What's Next with Aki Anastasiou

In this episode of What’s Next, Aki Anastasiou sits down with Yugen Naidoo, General Manager at Lenovo South Africa, for an inspiring conversation about leadership, resilience, and purpose. From humble beginnings in a small town on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast to leading Lenovo’s operations across Southern Africa, Yugen reflects on the formative moments that shaped his journey — including early activism, a passion for sport, financial setbacks, and the discipline that helped him rise through the ranks.

He shares candid insights into evolving from a transactional to a transformational leader, navigating the uncertainty of COVID-19, and building a high-performance, people-first culture. Yugen also unpacks Lenovo’s vision of democratizing technology through its pocket-to-cloud strategy. It’s a powerful reminder that success is built on small wins, resilience, continuous learning, and leading with integrity.

In this episode of What’s Next, Aki Anastasiou speaks to Hector Beyers, CEO and founder of Codehesion, following the company’s win at the prestigious MyBroadband Awards for Best Software Development Company. Hector shares what the recognition means for his team and unpacks the core philosophy behind Codehesion’s success — combining strong technical execution with collaborative, client-focused partnerships to help South African businesses scale through high-quality, custom-built software.

The conversation also explores the shifting software landscape, from subscription models versus custom ownership to the accelerating impact of AI on development speed and innovation. Hector explains why businesses spending heavily on licensing fees should reassess their strategy, how AI is unlocking faster and more powerful solutions, and why the right development partner can act as rocket fuel for growth in an increasingly competitive digital economy.

In this episode of What’s Next, host Aki Anastasiou is joined by Mark Wayne, Head of Solutions at iOCO, and Greg McDonald, Sales Director at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, to unpack the “great VM reset” and what it means for organisations rethinking their virtualisation and cloud strategies.

They discuss the rising cost pressures around traditional virtualisation, why hybrid-by-design is becoming essential for modern enterprises, and how businesses can unlock major savings through more flexible infrastructure, modern compute, and improved storage.

The conversation also explores how HPE Morpheus, VM Essentials, and GreenLake can help organisations simplify operations, support AI and legacy workloads, and build a more agile, cost-effective cloud foundation for the future.

Healthbridge founder, chairman, and Chief Innovation Officer Gerrie van Zyl joins Business Talk to discuss how artificial intelligence is transforming healthcare and why South Africa is well positioned to innovate in the sector. Speaking from Atlanta’s Tech Square, one of the world’s leading AI hubs, he explains how his team uses global innovation insights to build solutions for South Africa’s healthcare system, while highlighting the country’s growing AI creativity and entrepreneurial spirit.

The conversation explores how AI can reduce administrative burdens for doctors, unlock valuable healthcare data responsibly, and expand access to quality care across South Africa. Gerrie also shares why healthcare is one of the most powerful levers for economic development, how AI could dramatically improve efficiency and patient outcomes, and why entrepreneurs and developers should see healthcare as one of the most exciting innovation opportunities of the next decade.

Hylton Kallner, CEO of Discovery Bank, joins the show to discuss the bank’s strong interim results and the strategy driving its rapid growth. With client numbers, deposits, and revenue all rising sharply, Kallner explains how Discovery Bank’s shared value model, full-service digital banking platform, and broader Discovery ecosystem are helping attract new customers and deepen engagement with existing ones.

The conversation also explores Discovery Bank’s vision of becoming a “super bank” by combining advanced digital banking, lifestyle integration, and data-driven personalization. Kallner shares how artificial intelligence, powerful security systems, and a scalable technology platform are enabling the bank to improve customer experience, strengthen fraud protection, and continue its ambitious growth trajectory.