South Africa’s technology sector cannot afford to rely on imported skills indefinitely, and must invest in growing its own skills.
This is according to Sarvesh Batta, CEO of Exaze, an IT consulting and solutions company committed to developing digital skills in the country.
Batta notes: “The cost of offshore talent, the complexity of attracting and retaining experienced professionals and the long-term economic imperative of building local capability all point in the same direction: we need to grow our own.”
South Africa’s technology sector faces a paradox, he says. Demand for skilled digital professionals has never been higher, yet a persistent gap between the talent the market needs and the talent it produces continues to hold businesses back.
“The South African market has enormous potential. The combination of a young, ambitious graduate population, a growing technology sector and increasing enterprise investment in digital transformation creates real opportunity. But realising that opportunity requires deliberate, sustained investment in the people who will deliver it. That is precisely what Exaze’s skills development programme is designed to do, and it is a commitment we intend to deepen in the years ahead,” he says.
A culture of skills development
Batta emphasises that Exaze doesn’t view skills development as just a compliance exercise or a line item on a B-BBEE scorecard.
“It is a core part of how we operate, how we grow and how we believe a technology company should contribute to the markets it serves. With 25 years of industry experience and a team of over 350 professionals operating across South Africa, India and the United Kingdom, we have seen firsthand what a difference structured, intentional capability development makes – both for individuals and for the businesses that employ them,” he says.
Exaze’s Enterprise Development programme is designed to deliver real-world impact, structured around several interconnected pillars, each designed to address a different dimension of the skills challenge in South Africa.
Its Graduate Internship Programme gives South African graduates a structured pathway from academic study into professional technology delivery. Aligned to B-BBEE Skills Development objectives and SETA frameworks, the programme pairs theoretical foundations with real project exposure under the guidance of senior Exaze engineers.
Batta says: “We have deliberately designed the programme not as a short-term placement, but as a genuine on-ramp to a technology career. We are not interested in putting people through a programme and then releasing them into the market. We want to build careers, not just CVs.”
Alongside graduate development, Exaza has also established university tie-ups that create a direct pipeline between South African tertiary institutions and Exaze’s talent intake. These partnerships give students exposure to industry-relevant skills and delivery practices before they graduate, closing the gap between what universities teach and what employers actually need.
The company’s ISETT partnerships further deepen this commitment, ensuring our programmes are recognised within the formal skills development infrastructure and that learners receive accredited, market-relevant qualifications alongside their practical experience.
The ‘Playpen’ advantage
One of the more distinctive elements of Exaze’s approach is what the company calls Playpen Environments. These are safe, structured sandbox spaces where interns, graduates and upskilling professionals can experiment with real technologies, break things, learn and iterate without the pressure of live production systems.
Batta says: “In an industry where ‘learning by doing’ is often the most effective method but rarely available to junior practitioners, this is a meaningful differentiator.”
Exaze’s professional upskilling tracks extend beyond graduates. Experienced practitioners looking to move into cloud, AI, DevSecOps, test automation or modern front-end development can access targeted, cohort-based training across AWS, Azure, GCP, Selenium, Playwright, Python and more. The curriculum is built around Exaze’s actual delivery stack – which means every skill developed is immediately applicable in a real engagement.
Building capacity in SA
Exaze’s commitment to skills development is a long-term investment in its own capabilities, as well as a contribution to South Africa’s digital economy.
Batta says: “The professionals we train become part of our delivery teams, bringing fresh perspectives, current skills and the kind of loyalty that comes from being genuinely invested in. In a sector where talent retention is a persistent challenge, that matters. But every graduate we develop, every intern we take on and every professional we upskill is also one more person contributing to South Africa’s digital economy – and one less gap in the market that businesses are struggling to fill.”
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