What does Youknow Digital do?
Youknow Digital is a specialist technology enablement company. We launched in 2014 to help African brands and digital professionals leapfrog their competition by expertly leveraging the world’s top marketing and customer experience technology in the local context.
Our partners are global leaders in enterprise solution software and include an audience-centric social data platform, a social and web conversation analysis platform, an industry- leading all-in-one social media management solution, a customer intelligence platform, a consumer insights tool and digital interaction software.
Youknow provides training, support and consulting on these tech stacks, making it possible for businesses to learn about current and prospective customers based on the information they’re constantly providing through interactions on various digital and direct channels.
Tell me about customer experience technology.
In our world, customer experience technology is any solution (digital mostly) that allows curious organisations to understand what their customers want and expect from them, at scale, in real time.
This means keeping tabs on what large numbers of people are telling you either directly through feedback, indirectly in public spaces, through their intricate interactions with your real-world and digital experiences with them, through their history with you and by asking them.
Having the kind of solutions that make this easy to do at scale, and which enables more people within your organisation to have access to this data, is invaluable.
What did you study, and how does that help you do what you do?
I studied computer engineering and method acting. The one helped me to understand complex technical structures and processes and eased my entry into the digital space. The other helped me to understand people and what their motivations are.
I don’t believe that I could’ve done what I’ve done without either of these experiences.
What are your thoughts on returning to the office vs working from home?
It depends very much on the kind of work the business does. For a development or admin business, stay at home as much as you like.
In our company, though, which places a really high value on the personal interactions in sales and services, we’ve found it vital to have dedicated times for us all to come together in a space (mostly our office) and connect, face-to-face — irritate each other, hug each other and just reinforce that human part of our culture.
There is strong debate around the productivity levels of those days in the office, but the benefit we get from building our foundations in person is undeniable.
What did you want to be as a child?
I remember wanting to be a toy designer, then an inventor, which then evolved into a video game designer. I’ve always had a strong desire to create things, which is probably what led me to study engineering.
I did pursue this path in a way, by starting my career in testing video games and then in virtual reality (VR) development, but I didn’t feel fulfilled coding behind a screen for 10 hours a day, so shifted gears later on.
What is your go-to career advice?
Be curious. Don’t box yourself in, and absorb every bit of learning and experience you can. That curiosity will expose you to people and opportunities that you could never have planned for.
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