What does an innovation manager do?
The primary purpose of the role is to identify future trends and technology solutions that Capitec can leverage to help our clients live better. Practically, on a daily basis, that translates into a variety of activities, including research, creating business cases, programming prototype solutions, evaluating technology, influencing and debating the future strategy for the organisation with our executive team. Often all on the same day.
My focus area is our digital strategy. We are rapidly growing in this area. Capitec is the largest digital bank in SA with more than 7.4-million digital banking clients, as clients choose to bank on their phone.
How did you end up in this position?
I’m a programmer. I’ve been building software since I was young, so naturally this was my field of study. However, from past experience, and especially at Capitec, I’ve learnt that good software alone is not enough to change the world. The trick is to put yourself in the shoes of the client that will use your solution and look at all the touch points and pains they might experience while interacting with your system.
I’ve been fortunate to hold a variety of technology positions at Capitec over the past 10 years, from implementing one of the leading queuing solutions in the world for our branches; to designing our in-branch, self-service terminal; and more recently heading innovation and digital strategy.
What would people find most surprising about what you do?
My ability to context switch often is something of unique value that I bring to Capitec — within the same day I may have to be able to help a programmer troubleshoot down to a line of code level; help a business analyst design a solution; work with a UX (user experience) designer to develop the look and feel of an app; then later talk strategy at an executive level.
This type of skill is quite common in the tech start-up world, but often missing in big organisations. Typically, everyone in a business has their specialised role to play, but having this type of skill to effectively “translate” between the different domain languages everyone speaks helps to get things going.
What did you want to be when you were a child?
Absolutely what I’m doing now. Any programmer’s dream is to work in a research and development team.
What makes what you do each day meaningful?
First, the team I work with, seeing them grow every day, and realising that I’ve had an impact on their careers. Second, the challenge of turning big ideas into reality that can ultimately help our clients better manage their financial lives.
Any advice for SA’s young people?
I urge all young people to get into computer programming. It’s the best thing you can do for your brain, helping you to think in a problem-solving way both in work and life. It’s also one of the easiest career paths to get into, with free educational content and development tools readily available.
Software is in everything we touch today and the rate of growth is not slowing down. SA can only benefit from a groundswell of people moving into the software development industry to build solutions for ourselves and the rest of the world.
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