In today’s tech landscape, the role of technology leaders is shifting. Kennedy Njenga, head of IT at Del Monte Kenya, Paul Odero, ICT manager at the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), and Peter Kuya, agree that the real secret to sustainable innovation lies in human behaviour as much as it does in technology.
Even the most advanced digital solutions can fail if the people using them are not sufficiently trained. While organisations frequently invest heavily in cybersecurity tools, tech leaders argue that technology alone cannot compensate for human behaviour.
Del Monte Kenya’s head of IT Kennedy Njenga emphasises that cybersecurity is fundamentally a shared human responsibility rather than a purely technical issue.
Kennedy points out that many organisations fall into the trap of relying on high-level investments without addressing everyday user behaviour, particularly among senior leaders who manage large volumes of data.
“It is usually the executives, finance teams and HR teams who are the highest-risk users because of the information they handle. But people are often uncomfortable telling senior leaders what not to do, so the risk remains,” he says.
To counter this, Kennedy stresses moving away from one-off compliance training toward continuous, role-based empowerment.
“When people understand the tools they are using, they produce better results with less stress. That is when technology starts to add real value,” he says.
Making tech work effectively
Beyond cybersecurity, technology should operate smoothly, allowing employees to focus on core operational goals and service delivery.
Another tech leader, Peter Kuya leads with the philosophy that technology should act as an invisible engine driving efficiency.
“Good technology should never get in the way. If people notice it too much, it’s probably not doing its job,” he says.
Peter explains that the primary focus of IT leadership in fast-moving sectors like logistics should be reducing friction for teams on the ground.
“My goal is to make life easier for the people on the ground, so they can have the best day every day. When they can do their jobs better, everything else falls into place,” he says.
He adds that even the most sophisticated tools are useless without team buy-in and a culture that encourages open experimentation.
“You can have the best technology in the world, but if your people don’t believe in what they’re doing, it will not work,” he explains.
Designing for usability
Paul Odero, ICT manager at the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), also shares Peter’s philosophy that technology must be usable, a philosophy that has become the backbone of his career.
“From the start, I wanted technology to feel simple and usable,” Paul recalls. “Good design is what connects people to the system behind it,” he says.
Drawing from his journey turning around APHRC’s ICT architecture from a high-risk rating to a clean bill of health, Paul notes that successful leadership requires trusting teams through effective delegation while keeping systems focused on mission-critical outcomes.
“Delegation is not about letting go of responsibility. It is about trusting people and giving them the space to do their work, while staying close enough to support, guide, and follow up on tasks,” Paul says.
As AI and automated platforms become integrated into daily workflows, Paul cautions leaders against chasing technology for its own sake.
“Technology will keep changing, but what matters most is how we apply it to make work easier, protect our systems, and support the mission of the organisation,” Paul explains.
