Caryn Berman, Business Development director – Brainstorm

Caryn is a versatile, well-experienced marketing and business development professional. With 20 years in the media sector, Caryn has established the Brainstorm brand firmly in the market as the first choice for B2B marketing.

Brainstorm is the magazine for decision-makers and offers content on burning business issues that is fresh, controversial, independent and valuable.

Dr Denisha Jairam-Owthar, Chief Director Information, Communication & Technology, University of Stellenbosch

Dr Denisha has been appointed the new Group Chief Information Officer for the Council for Medical Schemes. With the Health Care Industry being at the cusp of change in SA; technology and science intersect to overcome health challenges that change the world for the better. This is where she believes she can make a enormous difference to people’s lives, with technological advancements exponentially increasing in the healthcare sector.

Dr. Philile Mkhize, COO - Absa

Philile is an IT change-maker who is passionate about the convergence of technology and humanity. She is a standing Doctorate candidate specialising in Entrepreneurship.

Philile is a head judge for Technovation, a USA based non-profit organisation backed by Big Tech companies like Google and Salesforce. Technovation inspires young girls in STEM across the globe.

Helen Constantinides, CIO and Executive member for the Group at AVBOB Mutual Assurance Society, Visionary CIO Finalist 2019&2022

Experienced Group Chief Information Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry. Skilled in Business Process, Oracle Database, Storage, Databases, and IT Service Management. Strong information technology professional with a MBA and MBL - Masters in Business Leadership Degree focused in Strategic & Business Leadership from University of South Africa.

Helen Nicholson, The Networking Company

Helen has been called the ‘Queen of Networking’ by many of her clients. She began her career as an accountant and has evolved into her current role of CEO (Chief Excitement Officer) of The Networking Company.

A passionate connector with international corporate experience. She has written two best-selling books, and ran the New York marathon in 2011.

Itumeleng Makgati, Group CISO, Standard Bank

Seasoned IT, business, and systems integration Executive, Itumeleng Makgati boasts nearly two decades of expertise in her field. Itumeleng Makgati, Group Executive – Information Security at the Standard Bank Group provide strategic vision and leadership of the Information Security Shared Services across the Group, subsidiaries and ecosystem partners, supporting information security initiatives, the associated decision making, to protect sensitive data and systems from infiltration or misuse. She is passionate about building diverse high-performance teams that thrive in the face of adversity.

Jennifer Ramnath

Accenture’s Jeniffer Ramnath, managing director, Technology Strategy and Advisory, is a technology specialist with over 25 years experience in IT strategy, business management, transformational change and execution; business development and divestitures across operations, sales and service delivery. Her executive leadership experience is predominantly in the telecommunications, ICT, financial services, mining, energy and consumer goods industries. A strong advocate within the Accenture Africa Woman in Tech Programme, driving the diversity and inclusion agenda, Ramnath is an experienced collaborator, facilitator and key note speaker using platforms to help mentor and grow careers for woman in technology.

Kelebogile Mosiane, Vice President: Digital & IT, DP World

Kelebogile is the Vice President: Digital & IT at DP World, with a career that spans across leading South African and global organisations.

Professionally, Kelebogile exemplifies South Africa’s dynamic new breed of executives – energetic, hard-working, and well-networked.

Khathu Sibanda, CIO – University of Joburg

Khathu is a disciplined and results-driven IT executive. Her success lies in her perceptive decision-making skill, strong ethics, natural aptitude to lead multi-cultural teams and her ability to define new strategies that drive growth.

An avid reader with a passion for family and her community, she also drives CSI initiatives for disadvantaged schools and orphanages.

Kume Luvhani, Co-founder and Executive Director – Vaxowave

At just 29, Kume made directorship at Absa becoming one of the youngest executives at the bank. Her passion for business enablement through innovation led to her co-founding Vaxowave, a technology company in 2018.

She is a passionate advocate for literacy programmes in SA, developing the youth and developing talented women in leadership. She helps to equip rural schools with essential school supplies and dedicates a large portion of her free time to mentoring young people.

Mandisa Ntloko-Petersen

Mandisa is a seasoned marketing professional who is passionate about brand strategy and content marketing. With more than 25 years in the profession, she is not afraid to get her hands dirty to get the work done.

Mandisa is an empowering leader who believes in the importance of working within a collaborative environment.

Mpho Hlefana, Executive for Product, Solutions and Sales Segment Marketing

Mpho Hlefana is responsible for creating and accelerating the opportunities to support revenue generation through strategic marketing at BCX. She is focused on driving the company vision by building marketing programs through an integrated marketing approach to promote our exceptional product innovation and purpose driven initiatives. She is also currently acting Executive for Brand and Communications.

Previously, Mpho Hlefana was a Senior Specialise in Solutions and Segment Marketing. She was accountable for the development of the marketing strategy for the Converged Communications and Cloud Platform Solutions Business Units. Prior to joining BCX, she has worked for companied such as Dimension Data, MTN Business and Accenture, having help various roles in brand, digital, channel partner, and product marketing roles.

Mpho has significant experience across B2B2 marketing, particularly in the ICT sector and has experience in go-to-market development, event management, branding, lead generation and strategic planning. She has strong cultural competence leading multidimensional teams and is a dynamic public speaker and team motivator.

Mpho is a graduate of the University of Johannesburg and holds a Master of Commerce in Business Management.

Nollie Maoto, Chief Data and Analytics Officer – Merchant Services, FNB South Africa

Nollie Maoto is a Chief Data and Analytics Officer within Merchant Services in FNB South Africa. She is a multi-award winning CDAO and has recently been awarded the Inspirational Leader of the Year award, Financial Women Trailblazer of the Year 2023 and is a finalist in the InspiringFifty Africa 2023 Top 50 Women in African Tech Awards with the awards which are yet to take place after being awarded Chief Data Officer of the Year 2022 and Data Analytics Leader 2022 in South Africa just to name a few of her awards and recognition.

Nollie is also a coveted Data and Analytics speaker in South Africa and Internationally and has spoken at numerous conferences including in South Africa, USA, Netherlands and Dubai just to name a few. She is also recognized for her mentorship of women across the African continent through her formal mentorship program. And has been recognized for displaying unparalleled leadership values and advocating for gender equality. Furthermore, she is a contributing author.

Nomonde White-Ndlovu, CIO, Bidvest Bank

Nomonde is the Chief Information Officer for Chief Information Officer for Bidvest Bank Limited. A great thought leader in technology and fintech in South Africa. She is an accomplished executive with extensive experience within the tech space.

Passionate about women in business and working with young talent within the technology industry, Nomonde coaches and mentors young people to inspire them to pursue careers in technology and engineering.

Nonhlanhla ‘Noni’ Tshabalala, Senior Manager Product and Platforms: Digital Enablement SA, Multichoice

Noni is passionate about digital transformation and driving strategy execution.

Noni has over 10 years’ experience working across various industries, the majority gained in financial services. She joined Absa in 2013 and has risen in the ranks as a result of her commitment to excellence.

Thato Sopeng, Chief Information Officer Energy, Sasol

A seasoned Technology professional with 20 years’ experience in leading Tech and Digital transformations within Financial Services, Retail and FMCG and now in the Oil and Gas industry. Passionate about innovation and growing young professionals in Tech. Recent experience includes working with Cloud, Open Banking, involvement with Fintechs and other startups in financial services.

Traci Maynard, Microsoft Executive – Axiz

Traci is a results-driven executive offering a strong combination of business acumen and marketing flair. She is a motivational leader who can optimise individual performance while sustaining a strong team spirit. With valuable international network of professional relationships in the technology sector, Traci is also a persuasive negotiator.