Google South Africa’s country lead, Alistair Mokoena. Photo: Karolina Komendera

Interviewing Alistair Mokoena produces a fascinating mix of corporate brand promotion and candid personal anecdotes.

He’s the country director at Google South Africa, and after decades in advertising, he instinctively delivers well-polished sentences praising Google’s products and highlighting its investments across Africa. But the passion with which he shares some favourite facts and figures and his sense of pride and wonder make it engaging, rather than corporate lip-service.