EDITOR’S
NOTE
H
ello and welcome to the latest edition
of Intelligent CIO Africa. In this issue,
we look at how Nedbank Insurance,
part of the Nedbank Group that employs
over 31,000 people across South Africa, has
utilised Machine Learning (ML) and Design
Thinking to help speed up its email process.
The company covers clients’ life and other
insurance needs and receives thousands
of emails about claims, policies, address
changes, complaints, queries and potential
new clients. Many of the emails have
attachments that must be categorised
correctly to simplify processing for back-end
teams. There are also unpredictable peaks
when, for example, heavy storms cause
inboxes to be bombarded. Following various
methods to analyse email and attachment
data, Synthesis built predictive ML models
with natural language processing algorithms
to understand the intent of the email.
The new system has significantly reduced
email processing time, on average from
720 seconds to 28 seconds, meaning that
Nedbank Insurance’s clients can now have a
much better experience.
Meanwhile, we look at the way in which
technology can be used to enhance the
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customer experience as part of one of
our features. Research from Elingo has
shown that, while the type of industry will
greatly influence customer experience (CX),
ultimately it is a matter of choice and first
contact resolution. You can read the findings
of this research as part of the feature, while
Mo Areff, Business Unit Lead for Customer
Engagement at Altron Karabina, tells us
how customer engagement can be done
differently this year.
Our other feature is focused on Artificial
Intelligence (AI) and how many
organisations are using it to their advantage.
Patrick Ashton, a Managing Executive
at SilverBridge Holdings, looks at how AI
is being used in the banking sector and
how it is difficult to modernise processes
or to understand how best to introduce
new technologies into back-end systems.
Meanwhile, Mylo Portas, Head of Retail
at Peak, says that those who are taking
the retail market by storm are using the
technology to find new ways of driving
sales and improving the experience of their
increasingly expectant customers.
Once considered an integral part of any
organisational strategy, the public cloud
may no longer be the darling of South
African decision-makers, with companies
now refocusing on a hybrid approach
when it comes to their data. A global study
conducted by Nutanix found that 84% of
respondents in South Africa (compared to
73% globally and 71% across EMEA) are
either moving public apps back to on-
premise environments or planning to do so.
With this in mind, we asked industry leaders
what the benefits are of using an on-premise
data centre in ‘Editor’s Question’, which you
can find from page 26.
Elsewhere, we take a look at the latest
technology projects that have been
happening in Ethiopia as part of ‘Country
Focus’, while Simbo Ntshinka, Managing
Director and Partner at ITEC Tiyende
provides an insight into his career and
managerial style in ‘Get to Know’.
I hope you enjoy the read, and remember, if
you would like to contribute towards future
issues, you can get in touch by emailing
[email protected]
Paul Rogers
Editor
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