GET TO KNOW...
On the lighter side of things, we ask the
industry experts what makes them tick. . . .
Pieter Bensch,
Executive Vice President,
Sage Africa and Middle East
W
What would you describe as your
most memorable achievement?
Personal achievement is important to me
both inside and outside the workplace.
Outside work, I’m proud of completing my
Joberg2C 900km mountain bike in 44 hours.
It’s hard to single out one professional
achievement but bringing together a
capable leadership team at Sage and what
we have accomplished over the past 12
months is certainly a highlight.
What first made you think of a
career in technology?
I studied as a computer science teacher but
never started that career because I was more
attracted to the challenge of contributing
in a corporate environment. I believe that
technology can contribute to creating a
competitive advantage for individuals and
corporates alike.
What style of management
philosophy do you employ with your
current position?
I lead the Sage business in Africa and the
Middle East in an open and consultative way.
I like to get out there and meet colleagues,
hear their ideas and find out what’s on their
minds rather than managing the business
www.intelligentcio.com
from an office. My goal is to help remove the
blockages that stop people from reaching
their full potential and teams from driving
the best possible business performance.
What do you think is the current hot
technology talking point?
Machine Learning algorithms used to
analyse massive datasets or a new wave
of technologies that will transform the
accounting profession. Far from bringing
about wide-scale destruction of jobs, AI
offers an unprecedented opportunity to
drive economic growth and a wonderful
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping
the world around us, whether we’re looking
at virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa,
“
FAR FROM
BRINGING ABOUT
WIDE-SCALE
DESTRUCTION
OF JOBS, AI
OFFERS AN
UNPRECEDENTED
OPPORTUNITY TO
DRIVE ECONOMIC
GROWTH.
INTELLIGENTCIO
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