Louise van der Bank’s first career choice was to own and run a nursery school. Although it never happened, despite her best efforts, one could argue that this early impetus to combine business and people development has defined her career as a CIO.

Van der Bank graduated with a B.Sc cum laude in computer science from the then Potchefstroom University. Her studies were funded by a bursary from Iscor, then in its glory days as one of South Africa’s flagship state-owned enterprises.