CASE STUDY
WE’ LL MAKE THINGS SMOOTHER AND QUICKER WHILST AVOIDING THE TEMPTATION TO‘ OVER- TECH’ THE EXPERIENCE.
How do you see the role of the CTO evolving in today’ s fast-paced, digitally driven business environment?
The role of the CTO has evolved from the systems builder to the product thinker. No longer just the technical lead, CTOs are stepping into the role of a strategic contributor that helps the business grow, differentiate and compete. They’ re often at the heart of transformation where speed, data and client experience meet.
As CTOs we must also build and inspire highperforming teams in a landscape where skills are scarce, expectations are high and culture matters. Attracting, retaining and developing top tech talent has become a core part of the job.
What types of IT challenges have you seen emerge across the industry recently, and how are you preparing your organisation to navigate similar issues?
As CIOs, we’ re constantly juggling a few big challenges. Finding the right skills, keeping up with the pace the business and client demands, and making sure tech and business teams aren’ t just aligned, but moving in synergy. It’ s a high-stakes balancing act, and getting it right makes all the difference.
In the SME funding landscape, complexities and challenges can include:
1. Finding the right skills to support the business and projects. We ' re not just looking for developers anymore, we’ re looking for data scientists who understand credit risk, DevOps engineers who can navigate compliance-heavy environments, cybersecurity experts who can keep pace with ever-evolving threats, and product-minded technologists who can move at the speed of a start-up while thinking like a banker. That’ s a rare combination.
2. Many fintech platforms started out lean, built for agility. But as they scale to support new partners, products and regulatory compliance, we’ re often stretching infrastructure that wasn’ t designed for this level of complexity.
3. We ' re collecting more data than ever, from application forms, transactional histories, credit bureaus, behavioural analytics and even social signals. But turning all of that into actionable insights is complex and often a disconnected process.
4. With increased digitisation comes increased risk. Every integration, customer touchpoint or thirdparty tool is a potential entry point for cyberthreats – and in the financial services space, the stakes are even higher.
5. Today’ s SME clients expect decisions in minutes, tailored offers and real-time support. But behind the scenes, delivering that kind of seamless experience demands fast, integrated systems, Machine Learning that actually works and rocksolid infrastructure.
6. Everyone’ s racing to‘ add AI’ but not all tools are fit for purpose, and integrating AI meaningfully into analytics, customer experience, or internal workflows takes more than a plug-and-play approach. It takes governance, training and a clear vision for how AI can work for the business.
How are you approaching innovation within your IT department, and what new technologies are you most excited about?
We’ re building a powerful pipeline by growing young technologists from within, while creating an environment where our senior experts are energised and inspired to stay. Not just to lead, but to mentor the next generation.
We are making the most of automation to enhance the client’ s experience. Not just by improving speed, efficiency, and creating a seamless journey but also by empowering our teams. Internally, automation helps free up employees to focus on more meaningful, hightouch interactions and reduce friction across channels, both for customers and within our operations. We’ re using AI as a development assistant, and this is laying the foundation to extend its use more widely.
What advice would you give to aspiring IT leaders looking to make an impact in their organisations?
The best IT leaders don’ t just implement tools or manage infrastructure. They connect the dots between technology and strategy with a sensitivity for getting bang for buck. p
16 INTELLIGENTCIO AFRICA www. intelligentcio. com