday-night toasted sandwiches for his family.

CIO South Africa recently caught up with Multichoice Africa / Canal Plus group executive for information and digital technology Maggie Matsie, who unpacks mum guilt, Enneagram 8 leadership, and why you should never delegate what you haven’t mastered.

As CIO and vice-principal of ICT Unisa, Mathabo Nakene-Mginqi has led one of Africa’s largest universities through a high stakes digital stabilisation and cloud transformation journey. Her path to the executive role, shaped by an unexpected chapter in interior decor, reveals a technology leader focused on intentional, human-centred systems change.

2025 Young CIO of the Year Irwhan Rakiep does not lead through noise or bravado, but through deep thinking, calm, clarity and a deep respect for people. That mindset shapes not only how technology works, but how teams thrive at Metropolitan Life.

Absa Bank’s group CITO (GCITO) Johnson Idesoh is a firm believer that technology is, at its heart, a people business. He may be the 2025 CIO of the Year, and also winner of the Smart Data and Digital Innovation awards, but the thread that runs through his story is not technology, it is purpose.

Kim Sim, CIO of Mr Price Group, has built her leadership philosophy around high-performance team culture, psychological safety and accountability while steering major technology transformation initiatives. Her approach earned her both the Strategy and Leadership Award and the High-Performance Team Award at the CIO Awards in 2025.

Lubabalo Lokwe believes great leaders are defined by their ability to transform institutions into places that are stronger and better than when they were first found. As the CIO of Nelson Mandela University (NMU), he is determined to live up to his exceptional standards of leadership.

Hans Zachar, 2025 CIO Awards Cybersecurity award-winner, built Nutun’s international technology platform with the same quiet discipline that shaped his life growing up in Edenvale. For the group chief technology and information officer, global scale, trust and innovation have always been about people first – and systems second.

Gboyega Dada, chief digital and information officer at Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB), has built a career at the nexus of curiosity and structure, drawn to the hidden systems that keep institutions moving.

Gary Crouse, Compsol’s newly-appointed CIO, has spent 13 years rising through the ranks in the company and is now reshaping its technology strategy through AI, talent development and process modernisation.

Zanele Hala is steering PetroSA’s IT function through one of the most consequential periods in the organisation’s history and she is doing it while lifting others.

In honour of International Women’s Month, CIO South Africa highlights interviews with leading IT executives who are shaping the future of the country’s technology landscape and creating pathways for the next generation of women in tech.

Pineapple CTO, Sizwe Ndlovu’s agenda at the insurance company right now is reinforcing a forward-thinking culture and shaping the future of the insurance landscape through cutting-edge technologies.

Free State department of health CIO Bandile Ntombela reflects on his career path and the evolving demands of technology leadership in the public sector.

The CIO in the office of the North West premier, Thato Matsipe, unpacks how governance reform, IT centralisation and strategic industry collaboration are repositioning technology from a support function to a core enabler of provincial service delivery.