Why business?
I first fell in love with the art of business back in high school. I would imagine myself selling products to customers, and then recording the transactions. This helped me understand the difference between debit and credit, as well as how to reconcile accounts.
The interest continued after High school as I started to read about the downfall of companies like Nokia and Blackberry, that were kicked out of the market due to their inability to innovate in time. I found this really intriguing, and this was when I started to ask questions like “what sets the successful companies, apart from the unsuccessful ones.”
Why SMEs?
Why doing research for my Honours thesis, I discovered just how pivotal SMEs are to economies. I was shocked to learn that in the USA, for example, the SME market contributes the most to the GDP.
This was also when I learned that the SME market in Africa, and South Africa to be even more specific was lagging behind in relation to other continents. Being a continent that has been known for its levels of poverty, this led me to ask this question: “imagine an Africa with a booming SME sector.”
Since then, I’ve been motivated to understand the African SME market.
Why technology?
Besides Business, technology has been the other field in which I was interested. I discovered it late in my high school years – coding, to be more specific – so I didn’t get to spend as much time with it. Although I didn’t pursue it in varsity, I was always fascinated by technology products. I took a few additional courses like robotic process automation (RPA), but nothing serious enough for me to believe I could actually pursue any career in tech.
Fast forward to 3 years ago. I made a commitment to give myself a shot at tech. Unlike the past, I wasn’t going to keep reminding myself why it was too late to pursue a career in tech, or how I didn’t have a formal background in it, I was just going to jump into it with both feet.
Today, I’ve got a Master’s degree with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence (AI), explainable AI to be more specific. In addition to that, I also work in fintech and I’m improving my coding skills.
That being said, nothing is ever impossible. Nothing.
Why user experience & explainable artificial intelligence?
One of the things that have become clear to me in the last few years is that technology is made for people. Internet banking is there to help us access money conveniently, without the need to walk into a branch. Online shopping gives us the ability to pay for our groceries and have them delivered to our house while we continue with other tasks.
But, even though technology is made for people, there are so many examples of ways that technology is not serving human beings. One of the popular ones is privacy in the online advertising space, another example if of AI-driven technology that perpetuates discriminatory practices.
So, I’ve found a sweet spot for my interests in business and technology through the question that’s continuously ringing in my mind: how can this tech product serve the needs of the human better.
The reason why I say this question is at the intersection of business AND technology is that, when you can create a product that speaks to the needs of the human, then you’re more likely to have satisfied customers.
