Episodes

  • TCS | Werner Lindemann on how AI is rewriting the infosec rulebook

    TCS | Werner Lindemann on how AI is rewriting the infosec rulebook
    Apr 15 2026
    The pace at which artificial intelligence is reshaping the threat landscape is outstripping the ability of most organisations to defend themselves, with shadow AI, synthetic identity attacks and a looming quantum computing disruption all converging at once.
    That’s the view of DataGroupIT CEO Werner Lindemann, who joined Duncan McLeod on the TechCentral Show to unpack what business leaders should be doing about AI and information security.
    Lindemann, who spent more than 30 years in senior roles at BCX and Clickatell before joining the security solutions distributor, says the African threat environment is no longer a watered-down version of what is happening elsewhere. Attackers are deploying the same AI-powered tools globally, and AI-enabled phishing campaigns now achieve click-through rates that traditional defences were never designed to withstand.
    A bigger blind spot, he argues, is shadow AI – employees pasting sensitive data into unapproved AI tools without oversight. Lindemann says this is fast eclipsing the shadow IT problem of the past decade because the tools are free, frictionless and often invisible to security teams.
    The conversation also tackles the credibility crisis facing identity verification. With AI now able to clone a CEO’s voice in real time or generate synthetic profiles that pass biometric checks, Lindemann believes traditional verification methods are fundamentally flawed. A big challenge is helping boards understand the issue in business rather than technical terms.
    Lindemann also weighs in on the rise of the chief AI officer role, following Sanlam’s recent appointment, and on whether African organisations are equipped to adopt AI at the pace global peers are setting given the continent’s acute skills shortage.
    The discussion closes on quantum computing. Lindemann challenges the conventional view that the quantum threat is a decade away, and outlines what business leaders should be doing now to prepare for the post-quantum cryptography world – even if the risk still feels distant. TechCentral
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    38 mins
  • TCS | Donovan Marsh on AI and the future of filmmaking

    TCS | Donovan Marsh on AI and the future of filmmaking
    Apr 7 2026
    Award-winning South African film director Donovan Marsh has pivoted to artificial intelligence filmmaking and believes generative AI tools could fundamentally reshape how movies are made – and who gets to make them.
    Marsh, whose 30-year career includes directing the Hollywood submarine thriller Hunter Killer starring Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman, the Spud films and iNumber Number, is the latest guest on the TechCentral Show.
    The economics, he tells TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod, are extraordinary: a single complex scene in a traditional production requires crews, equipment, locations and days of scheduling, while AI tools collapse much of that overhead into work that can be done at a desk.
    But Marsh is clear that the creative work has not disappeared. He still directs shot by shot, much as he would on a conventional set, and uses a patchwork of different AI tools – no single product yet does everything. He has found that simpler prompts produce better results, saying over-prescription tends to degrade output quality.
    Marsh acknowledges the disruption this implies for camera operators, lighting crews, set designers and extras. But he argues that AI filmmaking could prove liberating for smaller filmmaking markets like South Africa, where the budgets to make ambitious local movies have dwindled.
    He has co-founded Dragon Studios AI with Ronnie Apteker and Stephen Cholerton, and is developing what he believes will be among the first AI-generated feature films. The tools are not quite there yet for a full 90-minute production, he says, but the gap is closing fast.
    Marsh also weighs in on where the so-called “uncanny valley” still trips up generative video, the future of the acting profession and what AI filmmaking could look like by 2029. TechCentral
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    53 mins
  • TCS+ | Vodacom Business moves to crack the SME tech gap

    TCS+ | Vodacom Business moves to crack the SME tech gap
    Apr 5 2026
    Everyone agrees that small and medium enterprises are the backbone of the South African economy. But the reality on the ground tells a different story – too many small businesses are still running on spreadsheets and WhatsApp, locked out of the tools that could help them compete.
    In this episode of TCS+, TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod is joined in-studio by two members of the recently established Vodacom Business advisory board: Sannesh Beharie, managing executive of SME and mobile products at Vodacom Business, and Andrew Fulton, co-founder of data analytics firm Eighty20, a Vodacom Business partner.
    Vodacom Business set up its advisory board last year to bridge the gap between enterprise-grade technology and the small businesses that need it most, bringing together tech leaders and external specialists to help companies – as well as SMEs – navigate digital transformation.
    In the conversation, McLeod, Beharie and Fulton dig into what’s actually stopping small businesses from going digital, whether bundled connectivity and cloud offerings are genuinely good for SMEs or just a polite way of locking them in, and where AI fits into the picture for a 20-person business in South Africa.
    They also tackle how Vodacom Business positions itself against the likes of AWS, Google and Microsoft in the SME market, where a small business owner should spend their first R10 000 a month on tech, and the most common mistakes SMEs make when they do invest in technology.
    Don't miss the discussion on what a genuinely SME-first solution looks like – and whether the tech industry is guilty of designing for corporates and simply shrinking solutions down for smaller businesses.
    * TCS+ episodes are sponsored by the party concerned TechCentral
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    35 mins
  • TCS | MTN’s Divyesh Joshi on the strategy behind Pi

    TCS | MTN’s Divyesh Joshi on the strategy behind Pi
    Apr 1 2026
    MTN South Africa has launched Pi, a digital-only mobile operator that runs on MTN’s network but operates as a standalone brand, offering contract-free mobile and home 5G connectivity through a single app, with no call centres, no credit checks and no lock-in.
    In this episode of the TechCentral Show, TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod talks to Divyesh Joshi, chief commercial officer at MTN South Africa, about the thinking behind the launch and what it signals about the direction of the local telecommunications market.
    Pi’s pricing is aggressive: R79/month for 500 voice minutes and R199/month for 20GB of mobile data, for example, alongside home fixed-wireless broadband plans.
    McLeod asks whether Pi is essentially MTN’s fightback against Telkom, which has been quietly gaining prepaid market share with competitive data pricing – and whether the launch is also a response to mobile virtual network operators like Melon Mobile.
    The conversation explores what Pi means for MTN’s margins, particularly on voice, and whether the aggressive pricing on calls is an admission that voice has become a commodity in a market where many consumers have shifted to WhatsApp for calls.
    McLeod also asks whether Pi represents MTN’s attempt to get ahead of a structural shift in how people consume telecoms services – drawing a parallel with MultiChoice’s failure to adapt quickly enough to changing market demands in the video entertainment space.
    A key question is what happens to MTN’s existing SuperFlex product, which targets a similar customer base. Is Pi going to cannibalise MTN’s own subscribers?
    Finally, McLeod and Joshi discuss MTN’s new eSim-based roaming deals, which offer data at R12/GB in markets like China and France – though curiously, roaming in eSwatini, where MTN has a subsidiary, costs R85/GB.
    Don’t miss the conversation! TechCentral
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    22 mins
  • TCS | Anoosh Rooplal on the Post Office’s last stand

    TCS | Anoosh Rooplal on the Post Office’s last stand
    Mar 27 2026
    The South African Post Office has been in business rescue – a form of bankruptcy protection – since July 2023. Business rescue practitioners Anoosh Rooplal and Juanito Damons have made it clear to parliament that the entity will not survive liquidation unless a R3.8-billion bailout is received soon.
    With some 5 500 jobs on the line, the big question is: is the Post Office worth saving? Rooplal spoke to TechCentral’s Nathi Ndlovu and was asked that question.
    In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Rooplal talks about:
    • The case for the bailout: The business rescue practitioners have already received R2.4-billion from government, while bailouts for the Post Office over the past decade amount to nearly R10-billion. Rooplal attempts to answer why this latest funding request is worth it.
    • The current state of the Post Office: Rooplal outlines what the R2.4-billion tranche was used for and what the R3.8-billion request would do, if provided. He also details what the future state of the entity might look like and how, without much in terms of income, salaries are currently being paid.
    • The need for a state-owned postal service: Even if national treasury were to agree to save the Post Office, does it have a place in a modern digital economy?
    • External funding and asset sales: If the business case for the Post Office’s revival is so strong, why have the businesses rescue practitioners not sold or rationalised assets or gone to the open market for funding?
    • Social grants and Post Bank: Rooplal explains what would happen to the many grant recipients processed via the Post Office should it not survive business rescue.
    • Private sector partnerships: The department of communications & digital technologies in November issued a request for information seeking private sector partnership proposals. Rooplal explains the “chicken and egg” problem at the core those discussions.
    • No more options: Chapter 6 of the Companies Act compels business rescue practitioners to file for liquidation if they see “no reasonable prospect” of rescue. Rooplal explains why he and his associate, Damons, are close to pulling the trigger.
    Don’t miss the discussion! TechCentral
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    28 mins
  • Meet the CIO | Healthbridge CTO Anton Fatti on the future of digital health

    Meet the CIO | Healthbridge CTO Anton Fatti on the future of digital health
    Mar 23 2026
    Anton Fatti, chief technology officer of HealthBridge, says the doctor-patient relationship must remain at the centre of digital transformation in healthcare, even as AI reshapes how medical practices operate.
    Speaking on TechCentral’s Meet the CIO podcast series, brought to you by NTT DATA, Fatti said AI and cloud computing are already easing the administrative burden on doctors and medical professionals, allowing them to spend more time with patients rather than on paperwork and back-office tasks.
    Fatti joined Healthbridge as CTO in February 2025, bringing experience from senior technology leadership roles at the South African Revenue Service, where he served as chief technology and innovation officer, as well as at Discovery, where he was chief digital officer, and data business Lightstone, where he was CIO.
    Healthbridge, founded in 1999, positions itself as a technology partner that helps medical professionals run their practices so they can focus on patient care. The company’s offerings have evolved significantly since its early days – from a pre-cloud, pre-AI era to a modern cloud-based software-as-a-service platform built in partnership with Google Cloud.
    In the interview, Fatti discusses how the company has structured its innovation efforts. He also addresses which parts of clinical workflows are ready for AI automation today and which must remain human-led, and how far the industry is from AI playing a decisive role in diagnosis.
    On the shortage of medical professionals in South Africa, particularly in certain specialities, Fatti explores how AI and other modern tools can make doctors more productive – and whether practitioners are receptive to adopting them.
    He also shares his views on how policymakers should be thinking about AI in healthcare, the new skills emerging inside his teams and his approach to disrupting Healthbridge’s own business model before a competitor does. TechCentral
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    46 mins
  • TCS+ | Arctic Wolf unpacks the evolving threat landscape for SA businesses

    TCS+ | Arctic Wolf unpacks the evolving threat landscape for SA businesses
    Mar 19 2026
    Most security teams can tell you what they've deployed. Far fewer can answer the board's next question: are we actually less exposed than we were three months ago?
    In many organisations, the gap between security activity and real risk reduction remains stubbornly wide, even as threats become faster, more adaptive and harder to spot.
    In this episode of TCS+, Clare Loveridge and Jason Oehley from Arctic Wolf unpack what the 2026 Arctic Wolf Threat Report reveals about how the risk landscape is shifting, both globally and in South Africa.
    They discuss whether organisations are genuinely becoming more proactive, how AI is changing the game for attackers and defenders alike, and why familiar blockers continue to undermine even well-funded security programmes.
    The conversation also explores what it means to "end cyber risk" in practical terms, why continuous improvement matters more than one-off projects, and how organisations should think about residual risk — the portion that remains even after controls are in place.
    The episode closes with a look at Arctic Wolf's cybersecurity warranty in South Africa and what role warranties can play in risk management when prevention alone is not enough. TechCentral
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    30 mins
  • TCS+ | Vox Kiwi: a wireless solution promising a fibre-like experience

    TCS+ | Vox Kiwi: a wireless solution promising a fibre-like experience
    Mar 13 2026
    Access to stable, reliable, high-speed internet is crucial to participating in the modern economy. Although fibre connectivity offers the highest speeds and reliability, fibre penetration rates unfortunately remain relatively low in South Africa, leaving may would-be customers wanting.
    Vox recently launched Kiwi, a wireless connectivity solution promising a fibre-like experience with speeds of up to 200Mbit/s. In this episode of TechCentral’s TCS+, Theo van Zyl, head of wireless at Vox, provides more details about the Kiwi service and how it works.
    Van Zyl delves into:
    * The rationale behind building a wireless service that offer a fibre-like experience;
    * Why customers should choose Kiwi over a 4G or 5G fixed-wireless solution;
    * The technical innovations Vox took advantage of to get the speed and reliability Kiwi offers its customers;
    * How Kiwi behaves in disruptive scenarios such as thunderstorms;
    * The various tiers customers can subscribe to and the speeds they offer;
    * The kind of spectrum Kiwi uses and how it does so efficiently;
    * The installation process and the hardware involved; and
    * Why the name Kiwi was chosen and its relevance to wireless technology.
    Don’t miss in an interesting discussion! TechCentral
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    16 mins