His own man

Mteto Nyati is clearly his own man, a maverick who believes that massive corporations can contribute to the common good, and who is a driving force behind Microsoft's decision to invest half-a-billion-rand to boost economic empowerment in this region.

Unlike the enrichment BEE deals that have seen the 'haves' become the 'have mores' in South Africa, the Microsoft effort will boost independent entrepreneurs by promoting majority black-owned software companies in this country over the next seven years.

Nyati makes me feel embarrassed for once using a disrespectful phrase that's bandied around in journalist circles when you have to interview leadership from one of the world's big five technology companies. In hushed tones, journalists at times groan about suffering through spin doctored sound bites from overly media trained spokespeople who we refer to as 'Redmond clones' or 'IBM drones'. Nyati explodes this bigoted clich'e by being authentic, open and refreshingly frank.

“To start to think about nationalisation in a world where we have seen that these things are not working is taking this country backwards,” says Nyati in a call to the ruling party to rein in drivers pushing for government ownership of privatised assets.

“We need to be informed by what is happening elsewhere, and learn from what is working. Most of the countries South Africa seems to be using as examples are not the best role models when it comes to economic growth. Let's look at the countries that are doing fantastically well and learn from them. Let's look at Brazil, let's look at India, even China. These countries are embracing free markets and that's what we need to be doing. We should be trying to drive productivity by making sure our government removes all the hurdles towards helping businesses operate in a good way. Government should focus on being an enabler of business rather than being a hindrance to doing business.”

An IBM man who took over the position of MD of Microsoft South Africa in September 2008, Nyati is driven by a sense of contribution, legacy and making a change. By his own admission, he is incredibly competitive and ambitious.

“What drives me is the idea of leaving a legacy. Microsoft has huge potential in South Africa, but that potential can remain unrealised if it is not aligned to what is required by society. I see my job as making sure that I can use the power of Microsoft to help our country become world-class. If you look at the social challenges affecting our country, particularly education, I believe our company has a huge contribution to make. Transforming education is at the very top of my agenda, and I want to do that by helping and partnering with government.”

Compared to other emerging regions, South Africa is one of the highest spenders on education. Yet if you look at the global competitiveness report, Nyati says, our country sits at the bottom of the class. “Out of about a hundred and forty countries, we are about 135. I would like to try and help make a difference in that space. We must put our best brains around the problem of education, because it will hurt us for generations to come if we don't successfully address the education crisis. We can't just talk about it. We need to do something about it.”

It may be a good idea for Nyati to start with the Eastern Cape, where the education system is crumbling, has manifested major financial bungling, and where seven schools from an impoverished district called OR Tambo, near Mthatha, are taking the national and provincial governments to court, along with the local municipality, in what will be a landmark case. Never mind software or computers, children there are being taught in mud huts, without water, using the open veld as ablutions, and at times completely exposed to the elements.

Other areas that Nyati wants to make an impact on are innovation and jobs. “As a company we are into promoting local innovation. Our whole business model is around partners, but I have not seen many companies who have been global companies coming out of South Africa, based on Microsoft technology. This is the reason why we have designed our BEE programme around finding small companies that we can help become global.” It is worthwhile to watch Microsoft's BEE investment here over the next seven years to see if the global giant is able to seed local-to-global technology players. If so, it would be a structure that other big technology companies would do well to emulate.

I see my job as making sure that I can use the power of Microsoft to help our country become world-class.

Mteto Nyati, MD, Microsoft SA

However, Microsoft's partner programme is the source of some tension for Nyati. “One of the biggest challenges I face is Microsoft's partner network.” The SA subsidiary has a network of 6 500 partners trained on Microsoft products and services locally, but changes in software licensing trends will make Microsoft both a partner and a competitor to these local agents.

“To me the ability to satisfy the various kinds of partners and make sure Microsoft is relevant to each one of those partners, and helps these partners continue to make money out of their association with Microsoft, continues to be a challenge. This becomes a bigger challenge as Microsoft moves into software as a service. Even now we say we will not compete with our partners, but the market is moving into a position where we have to provide those services directly. The ability to balance between what we can offer directly and what our partners will [offer], remains a challenge as we move forward.”

Another factor that keeps Nyati up at nights is the pressing problem of unemployment in South Africa. “If we don't address the huge problem of unemployment, especially the graduates sitting idle, our democracy is going to be at great risk.” To assist here, Microsoft runs a programme where unemployed graduates are trained and moved into the Microsoft ecosystem, and are employed in Microsoft, through the partner network or in government. “We want to be seen as the leaders in this area, and even want to share the way we do things with other companies, so that we all do our bit to address what is a possible time bomb for South Africa.”

Named one of Yale University's World Fellows on Global Leadership, Nyati believes that truth is crucial to good leadership. “Truth for me is more about reality as we see it, and integrity is very bound with what it means to be a leader. I try all the time to be open and honest with people.” For Nyati, when it comes to leadership within Microsoft South Africa, this means making management and leadership more of a science than an art.

“When it comes to performance I am very factual about where we are, and I like to look at the numbers. I prefer to use science and base decisions on data rather than feelings.” When it comes to the internal emotional climate at Microsoft, to customer service and relationships with partners, Nyati veers towards the measurable rather than what is intuited or felt. “You need to go out there, do surveys and use tools that will help you get closer to where the truth is. It may not be the absolute truth, but it will help you to get closer to the truth.”

Which leaders does Nyati admire? “We have challenges with regards to leadership in Africa so there are not many people I would call role models from a political or business perspective. However, with all of his challenges, I would say Thabo Mbeki was more of a visionary. I think he challenged this continent to wake up and to start doing things differently. This was probably one of the things that brought him down, and maybe he was slightly ahead of his time. Perhaps people were comfortable with being the so-called basket case of the world.”

On media freedoms and access to information, Nyati says the ANC should learn from its past. “If you look at the history of the ruling party, the ANC has promoted and fought for media freedom for as long as I can remember. The ANC needs to be informed by its own history and should not push repressive ideologies that would break this country. We cannot have a situation where people will be afraid to say things because of tribunals or bills. We have to continue to be open and enjoy freedoms because that is so critical to the success of this country.”

Openness has served Nyati well and under his leadership during the past two years, Microsoft has flourished. “Our growth over the past year clearly shows that the market is embracing our offering. We have grown 15% in a market that has only shown 6% or 7% growth. This illustrates that Microsoft is augmenting its market share.”

Government and public sector contracts are big contributors towards this growth, with the likes of Eskom and Helen Zille's Western Cape government giving Microsoft and Nyati's leadership a vote of confidence.