GET TO KNOW
What do you think is the current hot
technology talking point?
Dealing with education continuity. The
scale of the COVID-19 shutdown has
been monumental, with UNESCO stating
that thus far some 188 countries have
implemented nationwide closures, which
impacted more than 91% of the world’s
student population (about 1.5 billion
learners). Much like the business world that
has been forced to innovate to stay afloat,
educational facilities across the globe are
accelerating their Digital Transformation
initiatives to mitigate the impact of the
closures and facilitate the continuity of
education through remote learning. This
is where an education technology and
services company such as Blackboard can
play a crucial role in supporting higher
education institutions in South Africa for
example to quickly transition to digital
teaching and learning modalities, as
they implement their COVID-19
contingency plans.
How do you deal with stress and
unwind outside the office?
Business never stops, education is a really
enjoyable sector to work in and I like to
think we are open 24 hours a day for our
customers and partners to reach out to us.
A good run each evening helps deal with
unwinding for sure.
If you could go back and change one
career decision what would it be?
me to be positioned
where I am today to add
value to the business.
What do you currently
identify as the major
areas of investment in
your industry?
Innovation is key. The steps
in our journey at Blackboard
reflect the success we’ve had
in migrating clients from selfhosted
and managed hosted
environments to SaaS and
our unwavering commitment to support
and migrate the balance of our client base
over time. Over the last few years, we’ve
been laser-focused on moving clients to the
cloud, delivering innovation within existing
products and through new technologies
and simplifying our business as we move
towards being a fully SaaS business.
What are the region-specific
challenges when implementing new
technologies in the MEA region?
Through our on-going conversations with
clients in the region, Blackboard is able to
understand our clients’ specific challenges.
We have learned that above all, institutions
are looking to train faculty to effectively
leverage the technology, and to ensure the
content they deliver online is engaging,
accessible and inclusive.
What changes to your job role have
you seen in the last year and how do
you see these developing in the next
12 months?
The biggest shift in the last year is really the
last three months of COVID-19, really we live
in unprecedented times with business travel
“
EACH STEP TAKEN
HAS BROADENED
MY SKILLS,
KNOWLEDGE AND
EXPERTISE TO
ENABLE ME TO
BE POSITIONED
WHERE I AM
TODAY TO ADD
VALUE TO THE
BUSINESS.
ceasing, face to face meetings have stopped,
shifts in budgets. The next six months will
be spent ensuring focus and support for the
customers and partners as well as internal
teams at Blackboard to ensure everyone
is safe, current projects and programmes
remain on track to be delivered and we
remain focused on delivering value during
these challenging times
What advice would you offer
somebody aspiring to obtain C-level
position in your industry?
It is a great sector to work in so I would
advise to focus and develop the deep
knowledge and understanding of the
education sector as a must, there are so
many unique attributes to understand. Be
humble, work on your leadership attitude
towards people, customers, business and be
aware of the culture. All the rest should fall
into place. •
On reflection I would not change any
decisions I have made with regards to my
career as each step taken has broadened
my skills, knowledge and expertise to enable
72 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com