the last decade, and I’m still doing it now.” It was only later in life that Antonio branched out into law to complement his technology background and explore career and business opportunities that required the best of both worlds. In 2007, he dipped into the entrepreneurial world and founded Exactech, a forensic practice, which he ran until it was recently acquired by SNG Grant Thornton. “Much of what I learned during my master’s and doctoral years translated into commercialised ventures,” he says. “Out of my master’s years grew SurveyFiesta, a market research enterprise, which offers world class online research tools. Recently, we launched our schools edition to support learners with their online surveys and digital assessments/exams. “From the years I worked towards my PhD emerged a forensic product, ExactRisk, which offered eDiscovery functionality to facilitate large scale reviews of unstructured data.” For 20 years he travelled the world working on highly complex matters, but the last decade has really been about fusing his love for academia with entrepreneurship, says Antonio. “One of my dreams is to see more of our local academic research output turn into commercial products and solutions for local consumption, as opposed to the current state where nearly everything used is from abroad, even the most basic of software applications,” he says. His message to other business leaders/entrepreneurs: “Let’s keep at it and raise the stakes. We need more of our South African businesses in the global arena. It’s that simple.” Dr Antonio Pooe holds a Master’s degree in Information Technology Management obtained at the University of Johannesburg.
Karla Pretorius lives in Portugal but the world is her practice.
When you meet an autistic person, there’s always some magic that happens. It’s the way they communicate or what interests them, how they look at you or how they slowly engage, says Karla Pretorius, Director & Co-founder of AIMS Global and co-developer of the AIMS support system. For Karla it is so much more special than going to a person and having a conversation without meaning. “Once you’re in this field, it’s very difficult to see yourself doing anything else
because the people you work with are so interesting,” she says. What makes her work even more interesting is that AIMS Global, the international company she co-founded with colleague and fellow director, Nanette Botha, works remotely only. With Karla currently living in Portugal and before that in Bali, Indonesia, for three years, and Nanette in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, they offer world-wide remote mentoring services for teens and adults who identify as
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ALUMNI IMPUMELELO
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