Publication: Brainstorm - CIO Directory
Author: Unspecified
Photo: Unspecified
Gordon Institute of Business Science
GIBS is a globally accredited African business school committed to advancing human-centred, sustainable business. Founded in 2000 within the University of Pretoria, it delivers experiential learning and research, is consistently ranked among the world’s top business schools, and develops innovative leaders for a changing world.
gibs.co.za
Name your most pressing deliverables for 2026.
That would be a considered strategy for leveraging AI across the business, enhancing digital literacy across the organisation, and lifting IT competencies to support this. We’re also scaling governance to meet increasing demand for data- and process-driven technology solutions.
What is your most significant achievement over the last year?
We built a technical talent pipeline by bringing in young skills through the YES programme, developed within the IT department, for deployment into business units requiring technical capabilities either permanently, or temporarily, with IT providing central expert governance oversight and care.
How do you plan to improve your organisation’s IT function?
We must balance the need for accelerated technical competency development, experimentation, and more time spent doing research and development, with the rapidly increasing demand for business solutions in the immediate.
How are you redeploying human capacity gains resulting from AI?
The capacity efficiencies gained within the IT department are being absorbed by a rapidly increasing demand for technical competencies. It’s a little bit of “more-of-the-same”, but with focus shifting towards higher-value work.
How do you keep your team’s skills relevant?
We provide opportunities for development through courses and experience, but realistically, we all need to be self-motivated or we’ll become irrelevant.
Amendment to the Gazette