Walking away from a comfortable role to start over takes courage, but for Faustine Nyangira, senior ICT manager at Pass Trust, taking leaps of faith defined his journey. He shares what it truly takes to build and lead resilient teams.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly entering business conversations, but fast adoption does not automatically translate into better decisions or stronger results. At the CIO of the Future Summit in Tanzania, Rohit Thaker, CTO of TEAGTL, Godwin Mbekelu, head of IT at Sportpesa and Amiri Sultani Mziray, head of ICT at I&M Bank Tanzania discussed how organisations can effectively adopt AI as a strategic enabler of business.

In recent years, East African countries have made significant strides in efforts towards data protection. However, Reliance Insurance head of IT, Imani Mwanri, challenges countries within the region to also develop cross-border data regulations with growing need for data exchange between countries.

Diana has over ten years experience in implementation and support of information security programs.

She has built a two decade career in IT and has an expansive skillset in digital transformation and strategy, technology innovation and strategic leadership.

At a time when personal computers and mobile phones were still unfamiliar to many Kenyan students, Amon Ngechu chose to study computer science, a decision that would shape a career spanning software development, telecommunications and digital financial services. Today, Amon is the CTO at NCBA Loop DFS.

At the August CIO of the Future Summit in Tanzania, Yas Tanzania IT director Victor Mtefu narrated how he navigated the high-stakes migration from legacy systems during the telco’s rebrand from Tigo. He also shared why revamping core tech relies far more on strategy and governance than on the technology  alone.

In more than ten years of her career, Catherine Bwire, CISO at Ecobank Uganda, has watched women remain outnumbered in IT careers. To change that, she urges female tech leaders to make themselves visible and mentor the younger generation.

He joins Ava Hotel Nairobi from Diamonds Leisure Beach & Golf resort where he served in the same position and where he led the ICT pre-opening of the hotel

Job opportunity: Sales Manager

For Polycarp Mugizi, system downtime is never just a technical glitch, it has real human consequences. As a result, Polycarp has made it his purpose as a leader to ensure that his team is always committed to finding solutions. For him, no problem is unsolvable given sufficient time and resource.

At the CIO of the Future Summit in Dar es Salaam, tech leaders discussed AI's impact on daily operations. Among the panelists was Imani Mwanri, head of IT at Reliance Insurance, who urged tech leaders to embrace AI while warning against abandoning human oversight. 

Mulwana CIO, Robert Jenkins Sibbechai, believes the biggest gap in how organisations use AI isn't the technology itself but the absence of any rules governing what it's allowed to do with the data it's fed. He explains why this complicates cybersecurity and how a decade of oversharing on social media set the stage for it.

AI has not only made work easier for organisations, but it has also added a layer of complexity when dealing with cybersecurity. Across different conversations, Jacqueline Madara, head of ICT at Machakos University, Yuki Ouchi, head of digital products and e-commerce at KFC Kenya, James Kwezi, digital transformation manager at AFR Rwanda, and Alex Siboe Wekunda, CIO at Stanbic Bank Kenya, weigh in on how AI is reshaping the threat on the other side of the firewall.

Erick Ngwiri has spent 17 years helping organizations turn complex, scattered information into decisions they can act on. Within that time he has seen why most organisations still get data wrong, and what it takes to fix it, one clear problem at a time. 

For seven years, Peter Gichia focused on building software he believed in. Success, however, remained out of reach until he shifted his focus from the code to the people actually using it 

Faith will play a key role as the board seeks to strengthen governance, technology and digital transformation while expanding its investment banking business.

Beyond the day to day activities involved in running a tech department, tech leaders also engage in different community building initiatives in their free time. Paul Kioi, head of technology at ICEA Lion , Paul Njoroge, head of ICT at Hand in Hand Eastern Africa, and Raymond Machary, principal ICT officer at Ocean Road Cancer Institute, reveal how their off-duty passions sharpen their leadership and uplift their communities. 

In 2022, Uzma Qureishi, Senior Manager of EHR Operations at Aga Khan Hospital Nairobi, led one of the boldest bets of her career, overseeing the institution's transition to a paperless system. The transition wrote the hospital into the region's history books as the first hospital in East Africa to run a full Electronic Health Record (EHR) system, namely MEDITECH Expanse.

In his new role at DIB, Joel will be responsible for aligning the bank’s technology roadmap with business expansion. 

In his over 12-year IT career in banking, Tropical Bank's head of business technology, Ivas Kwikiriza has watched the industry move from simple alternative channels like ATMs to fully digital ones like mobile applications and USSD. He is convinced the next shift will be the biggest one yet, a future where banking technology stops looking like technology at all.

In today's rapidly evolving enterprise landscape, cybersecurity can no longer be treated as a behind-the-desk operation. Lilian Kamara, IT Manager at AAR Healthcare Uganda, shares her insights on why technology leaders must spearhead this shift and embed a security-first culture across the modern enterprise.

Geoffrey Andima has spent his career trying to find the simplest and most efficient IT solutions. As Old Mutual Uganda’s CIO, he is applying the same instinct to artificial intelligence, using it to streamline processes and modernise systems at the insurance company.

A 2025 PwC report placed knowledge and skills gaps among the top challenges organisations face when implementing AI for cyber defence. Mpesa Africa’s head of cybersecurity Tim Theuri, Ecobank Uganda’s head of IT Juliet Kyomugisha and WASREB’s head of IT Brenda Anzagi weigh in on the challenge of finding talent in IT.

At the recent CIO of the Future Summit held in Kampala, Uganda, participants identified AI as one of their main concerns with loopholes in AI governance emerging as one of the greatest hindrances towards its effective use.

For a long time, the debate around AI has revolved around whether AI will replace humans and whether businesses especially in Africa are ready to fully embrace AI. While these debates continue, Airtel Money, Uganda has already integrated AI into its systems and is already reaping the benefits as the CIO, Sulaiman Mugalasi shares.

Kibe has over two decades experienced in ICT management with expertise in IT strategy, governance and digital transformation among others

When trying to determine the cost of IT solutions, most people’s deliberations begin and end with finances. However, Hariss International’s Dani Bachour believes that organisations may be getting it wrong by focusing only on finances.

As head of technology services at Ecobank Uganda, Juliet Kyomugisha is at the forefront of the bank's digital transformation and cybersecurity efforts. She oversees technology projects, strengthens governance frameworks, and helps the bank stay ahead of evolving cyber threats. She shares how Ecobank leverages data, manages cybersecurity risks, and balances innovation with security.

Joseph Wangombe knows all too well the pain and confusion of job loss and the uncertainty that comes afterwards. However, giving up is never an option for him and he has never been afraid of starting again.

Alex Siboe of Stanbic Bank, Alexander Gachihi of Shofco and Evans Ngala of Express Shipping & Logistics (EA) all work in demanding roles. For each of them, running has become a way to manage the pressure that comes with their work and lead better.

While Hariss International’s Dani Bachour admits the transition to his new position has been overwhelming, his journey, he believes, equipped him to steward Hariss to a future where AI power meets irreplaceable human creativity. 

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.

When Ecobank Uganda's Juliet Kyomugisha, Nation Media Group's Russell Akuom and AAR Hospital's Ibrahim Juma took to the stage at the CITO East Africa Data and Cybersecurity Summit to report back from the roundtable sessions, the consistent message was that implementation is the hard part of data governance.

Rita Apell Akot has been appointed to BIAN, a not-for-profit association built around common standards for banking architecture and interoperability. 

As CIOS weighed in on topics of data access, governance, cyber security and cyber resilience at the CITO East Africa Data and Cyber Security Summit held at Villa Rosa Kempinski Nairobi, it was apparent that human actors have a bigger role to play than the tech. 

Cybersecurity remains one of the biggest challenges that tech leaders grapple with on a daily basis. While companies continue to invest in technology to make their systems robust, Bank of Kigali’s CIO Eveque Mutabaruka, Del Monte’s head of IT Kennedy Njenga and Nairobi Water’s head of IT Jimmy Thuo believe that none of this counts for much if the person sitting behind the keyboard does not understand the risks they are exposed to every single day.

As group ICT Manager at Madison Group, Edward Tuitoek brings lessons from a career that spans telecoms, healthcare, and manufacturing. Known for his pragmatic approach and people-centered leadership, he continues to push for technology that drives both efficiency and impact.

His career spans across two decades with skills in IT governance, banking systems administration and digital transformation.

There has been a long-running debate on whether AI will replace humans. While some quarters believe it will, Mpesa Africa CTO Vinod Sharma, Onfon Mobile CTO Timothy Wahome, Ocean Road Cancer Institute’s principal ICT officer Raymond Machary,  and Brice Mutoni, an IT specialist at Eden Care Rwanda, see things differently.

Michael has been in the IT industry for the last two decades and has worked in different organisations in Kenya and Ghana

Mitchell Cotts head of technology Dennis Katusya, Stanbic Uganda’s CIO Rita Apell, and BasiGo’s IT manager Nicholas Musau, weigh in on the contributions of technology towards business strategy and the tension between innovation and governance.

Very few people, if any, would describe themselves as “someone who does not like enjoying life.” Yet this is the statement Dennis Katusya picks as a way to introduce himself.

Three tech leaders shed light on how technology is slowly changing the face of healthcare in Africa.

Bhanu brings over 18 years of experience in Information technology to Amsons and will lead the company’s IT strategy focusing on innovation and digital transformation.

Bank of Kigali’s CIO Eveque Mutabaruka has built his entire career by stewarding transformation programs in different financial institutions, from Rwanda to Botswana and Kenya. In every program, his leadership philosophy is simple: empower first then follow up.

Whenever anyone says they work in IT, society pictures the archetype of a male always clad in a black hoodie. This stereotypical representation of IT professionals, especially in films, also portrays them as introverted nerds. However, this portrayal is far from the truth and Henry Abea is proof of that.

In another life, where computers never came to Kenya and cyber cafes were non-existent, Nicholas Musau would have been a nurse running long shifts, doing rounds in hospital wards and taking care of patients. However, in this life, Nicholas is the IT Manager at Basi-Go, an e-mobility company that aims to revolutionise public transport by introducing electric public transport vehicles.

Clement Muhire may not wear a white coat or carry a stethoscope to work as he would have wished, but he is making remarkable contributions to the next frontier in medical training. As the head of IT at University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda, Clement is overseeing the digital backbone that supports the training of the continent’s next generation of medical doctors.

Brice Mutoni spends his days fixing problems behind a screen, learning through trial, error, and patience. At Eden Care, he keeps things running when they falter, relying not just on skill but on a steady belief that people, not machines, still make the real difference.