“
GET TO KNOW
THE MAIN CHALLENGE IN AFRICA IS
HAVING RELIABLE AND SUFFICIENT ELECTRICITY
TO COVER SUCH A VAST GEOGRAPHICAL AREA.
5
How do you deal with
stress and unwind outside
the office?
Time with family and my children helps me achieve the much needed
work-life balance. I love to cook and really enjoy baking in particular,
so outside the office I would fire up my Kenwood Pattisier and then
it’s all about eggs, flour, butter and sugar after that.
6
If you could go back and
change one career decision
what would it be?
Whilst studying for my Master’s degree in telecommunications, I
started my own company distributing mobile phones for Vodafone
in the UK. In those days, I can recall speaking to the CEO of an
engineering company about equipping their sales force with mobile
phones and they were trying to justify the costs. Things changed
quickly and the demand for mobile devices grew exponentially but
I had to temporarily put operations on hold to concentrate on my
final exams. Soon after that, I was offered a job and never went
back to continuing with the business. If I had continued with my
own company, I may have been on a different adventure now.
Nonetheless, there are no regrets as I have enjoyed being at the
cutting edge of technological change.
7
What do you currently
identify as the major areas of
investment in your industry?
Gemalto is primarily focused on investing in smart cities and
leveraging the power of the Internet of Things and artificial
intelligence. Smart cities – cities of the future – will provide a more
comfortable, connected and safer life for citizens as a result of the
provision of the latest IoT solutions, designed to make life digitally-
enhanced and easier. As our world becomes smarter and more
devices become connected, a robust network is required to meet
growing expectations and the ‘always-on’ demand of connectivity.
Effective identity verification services are another area of major
investment for Gemalto as this is key to tackling telecom fraud.
Increasingly, public authorities and governments are requesting
ever-stronger identity verification services. Lastly, we see significant
investments in network function virtualisation (NFV) which decouples
network functions from the underlying hardware. This technology
allows generic hardware to be configured as network devices like
a switch, a router, or any other type of network equipment via
software, as required. NFV takes the concept of server virtualisation
and extends it to the network.
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INTELLIGENTCIO
8
What changes to your job
role have you seen in the
last year and how do you see
these developing in the next
12 months?
Digital transformation is now becoming a reality and IoT is playing
a part in the national agenda. My role has changed because
I see more of a need to contribute as a stakeholder into the
ecosystem rather than working in a vertical approach. In order to
build and integrate these ecosystems, my role requires bringing
together a diverse group of stakeholders including government,
telecommunications companies and technology providers to be part
of the digital transformation.
9
What advice would you offer
somebody aspiring to obtain
C-level position in your
industry?
The survival of telecommunications operators in the future is
based on the ability of the industry to work together with other
stakeholders. For someone aspiring to become a C-level executive,
it is necessary to have a clear vision of how to build this ecosystem
across various, and sometimes opposing, stakeholder groups.
Obtaining a C-level position requires fostering strong partnerships,
particularly in a service world where long-term transactional business
models are key. It is also important to build and be a part of a
collaborative, a team of people who are dedicated to delivering
innovative solutions. Finding a mentor within your organisation can
be the best way to learn and grow, and ultimately reach the senior
position you aspire for. It’s the power of 3: build an ecosystem, build
a partnership, build a team. n
“
I AIM TO
IDENTIFY AND NURTURE
MY EMPLOYEES’ NATURAL
TALENT AND EMPOWER
THEM TO EXPRESS THEIR
CREATIVITY TO REALISE
THEIR FULL POTENTIAL.
www.intelligentcio.com