customers interact with us ,” Siyo says .

The technologies involved in the transformation have been various , but one of the standout examples has been the harnessing of data , whether it be structured customer data or the unstructured variety . “ Data is key ,” says Siyo . “ The question is how do you pull that together and create a view of the customer in terms of what they have with you , and what they might actually be buying elsewhere . That actually allows us to create better solutions , or even look at products that we can aggregate on their behalf and offer to them .” Automation has been another cornerstone of the company ’ s approach , with the use of robotic process automation ( RPA ) technology widespread .

Accompanying Telkom on its journey have been a number of key partners . BCX , a sister company , is one such example , offering extensive IT capabilities with both homegrown and third party software . “ They ’ re a systems integrator , but they ’ ve also developed systems themselves , such as RPA , which we utilise . They ’ re our technology partner , who works with us to create our platforms .” Consultants Accenture play

171 EXECUTIVE PROFILE :

Location : South Africa

Lunga Siyo is an experienced business and ecommerce executive leader , an expert in creating , executing and scaling digital as a strategic capability in many organisations . A consummate business leader with extensive experience in Business Management , P & L , Finance & Accounting , Sales & Marketing and an Executive in a listed entity , he holds a Bsc honours in Accounting and is an MBA graduate . businesschief . eu