Digital transformation services provider Quintica SA has appointed Zimkhita Buwa as its new CEO.
Buwa, who takes over from Zandile Mbele, is responsible for leading and setting the strategic direction of the local unit of the company, which is currently focused on rolling out several automation products and services to clients.
Founded in SAin 2002, Quintica has a footprint in the Middle East and Africa, helping organisations across a variety of industries to transform the way they do business by enabling them to deliver services through a combination of technology and human capability.
The company helps clients deliver accelerated business outcomes via business automation, digital business products, data-driven intelligence and customer-focused workflows.
For almost 20 years, Buwa has been a trailblazer in the innovation and digital space, working her way up from SAP business intelligence analyst at an African-based energy group, to COO of software development house Britehouse, a division of Dimension Data. She later became head of intelligent business applications, core ERP practice, at a global systems integrator and managed services provider for hybrid IT.
Since 2016, she has served on the board of Silicon Cape, a non-profit organisation that promotes technology entrepreneurship in the Western Cape.
In her new role, Buwa says she hopes to empower emerging businesses, enable transformation, and get big companies to support local businesses.
“By focusing on those outcomes, living out our purpose, being obsessed with our clients, continuously exploring new technologies, as well as how we drive new services to clients, I think there's an opportunity for Quintica to achieve significant results,” she notes.
Quintica’s tech partners include ServiceNow, BMC, Snow, Contactable, Mimecast, Darktrace, 4Me and WorkWide.
In collaboration with ServiceNow, Quintica has developed an all-in-one platform that enables organisations to reach modernisation and digital transformation goals, allowing seamless engagement between the organisation, its employees, stakeholders and clients.
The new CEO believes it is crucial for organisations, particularly tech companies, to have women in leadership roles, both from a business perspective and to accelerate gender equality.
She notes gender diversity in executive teams increases the likelihood of financial out-performance by 25%, with privately-held tech companies headed by women achieving 35% higher returns on investment.
In the long-term, Buwa says she will continue to empower other women and drive gender transformation not only within Quintica, but in the ecosystem too.
“Women empowerment is part of my DNA. Driving gender transformation within the corporate sector is what I've lived and breathed throughout my career, so I'm not about to stop now.
“Quintica is a champion of diversity, and we will scale this through initiatives such as skills development via our internship programme, enterprise development and supplier development. Essentially, it's about continuing the work that I've been doing before ‘women in tech’ became a buzzword.”
Quintica chairperson Allan Cawood adds: “As Quintica, our transformation has evolved beyond a gender and race lens to recognise capability delivery – something which Zimkhita has proven over the course of her 17-year-long career, where she was entrenched in some of South Africa’s − and the world’s − foremost tech companies, not to mention her involvement in the African tech ecosystem in her personal capacity.
“With Quintica uniting technology and human capability to accelerate business outcomes, I see her appointment as the beginning of our next evolution.”
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