Mteto Nyati’s focus is on growing and scaling local technology consulting firm BSG — Business Systems Group — from a boutique outfit into a large player competing with the likes of Accenture and Microsoft. This marks the businessman’s shift from technology executive to investor.
This past week it was announced that Nyati had taken up a 40% stake in BSG and is now the SA tech and consulting firm’s executive chair. Founded in 1997, the company is based in Johannesburg and Cape Town, with staff of 160.
Nyati takes over from founder Greg Reis.
“When I decided to leave Altron, I was very clear that I needed to have a role that was completely different from the previous CEO roles that I occupied. I wanted to have significant skin in the game in whatever I do,” he told Business Day in an interview.
A former CEO of MTN SA and MD of Microsoft SA, he joined Altron in 2017 where he led the company’s transition from a family-controlled business managed by founder Bill Venter and his son Robbie, the former CEO. He left Altron in June, having announced plans to step down back in January.
Nyati says the deal to buy into BSG had been in the works since announcing the departure, making it an almost year-long process. Ownership in BSG sees 15% belonging to employees and the remainder of equity divided across two shareholders.
Now the mission is to scale the firm.
“We made a decision that I should step in as executive chair to help guide the strategy of the business. That’s probably the big thing I’m bringing. The ability to see ahead.”
“We are a medium-sized company. We, of course, aspire to be bigger than this. And by bigger, it will be more like the companies I have worked for. The future that BSG wants to have, I have a memory of that. I’ve lived in that future. So I will be able to guide them and [especially] to avoid some of the mistakes that are made in trying to grow a business.”
“We want to be international.”
“Putting together processes that help us to be consistent in our approach, that’s another thing that I’m bringing from large enterprises to an organisation like this one.”
While on this mission, Nyati has quickly racked up a number of leadership roles outside his investment activities, being recently appointed to the boards of Nedbank, Telkom and Eskom.
In stepping down as a CEO, he wanted to stay engaged with the broader market and be exposed to sectors where he did not have much experience.
“With Nedbank, I’ve always been fascinated by the world of financial services. There’s so much I’m going to learn there ... but there’s much that I can give because so much of it is driven by technology.”
“Then you have Telkom which did not quite fit [because of my telecom experience]. But I see it as one of those great SA companies that has not fully realised its potential and it would be good to be part and parcel of a team that is helping this company to find its place.”
Eskom, however, “was never a planned thing”, he says. “I felt I should not just be complaining on the outside. I should be part of the solution.”
Over the years, BSG has done well as a boutique firm. As a private company, it does not disclose its list of clients or revenue figures. However, it has won a number of awards along the way, being named “Best Employer Brand” in 2019 by the LinkedIn Talent Awards, among others.
“I remember when I was still at Microsoft. We were very focused on people. We won Deloitte’s ‘best company to work for’ award. They had three categories — small, medium and large. We were in the medium. BSG, at the time, won in one of the categories. I said: ‘Wow here’s this South African company competing with global players’. That struck me.”
So far, the company has specialised in servicing financial services and healthcare businesses in SA and the UK. Nyati says a key part of the strategy is to expand the industries in which BSG offers its services.
He says BSG’s strength in data collection and analytics could be expanded in industries such as telecom, retail and oil & gas, where it already does some work.
“If you look at the public sector, home affairs would be a great environment, and Sassa [SA Social Security Agency]. Those are very data heavy.”
BSG is looking at making acquisitions but Nyati would not be drawn on the nature and timing of such transactions.
All this poses a challenge for Nyati who has to change mindset to lead a well-run organisation, as opposed to one in need of fixing. The veteran executive has built a reputation as an expert in corporate turnarounds.
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