Telkom’s Dr Mmaki Jantjies on driving innovation in an evolving digital age
Summary
TLDRIn this episode of 'Real World Strategy Dialogues', Heather Orton interviews Dr. Miky Yanis, the Group Executive for Innovation and Transformation at Telkom. They discuss maintaining growth amidst challenges in the information and communications sector. Dr. Yanis shares insights on leveraging innovation for resilience, Telkom's R&D initiatives with universities, and the importance of digital inclusion. She emphasizes the social impact of their work, supporting education, and empowering communities, highlighting the company's commitment to innovation and talent development for a more inclusive South Africa.
Takeaways
- 🌐 The importance of resilience in business is highlighted, especially in the face of unpredictable challenges like infrastructure failures and skills deficit.
- 💡 The establishment of an Innovation office at Telcom post-pandemic to drive future-looking strategies and leverage innovation for business renewal.
- 🤝 Telcom's long-standing R&D partnerships with South African universities, fostering a collaborative approach to technological advancements, including AI.
- 🏆 The celebration of 25 years of Telcom Research Centers of Excellence, emphasizing the company's commitment to academic collaboration and talent development.
- 🌟 Dr. Miky Yanis's role in driving strategic growth through research, development, and innovation, including her leadership in digital inclusion for women.
- 🚀 Investment in SMEs and the development of products like 'Ease', which focuses on translation and transcription in South African languages for improved customer service.
- 🤖 The integration of AI in various customer-centric solutions, such as chatbots, to adapt to the evolving needs of a diverse customer base.
- 🏆 Recognition of the social impact of Telcom's innovation, supporting education and community development, and empowering SMEs for broader economic growth.
- 📚 The full lifecycle support of education within South Africa through Telcom's initiatives, from high school programs to postgraduate support.
- 💼 Strategic imperatives for success include nurturing talent, fostering a culture of innovation, and being customer-centric in business practices.
- 🧘♀️ Personal strategies for navigating significant responsibilities involve leveraging community support and collaboration, which aligns with South African values of unity and collective progress.
Q & A
What is the main theme of the 'Real World Strategy Dialogues' episode featuring Dr. Miky Yanis?
-The main theme of the episode is maintaining growth in a constantly changing environment within the Information and Communications sector.
What challenges has the Information and Communications sector faced recently according to the episode?
-The sector has faced challenges such as infrastructure failures like undersea landslides or load shedding, skills deficit, and the need for local and international investments.
What role does the Innovation office at Talcom play in the company's strategy?
-The Innovation office at Talcom was established to help the business leverage innovation to look forward to the future and address key challenges, ensuring the company remains relevant.
How does Dr. Miky Yanis describe the importance of the Innovation office's structure and technologies?
-Dr. Yanis emphasizes the importance of the Innovation office's structure and technologies by highlighting its collaboration with South African universities and investments in SMEs to produce products like 'Ease', which focuses on translation and transcription in South African languages.
What is the significance of Telcom's partnership with South African universities in terms of R&D?
-The partnership has resulted in the Telcom Research Centers of Excellence, which have been funding and working with academics on key technology issues for over 25 years, contributing to the development of the Telco landscape.
How does Telcom's investment in SMEs reflect its commitment to the country's economic growth?
-Telcom's investment in SMEs, having worked with over 2,600 of them, shows its belief in SMEs as the backbone of the country, creating employment opportunities and fostering innovation.
What is the product 'Ease' and how does it relate to Telcom's use of AI?
-The product 'Ease' is a result of Telcom's partnership with an SME and its data science team. It focuses on translation and transcription, particularly for South African languages, showcasing Telcom's use of AI to enhance customer service.
What initiatives has Telcom taken to support education and skill development in South Africa?
-Telcom has invested in educational interventions in math and science, supported honors, Masters, and PhD graduates through its centers of excellence, and offered undergraduate merities, contributing to the full life cycle of the education system in the country.
How does Dr. Miky Yanis view the role of talent and culture in driving innovation at Telcom?
-Dr. Yanis believes that innovation demands great talent and a culture that supports and encourages out-of-the-box thinking. She highlights the importance of HR initiatives like design thinking courses and the restructuring of the organization's culture to align with the company's goals.
What personal guiding principles does Dr. Miky Yanis employ to navigate her significant responsibilities?
-Dr. Yanis relies on her passion for empowering South Africans, the support of her community, and the principle of collaboration, which she believes is key to achieving impact both personally and professionally.
How does the 'Telom Lion Den' initiative contribute to fostering a culture of innovation at Telcom?
-The 'Telom Lion Den' is an innovation challenge that allows staff members to pitch their ideas to the CEOs of the businesses. It disrupts the traditional culture and empowers employees to contribute to the company's innovation efforts.
Outlines
🌐 Maintaining Growth in ICT Sector
The fourth episode of 'Real World Strategy Dialogues' hosted by Heather Orton on Busch discusses the challenges and strategies for maintaining growth in the Information and Communications sector. The guest, Dr. Miky Yanis, Group Executive for Innovation and Transformation at Talcom, shares insights on leveraging innovation for future readiness. Key topics include overcoming infrastructure issues, addressing skills deficits, and securing investments. Dr. Yanis highlights the establishment of the Innovation office post-pandemic to drive strategic growth through R&D and innovation initiatives, emphasizing the importance of resilience in uncertain times.
🤖 Leveraging AI for Digital Inclusion
In this segment, the dialogue focuses on Telcom's strategic approach to innovation, particularly in artificial intelligence, to ensure digital inclusion and address societal challenges. Dr. Yanis discusses the company's long-standing R&D relationships with South African universities, the establishment of Telcom Research Centers of Excellence, and investments in SMEs. She mentions the development of a product called 'Ease' for translation and transcription in South African languages to improve call center services. The conversation also touches on internal innovation challenges that encourage staff to propose customer-centric solutions, many of which involve AI, reflecting a commitment to adapt to customer needs and contribute to social and economic development in South Africa.
🌟 Social and Economic Impact through Innovation
The conversation delves into the social impact of Telcom's initiatives, emphasizing the company's role in education and talent development. Dr. Yanis outlines the success of partnerships with universities that have led to the graduation of thousands of students, the support of SMEs, and the Telcom Foundation's educational interventions in math and science. She also discusses the importance of talent and culture in driving innovation, the introduction of design thinking courses, and the restructuring of the organization to align with customer-centric innovation. The segment concludes with a personal reflection on the guiding principles that drive Dr. Yanis in her role, focusing on empowering South Africans and ensuring that services and innovations are inclusive and relevant to the average citizen.
🧘♀️ Balancing Personal and Professional Life
In the final paragraph, the discussion turns to the personal side of strategy, exploring how Dr. Yanis maintains balance amidst her significant responsibilities. She emphasizes the importance of community support, including family and friends, in achieving personal and professional goals. Dr. Yanis shares the African idiom about the power of collective effort and how it has influenced her approach to collaboration and innovation. The conversation concludes with a reflection on the importance of community and support networks in achieving impact, both personally and professionally.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Innovation
💡Resilience
💡Digital Inclusion
💡R&D Relationships
💡SMMEs
💡Artificial Intelligence (AI)
💡Customer-Centric
💡Social Impact
💡Talent
💡Strategic Growth
💡Community
Highlights
Heather Orton hosts the fourth episode of real-world strategy dialogues focusing on maintaining growth in the information and communications sector.
Dr. Miky Yanis discusses her role in driving strategic growth through research, development, and innovation at Talcom.
Telcom's purpose is to connect customers to a better life, facing challenges like infrastructure failure and skills deficit.
The establishment of the Innovation office at Talcom post-pandemic to leverage innovation for future readiness.
Investment in R&D and relationships with South African universities to foster technological advancements.
Dr. Yanis' background includes being South Africa's representative to the W20 and G20, focusing on digital inclusion for women.
Telcom's partnerships with SMEs, including a venture for language translation and transcription in South African languages.
Investment in AI to enhance customer-centric services and address challenges faced in South Africa.
The social impact of Telcom's innovation, including support for education and community benefits.
Dr. Yanis' passion for digital inclusion and democratizing access to quality services through digital innovations.
Telcom Foundation's educational interventions in math and science, and support for SMEs.
The importance of talent and culture in driving innovation within the organization.
The Innovation Challenge that encouraged staff to propose solutions to customer-centered problems.
Dr. Yanis' guiding principle of ensuring the average South African benefits from the organization's innovations.
The significance of community support in achieving a balanced life and professional success.
The conclusion of the dialogue emphasizing the importance of curiosity and asking better questions for strategic growth.
Transcripts
[Music]
welcome to the fourth episode of real
world strategy dialogues powered by E
paon right here on
busch. I'm Heather Orton your host and
today we are exploring how to maintain
growth in a constantly changing
environment within the information and
Communications sector joining us today
to share her insights is Dr miky yanis
the group executive for Innovation and
transformation at talcom driving
strategic growth through research and
development and Innovation initiatives
she holds a PhD in computer science from
the University of war in the UK and is
an adjunct associate professor in
information systems for the University
of the western cap she was South
Africa's representative to the w20 and
the G20 focusing on digital inclusion
for women she's an NRF South African
rative scientist a world economic for
Global youth leader and he a member of
the South African Youth Academy of
scientists welcome
Maki very good morning and thank you so
much for me that the talcum purpose
statement is to seamlessly connect
customers to a better life and in the
last year or two there have definitely
been some headwinds in achieving this
failure of infrastructure such as
undersea landslides or load shedding
leading to connection blackouts the
ongoing skills deficit and a continued
need for local and international
Investments being just a few examples of
what the sector has had to Grapple with
when you never know what is going to
happen next how do you look at the world
ahead and think about what is to come
thank you so much Heather for that
question I think uh the last year
enabled us um to reflect as a as a
business on the importance of our
resilience and I think it took us back
to just after the pandemic which was
actually when uh the Innovation office
was established to help the business
think carefully about how it can
Leverage Innovation uh to enable it to
look forward uh to the Future on some of
the key challenges that we face as a
talal and uring that we're able to renew
ourselves as a business and remain
relevant even in the years to
come I really liked what you said around
their sort of renewing and and using
Innovation to do that in the EC Outlook
survey last year over half of the CEO's
respondents are planning to
significantly invest in Ai and 2third
believ that AI is the Force for good how
are you building a strategy for the
evolving digital
age let me just start by unpacking The
Innovation office how we're structured
and some of the technologies that we've
um been able to build that came out of
the Innovation office uh first things
first is that Telcom has a very long
history of R&D relationships with South
African universities so we've been
funding what is called the Telcom
research centers of excellence um over
about 20 5 years we celebrated 25 years
last year and that is a relationship
with over 13 years in South Africa um
where we work with academics on key
topical issues um within technology some
of these include artificial intelligence
as well so we really believe in the
collaborative brain power that comes
with working with researchers within um
these areas um and so the other aspects
of the Innovation office was our
investments within smmes in one of the
ventures we partnered Within smme
our data science team partnered within
smme to produce a product called ease
which essentially looks at translation
and transcription looking at South
African languages I think for us a lot
of our call centers when people call in
um they'll call switch between English
and and the South African languages and
for us we were saying but how do we
ensure translation that is able to um
consider South African languages and
we've heavily invested within that area
um with with our data science team so
there's very many examples of how we've
leveraged artificial intelligence in
chatboard experiences but all of this
are grounded in ensuring um that we
constantly adapt to the customer needs
that were able to serve the customer um
from rural to uh urban areas as a
company and I think that third aspect of
our Innovation office was more inward
looking where we ventured into an
innovation challenge that allowed staff
members to come up with different
solutions to customer centered problems
uh where we awarded them over 1.2
million um as part of prize money but we
invested in the ideas that came and some
of those were also on artificial
intelligence so there's a theme and
thread of artificial intelligence as a
capability to power up how we remain
customer Centric um and are largely led
by the needs of the customers and
serving them um not just from a
commercial lens but serving and solving
some of the ptin in South African
challenges that we
face and I know that we did a piece of
work for you where we looked at the
impact of your Innovation and and what
really impressed me was was the the
social impact that you had you know the
the fact that just by supporting people
through education then allowed the
communities to also be benefit from that
and I've also read that you are
passionate about digital inclusion and
continuously looking to harness the
power and scale of digital Innovations
to democratize access to quality
services improve education uh health and
the success of small businesses and be
more inclusive for women how are you
building synergies between your passion
and your vision for
Telcom look I think Heather um Telcom
has always been a a central part of of
the heartbeat of South African business
and beyond that and I think this is what
draw me actually to to join Telcom the
success of our Partnerships with the
university has enabled us to actually
graduate over
3,200 honors Masters and PhD students so
so that's a byproduct of our investment
into R&D that we were able to actually
change the Talco landscape not just
investing in R&D but investing in the
talent and the capability which today
actually Powers up not just Telcom but
the Telco sector as a whole our ability
to also invest and partner with smmes
has been such a great achievement for us
having worked with over 2,600 smmes uh
we really believe in smmes as the
backbone of the country and so being
able to work with young people who are
able to create employment opportunities
um not just innovate but also create
employment opportunities has been um
really fulfilling part of one of the
aspects of of my job so unearthing um
not just Innovation but the talent that
comes with that and using that Talent
within the organization has been great I
think Telcom is one of the few uh Telos
within the country if I look at our
Telcom Foundation which has um
educational interventions in math and
science and allows us as Executives to
um pay
projects that we can work on our
foundation does significant work within
high schools um uh investing in
mathematics and science and teaches
digital skills programs and we also
offer undergraduate merties and through
our Telcom centers of excellence we then
um support honors Masters and PhD
graduates and you can see that that this
is the full life cycle of our education
system within the country and further
than going on to supporting smmes so I
think this is one very strong fulfilling
aspect about how we're very deliberate
um on the social impact as well as the
economic impact that we have within the
country thanks Mikey my my next question
kind of Builds on that because it's it's
around what are some other strategic
imperatives that you feel you need to
get right to be
successful look I think um Innovation
demands great talent and I think um our
HR office has been very deliberate about
that we've had very Partnerships with
them in introducing uh courses such as
design thinking as a capability uh for
the business so I think Talent is a very
strong imperative around Innovation and
I think the culture restructuring the
organization to ensuring that the
culture speaks to where we're going as a
company um constantly being on the pulse
of our customers how customers
continuously evolve and I think the
Innovation Challenge was last year for
us a really great experience on being
able to disrupt our St members um to
also think out of the box which they
continuously do but it was really great
for us to see staff members coming up
with great ideas and having the
opportunity to pitching them to the CEOs
of the businesses uh through what we
call the telom lion Den that was really
great for us because it wasn't just the
disruption of culture it was the ideas
of the power of the staff members that
we have and these ideas are now being
implemented within the business and I
think these um uh uh capabil ities that
we've built within the business from an
innovation lens have been important for
us in trickling down across the group in
enabling and empowering the talcom group
to innovate both internally and
externally and ensure that we're
constantly uh speaking to where not just
the TCO sector going uh but where the
landscape of South Africa the needs of
the landscape of South Africa and being
able to meet
them shifting Focus to the personal side
of strategy I'm curious to know what
guiding principles will strategies you
employ to successfully navigate the
significant responsibilities of your
roles look I think for me it is the
passion that I've always had about
ensuring that um the average South
African is able to uh gain and grow I
think we have a a largely unequal
society as a country and I think for me
my perspective has always been if we
have um a skill and capability that we
can utilize to empower South Africa to
empower the South African and that has
been a key strategy in everything that I
do I think from a business land
perspective how we innovate how do we
think carefully about remaining relevant
within South Africa it is the average
South African and this Powers us and
drives us to say every service that we
develop everything that we innovate
should be centered around making sure
that whether it is a young South African
living in a rural area or a Township or
a suburb we need to be able to speak to
that South African because they are the
heartbeat of why we do what we do as an
organization suppose my question was
slightly more personal than that and and
if I give an example you know I I I
often find it challenging to find
balance in my life you know making sure
that I make that yoga class on a Monday
so I suppose it's it's what do you do to
make sure that you you feel balanced as
you're doing all these different
things oh Heather I think that's a
question that every woman with many
responsibilities are fac
and I think the community having a
community really matters so um
leveraging my poor parents I see my poor
parents because they've been quite
supportive in in in the Journey of life
with me um a very supportive uh partner
who is um always there to to to support
my many crazy Endeavors of Life uh but
being able to leverage a community of
friends of family um which speaks to us
as South Africans Oru being able to know
that um there is a community that you
can reach out to that you can tap into
and I think um I'll use the South
African idiom or the African idiom that
says if you want to go alone um you
won't go as far as if you go um together
or as a nation and I've held that quite
closely to me uh because the greatest
impact that I've had personally and
Beyond um my personal uh life has been
um collaborating with other people to be
able to achieve it so I think that
principle for me as a parent for me as a
partner for me as a daughter for me as a
community person person I've been able
to achieve what I've been able to
achieve through support from others and
that's that's a principle I hold quite
dearly to me and that concludes our
captivating conversation with Maki yanes
Maki thank you for sharing your
expertise and insights with us today and
the real world strategy dialogues from
both of us we hope that we have given
you something to think about until next
time stay curious and keep asking better
questions
[Music]
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