On the lighter side of things , we ask the industry experts what makes them tick . . . .

There are a couple of major milestones that come to mind , such as being selected to speak about the psychology of lying at the ACFE African conference one year ago or when I assisted in a serial murder case in Modimole in my early years as a veracity assessor , but the one achievement that I am most proud of is having become the highest qualified Layered Voice Analysis ( LVA ) analyst in South Africa . With more than 15 years ’ experience within the truth verification field , I have become a subject matter specialist in all things Layered Voice Analysis and the various applications of this stateof-the-art fraud prevention technology from Nemesysco .

What first made you think of a career in technology ?

This might sound odd , but I did my first polygraph when I was nine years old . My stepfather or “ plus-pa ” as they say where he is from , is a criminologist and one of the first polygraphists in South Africa . I would sit in on some of his lectures , learning about the tricks of the trade and many times demonstrating the polygraph by conducting stim tests on his students . It is this early exposure to veracity assessments that piqued my interest in lie detection and naturally grew from there .

What style of management philosophy do you employ with your current position ?

I try to follow a hybrid approach of strategic and transformational management styles . I have learned through my studies , my interactions with people and even with my children , that just as personalities differ , people are also motivated differently because of it . That is why I try to adjust my approach to management to speak to each individual ’ s unique motivations and focusing on the needs of the team .

Of course , the main outcome of managing a team is to enhance team efficiency and performance . In this pursuit , I try to be an example of the things I want from our team : striving to do things right the first time , being committed to doing work of a high standard and not sacrificing quality for quantity , being open to continuous learning and most importantly , being an integrous person that underpins credibility in not only myself , but also our work and our team .

What do you think is the current hot technology talking point ?

Businesses globally are building a culture of data-based decision making which has driven the need for genuine emotions detection . Nemesysco is providing technology for emotion detection through voice analysis with the use of their core technology called Layered Voice Analysis . Interestingly , it is the only voice analysis science in which computers , using LVA , perform better than humans . These computers can identify digitally unique patterns in the human voice that we as humans have learned to mask and ignore , and which Nemesysco , in its twenty years of research , learned to identify and correlate with key human emotions .

How do you deal with stress and unwind outside the office ?

I must say that with the onset of COVID-19 , it just highlighted the fact that mental and physical wellbeing is extremely important , which led me to join a small running club of like-minded women in my community – our group slogan is ‘ running is our therapy ’ ( RIOT ). And it truly is . The motivation and the support this group of amazing women gives me , really helps to keep me grounded .

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