PROFILE REDPANDA
MD at redPanda Software:
Gerhard Nortjé, a retailer born and bred
GERHARD NORTJÉ
Retail and relationship-building have always been the key drivers behind Gerhard Nortjé’ s evolution towards becoming an IT business leader. Today, Nortjé is more than three years into his highly successful tenure as MD at redPanda Software, the leading retail software partner in South Africa.
Gerhard Nortjé’ s journey to tech was facilitated by retail, a shared passion in the redPanda Software business, which is known for delivering best-of-breed solutions across retail verticals tailored to a retailer’ s unique business context. Nortjé himself started out in retail, managing a branch, where he immersed himself in every aspect of what it takes to succeed in the industry.
“ Many of my friends when I was young were playing games, taking computers apart, or writing programmes, I was never that guy. I grew up in retail. I am a retailer, born and bred. From the bottom up, I learnt operations and front and back-office functions, including managing people and customers. Then, as fate would have it, one day I was instructed to get involved in a digital transformation project for a JSE-listed retailer, and, as they say, the rest is history,” says Nortjé, with his trademark smile and humility.
40 SA PROFILE www. saprofilemagazine. co. za