CLOUD - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Business Manager
- Design Leader
Anton is a design leader with proven experience of using design thinking to create transformational customer and user experiences that drive business value. He has deep expertise in all things human-centered design, delivering intuitive, distinctive, and innovative experiences that are underpinned by a deep understanding of the customer.
He has worked in digital and design for over 20 years across multiple industries, geographies, and environments. With a passion for entrepreneurship, product and service innovation, he enjoys helping businesses to unlock hidden value using creativity and design.
Anton holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree and MBA. When not creating super cool stuff for clients he is busy traveling, doing sports of all kinds, and spending time with his amazing wife and two kids!
Job Titles:
- Manager
- Role of Operations Manager for BlueSky
Chris is an experienced IT practitioner. Chris has many years experience in operations management, programme and project management for delivery complex multi-disciplinary projects in a variety of industries and environments. Chris has managed and led IT strategy, IT roadmap, business process re-engineering, systems selection, solution architect and design, system implementation and organisational change programs. This experience is across multiple tools and technologies- supply chain, WMS, ERP, Salesforce, custom development, business intelligence, strategic solution selection / evaluation.
In the role of Operations Manager for BlueSky, Chris is responsible for all the delivery elements of the operations teams that includes the solution engineers, architects, functional consultants, business analysts, project managers and developers.
When Chris is not overseeing the delivery teams for BlueSky, he can be found together with his wife overseeing his 2 kids while trying to find the time to take a ride, run or spend time in the peace and quiet of the bush.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Chief Financial & Commercial Officer at BlueSky
Corrie Verburg is the Chief Financial & Commercial Officer at BlueSky. Prior to joining BlueSky, Corrie was Chief Commercial Officer at IQ Business Group one of the largest private professional services organisations in SA. His responsibilities included bid management, service execution, contractual arrangements and black economic empowerment.
Corrie also served as Chief Financial Officer at IQ Business for 7 years prior to taking over the Chief Commercial Officer role during which time a successful private equity buy-in was concluded.
Prior to this, Corrie served as the Financial Director at Glenrand MIB Benefit Services (Pty) Ltd, where he took on broader operational responsibility with the establishment of the asset consulting capability.
Corrie holds a BCom Degree in Investment Management from the University of Johannesburg. In his spare time, Corrie enjoys spending time with his 3 beautiful daughters and is a keen weekend golfer.
Jamie-Lee Jacobs is responsible for the Academy at BlueSky. Through our academy Jamie-Lee is responsible for training, coaching, and mentoring young tech talent. Our Academy is the heartbeat of BlueSky, and we are proud of the fact that our internship model is built intimately into our business model. As the Head of Academy, Jamie-Lee is responsible for exposing our young graduates to the shifting corporate landscape and harnessing their digital skills and talent.
She started her career in IT in a graduate programme, where she discovered her passion for helping to shape the development of skills in youth. After this programme she moved into a Youth Programme Recruitment role where she was responsible for the selection and hiring of young people into the organisation. Her role as a Service Enablement Specialist further allowed her the opportunity to mould and change young people's lives - where her passion lies.
Outside of work Jamie-Lee enjoys running and gym workouts. She enjoys watching ballet at the theatre, exploring new restaurants in the city, and travelling.
Job Titles:
- Business Manager
- Business Leader
Katharine is an experienced business leader with a successful track record as an executive in leading software implementers and systems integrators across South Africa. Her experience as a management consultant, programme manager, sales and business leader with clients in Financial Services (specifically banks), Telecommunications companies, Media and Broadcasters, FMCG and Retail gives her unique insights into her role as Head of Salesforce at BlueSky.
Katharine was one of the first customers to implement and use Salesforce in South Africa and has been involved in the Salesforce ecosystem ever since. She is passionate about the platform and has worked with a number of customers on their digital transformation journey in pursuit of better, more personalised engagement with customers to drive revenue growth and customer satisfaction and retention.
Although Katharine grew up in Cape Town, she is based in Johannesburg with her two teenage sons, 2 dogs, a cat and a hedgehog. She enjoys yoga, hiking with her boys, is passionate about music and travels extensively in between for business and pleasure.
Job Titles:
- Business Leader
- Industry Lead
Leanne is an experienced business leader with a successful track record of partnering with customers to provide solutions that drive digital transformation within financial services. One of her strengths is her ability to quickly grasp complex concepts and see the big picture - yet the key to her success is her ability to deconstruct those concepts and broad vision into actionable strategies, that help people see the path to get there. Working with integrity and being authentic is important to Leanne. She consistently strives to do the right things, at the right time, for the right reasons.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Founder
- Founder and CEO of BlueSky
An entrepreneur at heart, Matt is driven by establishing and growing technology businesses. Matt is the founder and CEO of BlueSky, a leading enterprise cloud solution provider. Having successfully started and exited several technology companies, Matt is also the founder of an early-stage private equity fund. Matt is an active tech start-up investor with a passion for bringing technology-related commercial sense to early-stage businesses. Matt holds a Business Science Honours Degree in Information Systems from the University of Cape Town. When Matt is not BlueSky thinking, he can be found spending time with his wonderful family, ultra-distance trail running or deep-sea fishing.
Job Titles:
- Consulting and Project Delivery Executive
- Head of Delivery
Rob is a seasoned consulting and project delivery executive with more than 20 years of digital and technology experience across various sectors including Financial Services, Telecommunications, Supply Chain Management, Retail, and Manufacturing. He is passionate about working with teams to successfully deliver solutions to clients and users of their systems. Rob holds a Bachelor of Commerce Honours (Information Systems) degree and various project management and agile certifications. Outside of work, Rob enjoys spending time with his family and friends. He also enjoys music and cycling, and is a fan of many sports, especially rugby, cycling, and cricket.
Job Titles:
- Chief People Officer
- Chief People Officer of BlueSky
As the Chief People Officer of BlueSky, Themba Chakela is a seasoned "People" guy. His skill set includes global, regional and national execution of strategic planning, capability creation, organisational effectiveness and tactical application. Throughout his career, he has successfully implemented programmes ranging from wholescale business transformation to targeted human capital initiatives. His passion for and experience in technology has compelled him to drive efficiencies through digital, people-first solutions, that amplify organisational efficiencies and mutual value creation.
In his role on the executive team he serves as a consultative strategic partner and his mandate covers strategies relating to the full people management life-cycle and overall transformation in partnership with the business.
Themba holds an MBA from Henley Business School. He also holds an Honours, Human Resources, Post Graduate Diploma (Organisation and Management) and a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Clinical and Industrial Psychology majors) from the University of Cape Town. A proud son, brother, husband and father, Themba can be found on his bike, the DJ decks or the basketball court when not working.
Theo is a Digital Evangelist with a passion for helping clients leverage technology to forge new pathways in a Cloud world. He has been active in the IT industry for over 20 years pioneering cloud solutions and managed services across multiple industries. Working with Theo, you will quickly realise he makes it all about you - your challenges, your requirements, your goals and he goes above and beyond to provide solutions specific to help his client succeed. His motto has always been to "reduce the complexity of technology so that businesses can easily realise its benefits and focus on their core abilities."
An expert in the Hybrid Cloud ecosystem, with specific focus on AWS, Azure and On-Premise infrastructure, he is able to have vendor and product agnostic conversations with clients accelerating their business value goals. Theo is renowned for skills development and throughout his career has built and managed high performing cloud and infrastructure teams.
Ask him and he will tell you his true passion is his family and spending time preparing his loved ones for the great future ahead. In his words, "the future is not going to be defined by technological advancements but more so by the people with the vision to bring future realities to fruition today."
Tracy is a commercially astute, highly motivated and results-oriented senior executive with a 15-year track record in business management, strategy development, leadership in product innovation and delivery in the telecommunications and information technology sectors. She has led teams in high pressure, technical environments and adept at building relationships with stakeholders to achieve goals on complex, fast-moving projects.
As a hands-on leader, she has succeeded at driving initiatives to improve operational productivity and attain business profitability. Tracy has a strong background in business consulting, target management, relationship building, product optimization, product lifecycle management, project management and strategy development. She is a conceptual thinker and an expert at creating and driving successful projects to achieve business objectives and client requirements.
When Tracy is not busy dealing with complex projects, she can be found trail running in the Cape mountains or spending quality time with her amazing family!
Job Titles:
- Chartered Accountant
- Director
Tumi is a qualified Chartered Accountant (CA) with strong financial sector governance experience and a heart for each one of her many clients. Tumi is a director at BlueSky. Driven by her desire to better her community, Tumi is passionate about providing meaningful opportunities for those who otherwise wouldn't have access to them. In addition to her CA qualification, Tumi also holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting Sciences from the University of Johannesburg and a Certificate in Theory of Accounting from UNISA. When she isn't attending to her clients and colleagues needs, Tumi enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, discovering new places and singing in her church choir.