Thandi Khoza speaks to us about her role in the technology sector and shares her thoughts on Women in Tech Africa, taking place 18th-19th March in Cape Town.
Thandi Khoza is an Automation Engineer at Vodacom, an African mobile communications company providing services to over 65.2 million customers.
She will be sharing her wisdom on a panel entitled 'Analysing the Latest Advances in Automation and their Applications in your Business' on 18th March at 14:30. Thandi and three other African tech leaders will unveil the impact of automation on businesses, along with what guidelines organisations should follow in order to get the best out of this emerging technology and harness its opportunities.
We caught up with Thandi ahead of the conference, here's what she had to say.
Why have you decided to get involved with Women in Tech Africa?
African individuals, like myself, have a deep struggle story to tell when it comes to how we got to be who we are – from fighting to pay education fees, to then telling yourself to be determined and focus on the bigger picture as the end goal could be in reach.
Due to this, when I think of how other women around Africa have managed to succeed in spite of various barriers and stereotypes, I am excited to engage with such individuals from different ethnic backgrounds who have goals, aspirations, and dreams.
I want to have others learn from me and my professional experiences and gain insight into the knowledge engraved in other individuals. What experience, success stories, and challenges can they share about their career paths? I want to network with them in the hope of growing my own knowledge and skills.
What will people learn from listening to your talk?
- The modern applications of automation languages.
- Existing tools, and how to manage the change process.
- The latest approaches in security testing for your enterprise.
What are you most looking forward to at Women in Tech Africa?
Learning, associating, and creating a solid network with different individuals from different fields of work.
Who is your female tech inspiration? What have they done and why do they inspire you?
Barbara Mallinson – she has created her own digital learning solutions company called Obami.
What’s a typical day like for you?
When I get to work, I check my emails and begin work on the projects that are assigned to me on DataAssist. Next, I log the bugs I find from the tests scripted and run them if they do not correspond to requirements. Finally, I send out the results once they are ready.
Are you working on anything exciting at the moment that you’d like to share with our readers?
I love looking at new software, tools, or languages available and what’s trending in automation to see how it can add value to my work environment. So, I am currently exploring Katalon Studio.
I have also been to many African countries, travelling by both plane and bus. From my experiences, it has become clear that the technology in use is still very behind. There is a huge platform for Africans to be innovative in the technology department and, as I want to travel in the future and work in another country, I would like to help improve this.
What advice would you give to women who want to pursue a career in tech?
Go to a good university and study for 4 years like I did. Alternatively, look up self-teaching tutorials on platforms likes udemy.com. This website is very useful and has all the content on what the IT industry is currently doing from beginner to experienced.
I also advise that you read about new things that are happening in the industry every four months. Keeping yourself updated on the latest technology, tools and languages is very important. Do not be confined to what you know already, explore something new and introduce it to your work, it might change how your department operates and add value to what you do every day.
Interested in supercharging your career like Thandi has?
Women in Tech Africa is taking place 18th – 19th March in Cape Town, South Africa. In addition to speeches and workshops, there will be a MEETUP stage so that attendees can converse with prominent tech innovators from across Africa on a range of subjects. This includes AI, cloud computing, blockchain, tech career paths and empowering female leadership in male-heavy industries.
