He’s been at Tiger Brands for 20 years, and has served as Group CIO for five of those. This included supporting about 4 000 users at more than 120 sites across South Africa and parts of Kenya, Cameroon, Nigeria and Ethiopia.

In his final years at Tiger, he has bedded down the FMCG group’s IT systems and established a committed team. He leaves the organisation in excellent runningorder, capable of scaling to the demands of a growing business. This didn’t come easy.

Thwaits had to spearhead a recovery of Tiger’s own network when its incumbent provider refused to carry out a handover to the new team. Their new contract with Business Connexion makes it very clear where the IP lies, and has strict management controls for passwords and asset ownership. He believes these governance learnings are one of the legacies he will leave at Tiger Brands, and shares them with the rest of the industry at public speaking and educational engagements.