Hemu Choonilal, CIO of Access Bank South Africa

Despite such challenges as the impact of loadshedding, economic and political pressure and the current headwinds the country is dealing with, Access Bank South Africa’s CIO Hemu Choonilal says his outlook is less gloomy and that there are opportunities that can present turning points for meaningful future growth and scale.

“The shortage of energy poses a threat to economic growth, job creation and job preservation,” says Choonilal. “However, at Access Bank, we’ve explored the required strategies that need to support us to continue to grow and promote positive strides in the industry while exceeding the expectations of our customers. “ICT plays a critical role in providing digital banking services to our customers and in terms of such technologies as AI, our adoption rate is like that of other banks.

“My role is one of being a transformational leader to drive new technologies, strategically leverage skills, optimise data and implement lean processes, to drive results for the organisation. Predictive AI will assist me in decision-making and oversight in managing our ICT systems, resources and capabilities.

“Servant and situational leadership styles have helped me provide inspiration in developing others and leading change. Project management skills, along with a depth of technical knowledge and enterprise architecture practices, have helped me overcome obstacles and deliver value to the organisation.”

Choonilal says his particular short- and medium-term challenges encompass managing legacy systems and infrastructure, eliminating and reengineering outdated technologies and maintaining a secure IT estate. “My priorities include enforcing a digital-first mindset in all we do,” he continues. “We need to gain stronger control over data, work towards data centricity, comprehend and collaborate with business teams to embrace technology change and usage in a digital transformation era, while building resiliency and meeting regulatory requirements.

“My focus is creating and maintaining a diverse yet agile IT workforce to meet the demands of customers and regulators and the strategy is to apply and use technology to help Access Bank increase its market share and competitive positioning.”

MTN Business is a trusted partner for Access Bank, says Choonilal, and is utilised to connect to services throughout Africa. He envisages a stronger partnership, with the bank looking to grow its digital and cloud footprint to further enable its business services. “Having a partner with the technical prowess to provide seamless integration and reliable co-location services will enable faster go-to-market solutions.”

Choonilal says his most significant career highlight was being part of a four-man team in the mid-2000s that architected and built the industry’s first modernised, service-oriented architecture-enabled core banking platform while partnering with an international OEM.

“This enabled me to research and understand global banking systems and processes as well as the depth of complexity in systems integration and migration. Upon returning to South Africa, I was asked to set up a team to implement the new system and this was achieved in a record two-year period. The system was built for global usability and implemented across five countries and two continents, requiring it to be multi-currency and multi-time zone enabled.”

His advice to up-and-coming ICT professionals is: “Start your career based on your domain strengths and passion, but understand data and its impact on systems and processes. Once the primary role is mastered, move into a more challenging one. Constantly learn and apply the latest methodologies, frameworks, and techniques. This, along with ambition, will help you progress in the ICT world.”

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