AI is reshaping finance faster than many organisations can govern it. As AI becomes increasingly embedded in financial reporting, audit, risk and decision making, finance leaders need to understand not only what AI can do, but who remains accountable when things go wrong.

The Capital Hotels, Apartments and Resorts CFO Dale Smith reflects on navigating the Covid-19 pandemic, his entrepreneurial career and his approach to building a nimble finance function that supports the group’s long-term growth.

Nerissa Samuel, finance director for South Africa and Southern Africa at Gilead Sciences, believes the CFO role extends far beyond financial stewardship. From navigating complex healthcare environments and embracing AI to mentoring future finance leaders and supporting community initiatives, she sees finance as a platform to create sustainable value, strengthen governance and ultimately make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.

Inspired by a Martin Luther King Jr quote about excellence in every task, Water Utilities Corporation CFO Thabang Mogodi is focused on developing people, modernising finance and helping build institutions that can thrive long after individual leaders have moved on.

After stints at Deloitte and Standard Bank in Namibia, Pupkewitz Motors group CFO Peter Hiwilepo has built his career around using the tools he has – staying close to the work and making a difference where he is.

After achieving her long-held ambition of becoming an audit partner, Jennifer Erasmus made the unexpected decision to leave the profession and chart a new course. Now, as CFO of Trellidor, she reflects on the career pivot that reshaped her ambitions, the realities of balancing leadership with motherhood and the legacy she hopes to build through people, process improvement and purposeful leadership.

From discovering a R41 million fraud scheme to finding simple operational changes that cut costs by 25 percent, Western Investments Group CFO Abrie Collard has built a career on analytical thinking, resilience and, above all, trust. He believes integrity is the quality that gives finance leaders lasting influence long after they leave an organisation.

Raised in Soweto, shaped by faith and strengthened through personal adversity, Dineo Molefe has built a finance career grounded in purpose rather than position. The MTN South Africa CFO reflects on leadership, lifelong learning, balancing motherhood with executive responsibility and why success is ultimately about becoming the person God created her to be.

From a small-town upbringing shaped by educators to leading finance and administration at the Bank of Namibia, Lloyd Londt has built a career defined by purpose, continuous learning and social responsibility. His journey demonstrates how finance leadership can be a powerful force for economic inclusion, sustainable development and meaningful societal impact.

After 18 years at Deloitte, where he rose from articled clerk to partner and helped shape the careers of some of Namibia’s leading finance professionals, Julius Nghikevali made a bold move into public service. Now finance executive at the Namibia Industrial Development Agency, he is focused on driving industrialisation, creating lasting economic impact and ensuring that career success never comes at the expense of family.

After a decade building his career in Europe’s automotive and medical device sectors, Christoph Scholz returned home to Namibia with a wealth of international experience. As CFO of Satcom Namibia, he is helping to steer one of Africa’s few military communications manufacturers through a period of rapid expansion, while modernising its finance function and preparing the business for its next phase of growth.

Ricardo Sardien’s rise to CFO is a testament to the power of structured discipline and the relentless pursuit of personal growth over environmental odds. He demonstrates that leadership is built through incremental improvement and the wisdom to prioritise effectiveness over simply being right.

From Kitchener in Canada to Dublin in Ireland before landing a plum job as chief financial officer of the Namibia Institute of Pathology, Scholastika Mwetulundila’s meteoric career path is not what she thought it would be.

Big Four firms trained him. The world tempted him. But Batsirai Pfigirai had a different calculus – one that led him to become the CFO reshaping Namibia’s postal future.

During the week, Bank Windhoek CFO Zenaune Kamberipa masters the intellectual rigour of finance. His weekends are reserved for matters of the heart and tending cattle.

Becoming a partner at a major accounting firm is a path that only a few will ever get to walk. Yet Botswana’s group finance director of Sefalana Group Mohamed Osman found himself turning down the role twice.