Leading a team of data management professionals at Discovery, Theo Groenewald draws on his 25 years of experience in developing and enhancing technology systems.

“My team and I currently have a strong focus on implementing, socialising and aligning our data strategy, which aims to build data products deployed to a platform supported by solid DataOps processes,” he says.

“All data products are built with a strong ethics, privacy, governance and security foundation to ensure quality and peace of mind.”

Groenewald, who has a postgraduate degree in business administration and management from Henley Business School, says his focus areas in 2024 include hyper-personalisation, customer journeys and cloud adoption.

TechCentral asked him a few questions for its IT Leadership Series.

What does your company do?

Discovery is a South African-founded financial services organisation that operates in the healthcare, life insurance, short-term insurance, long-term savings, banking and wellness markets.

What do you see as the IT leader’s top priorities in 2024?

Skills, cost and value. Finding the right skills in South Africa is difficult, but not impossible. In this micro- and macroeconomic climate, containing cost and proving value will be critical.

Who do you most admire in business and why?

It’s difficult to single out anyone specific. I admire anyone who is able to be integrous and maintain their humanity while making a success of their business.

How do you attract and retain talent?

We deploy various strategies to attract talent, including leveraging graduate and intern programmes. Depending on the role, I have also found that looking internally for people looking to transition into IT has been very successful in attracting talent with the required institutional knowledge. In terms of retaining talent, I try to ensure that my team are empowered to keep up with the fast-paced rate of change within our environment, ensuring they find meaning and purpose in their work, while adding the required value to business.

If you could go back and give your 18-year-old self one piece of advice, what would it be?

That hard work and patience does pay off; that kindness to yourself and others is really important; that in the end everything will be okay, and if it’s not okay, then it’s not the end.

Discovery’s head office in Sandton. Image: Boogertman and Partners

What’s your favourite productivity hack?

The only way I can be productive is to do only one thing at a time. Regardless of how tempting it is to try and multitask, things don’t get done properly unless you give something your full attention.