On this episode of the podcast series, we are joined by Chris Steyn, Shoprite Technology’s Head of Data Analytics. Serving over 24 million customers in nearly 3 000 stores, with in excess of 25 000 points of sale and 100 000 articles moving through these points, data presents very exciting opportunities for the Shoprite Group and the chance to execute their strategy of becoming smarter. From a data analytics perspective, Chris believes a focus on customer-centricity and the enablement of...

On today’s episode of the podcast series, we’re joined by RMB’s Head of Telecommunication, Media & Technology Advisory, Arun Varughese. There is so much happening in the payments landscape, and not many people are aware of the plumbing that exists behind contactless payments. It may happen in mere seconds, but is actually a very complex web of electronic communication both locally and internationally. Cash is still dominant in Africa and South Africa; 60% of payments are made using...

Patrice Rassou, Ashburton Investments’ CIO joins us on this episode of the podcast series. The investment industry is very familiar with the processing and extraction of data in order to make investment decisions. A few decades back this was largely a manual process; now data is available in a digital format with quite a lot of history, allowing for spreadsheets to be built rapidly. There are also alternative sources of data available to triangulate forecasts with what industry experts are...

Joining us today on this episode of the podcast series is Mike Grant - Chief Technical Officer at DataProphet, engineer and machine learning specialist. DataProphet is not a dashboarding company. There’s no added value outside of a beautiful looking dashboard where you have to take your production team to look at the dashboard; interpret the graphics and end up having 2 different people looking at the same graph and coming to 2 different conclusions. AI takes out that interpretation component...

On today’s episode of the podcast series, we’re joined by Property Economist for FNB, John Loos who believes that data analytics in the property industry is of vital importance. Having been in the industry for 20 years, he has seen firsthand how limited data back then led to billions of Rands worth of losses due to banks not fully understanding the housing boom. There was only house price data, no housing market data, which meant it was a speculative market with very little information on...

Chief Data Analytics Officer for FirstRand Risk, Dr Mark Nasila, joins us on this episode of the podcast series to discuss the meaning of Artificial Intelligence and its role in the financial industry. Emerging technologies combined with social challenges across the world, has meant that every industry has had to reimagine itself.  Banking has had to resort to remote ways of working, scale up digital channels and implement flexible terms for customers in order to keep them interested in...

In today’s episode of the podcast series, we are joined by FNB’s Chief Risk Officer, Lytania Johnson. Data is a key component in the risk landscape, from basic risk assessment to new technologies such as AI and machine learning. Risk is considered from two angles – how to use data and analytics to inform better risk management, and the business of risk – making sure that the risk function itself becomes future-enabled to achieve efficiency. In a retail and commercial bank such as FNB,...

In this episode we are joined by Chief Data and Analytics Officer at FirstRand, Christoph Nieuwoudt. The Group has an extraordinary amount of in-depth insights and data available that clients wouldn’t have access to anywhere else. Whether you’re serving a customer from a transactional point of view or doing investment banking deals for customers from a credit point of view, Christoph feels that they should now be able to ask customers a lot less questions, and instead give them valuable...

n this episode we are joined by Chief Data and Analytics Officer at FNB Ryan Prozesky, who believes that data is the new currency — key in every organisation and used to inform almost every business decision. Data allows you to make your solutions more relevant and improve your customer experience. You can tailor the interaction and experience to be very specific and efficient, and the more data you have, the less questions need to be asked. Please enjoy the conversation and subscribe for...

In this episode we are joined by RMB CFO Jaco Van Wyk and FNB CFO Markos Daviasto explore data in finance. Finance skillsets are evolving, and the Chartered Accountants of the past need to understand some of the core data analytics skillsets going into the future, to get an edge and get ahead in the race. Data architecture is critical, and something that finance departments are not very adept at, instead throwing lots of people into the mix to find solutions in a structured manner for...

As Head of the Banking Division and Investment Bank at RMB, Emrie believes that data analytics is an opportunity to engage with their clients, become their trusted advisers and offer them a different perspective on their business. RMB clients should see data analytics as a unique offering to them and something that’s not available to all corporates. It can allow them to get a better understanding of their industries and through this engagement RMB can also unlock new business opportunities,...

Head of Data Solutions at Medscheme Vukosi Sambo, joins us on this episode of the podcast series. The South African healthcare space has ever-increasing costs and high unaffordability where it outplays inflation and wages year-on-year. Only 8-million out of 59-million people are on medical aid, putting an immense burden on the state in terms of providing for the rest of the population. It is critical to contain this unsustainable situation of rising costs that is leading to unattainable...

Joanne is Head of Data Analytics at Omnia Group and joins us in this episode to discuss data in the chemical manufacturing space. Joanne has been with Omnia for a number of years and has experience at all levels of the organisation from manufacturing, lab work, field trials and supply chain to finance and sales. This has allowed her to see things from a Managing Director point of view where she can ask herself – if this is the challenge I am facing, what type of answer am I actually looking...

It’s been a very challenging time for Jannie over the past few months as Group General Manager of Data Science and Information Management at Mediclinic. Covid-19 has accelerated the way data is used and everything has become increasingly real-time. Businesses want to know based on what happened yesterday, what’s going to happen tomorrow. There is a big challenge to keep up the pace and generate the correct insights to keep up with business demand. Please enjoy the conversation and subscribe...

It’s been a very challenging time for Jannie over the past few months as Group General Manager of Data Science and Information Management at Mediclinic. Covid-19 has accelerated the way data is used and everything has become increasingly real-time. Businesses want to know based on what happened yesterday, what’s going to happen tomorrow. There is a big challenge to keep up the pace and generate the correct insights to keep up with business demand. Please enjoy the conversation and subscribe...

As Head of Asset Management for the Retail Division at Attacq, Michael has had to face many disruptions over the last six months with regards to his large property portfolio, with the crown jewel being Mall of Africa. As with all retailers, all properties had to be prepared for lockdown, from being hygienically compliant to deciding who will be able to trade and who won’t. As the lockdown levels were adjusted, so too were the restrictions that had to be adhered to. Please enjoy the...

Ettienne, Chief Economist at RMB considers himself a macroeconomist, someone that needs to know some things about a lot of things. Economics is essentially a social science with 2 sub-fields — microeconomics and macroeconomics. In short, microeconomics deals with detail, the nitty gritty so to speak. This can include price theory, what determines the cost of a product, determining the wage of particular workers, to name a few. Macroeconomics on the other hand is the big picture. Topics such...

In this episode we are joined by Jessica Spira, Sector Head of Healthcare and Hospitality at RMB. Jessica has been in the bank for almost 20 years and has seen first-hand the monumental shift in the use of data. This has been made possible by establishing the correct systems and processes, allowing the Group to change the way in which they approach their clients — having this data at their disposal enables them to add proper value across the board. Please enjoy the conversation and subscribe...

Data analytics has taken a long journey in banking. As RMB CEO James Formby explains, having data is one thing, but knowing what to do with it and enabling useful insights is another. Historically, data was housed in different departments making it difficult to bridge the gap, but as technology and architecture has advanced, data can be put together in a way that makes it far more seamless and far more accessible, allowing for a great deal of value unlock in terms of the new data models...