Our Team

With over 25 years of working experience, Nivan Bijou has spent the last 10 years on building strategic businesses aligned to his experience across financial and technology institutions. Having spent the bulk of his years at MasterCard, Nivan is regarded as a payments and data expert with a deep understanding on end to end processes. Critical to the current and future success has been Nivan’s ability to piece together a team with deep level expertise.

With 1^st hand experience, Nivan has worked across most of the markets in Middle East Africa, having spent 3 years in Dubai. He served on executive pricing and interchange committees at MasterCard and represented MasterCard at Payments associations, with regulators and at key speaking events. Some of his recent accolades include having one of his companies been awarded as a top 5 fintech company by BoA Merryl Lynch (in 2016), an App that his team created was a finalist in the MTN mobile app awards (2015), and been a director of a company that was awarded a Visa staff choice award at the annual Visa Africa fintech awards (2018).

Nivan has an MBA from Wits Business School.

Pramod Mohanlal is an experienced leader in the field of data, analytics and predictive modelling with diverse corporate and start-up skillsets. Highly proficient in statistics, mathematics and information management. He specialises in applying innovation methodologies, pioneered by Harvard’s Prof. Clayton Christensen, together with data analytics. His unique attributes include the technical know-how of solving problems using data analytics and the commercial understanding of businesses and their operations. Through the use of data analytics, he has helped organisations save millions in costs, increased revenue, and won global innovation and leadership awards.

He has worked globally in the fields of innovation and analytics for a Boston-based innovation firm, called New Markets Advisors. He served on South Africa's Presidential State-Owned Enterprises Review Committee, assessing the country’s policy toward the 200+ firms owned by the state. He is the co-founder of two digital start-ups.

Pramod completed his executive education at the Stanford Business School and holds a Master’s degree in Statistics. He leads the Innovation and Analytics practice at Craft.

With over 24 years of working experience in financial institutions, Bradley has spent the last 12 years working on group or business unit strategic initiatives and projects spanning across multiple areas in banking and has held various roles in the Retail and Business Banking businesses, from frontline Sales Management to Business Unit and Customer Strategy design and execution across areas of Customer Value Proposition; Product Development and Alliance Banking, Product Management; Programme and Project Management as well as Divisional Change Management. Some of this time was spent working closely with McKinsey and other advisory companies to reshape bank strategies unlock incremental value.

James Sutherland is Craft Intelligence’s Programme Manager, bringing two and a half decades of experience in the data, BI reporting and analytics fields. In this role, James is able to harness his wealth of experience to programme manage the implementation of data & analytics programmes for our client-organisations.

Prior to joining Craft Intelligence, James led the data, analytics and BI reporting divisions and departments of a variety of companies in South Africa. These include Xpert Decision Systems (a South African based credit bureau), Transaction Capital Risk (previously MBD) and ABSA Group. James graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand with a B.Comm and B.Comm Honours degrees.

Khuthadzo is a Data Scientist. Her expertise extends across essential domains, including Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) processes, advanced data analytics, and data governance.

With an academic trilogy from Wits University - a bachelor’s degree and an honours degree in Mathematical Sciences, coupled with her imminent completion of a master's degree in Data Science, Khuthadzo has a strong foundation in mathematical sciences and a passion for extracting meaningful insights from data. Her journey began in her final year at school, where she ranked among the top 16 students in Limpopo with a 99% score in Mathematics and an overall average of 92%. Her commitment to excellence has been recognised through her notable achievements, including graduating at the top of her class at Wits university with two prestigious mathematical prizes.

Prior to her joining Craft Intelligence, Khuthadzo fulfilled multiple roles within data analytics at diverse institutions. Beyond her professional duties, she dedicates her weekends to contributing to her community, offering guidance as a high school Mathematics tutor.

Firdows is a Business Intelligence Analyst at Craft Intelligence, specialising in creating visualisations, reports, and data models. Her responsibilities encompass designing efficient ETL workflows, crafting insightful visualisations, and generating comprehensive reports that drive informed decision making.

Prior to joining Craft Intelligence, Firdows was a data analyst at a prominent fashion retailer in South Africa where she gained experience in utilising BI tools to dissect complex datasets, uncover trends, and present actionable insights to drive business growth.

Firdows graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, specialising in Information Systems.

Terrence is a data engineer at Craft Intelligence, working with the team to build world class data solutions and enhanced BI reports. He has the responsibility for designing, visualisation and building out these solutions.

Terrence brings with him his software development skills which he gained through previous experience and exposure. His core strength comes from his coding skills in SQL, C++ and C#, in addition to carrying an OCI and AWS certification.

Terrence completed his Diploma in Information Technology (software development) at Tshwane University of Technology and he currently working towards his Advance Diploma in software development and JAVA SE 8 certification.

Sifiso Makhubo is a Data Engineer at Craft Intelligence, where he designs and implements robust data pipelines and architecture that enable businesses to transform raw data into actionable insights. With a solid foundation in Python, SQL, API development, and cloud technologies, Sifiso specializes in building scalable ETL processes, integrating diverse data sources and optimizing data warehouses for high performance and reliability.

Before joining Craft Intelligence, Sifiso worked as an Intermediate Software Engineer, where he spearheaded the design and implementation of end-to-end ETL pipelines, automated data extraction and integration workflows and designed interactive dashboards that empowered stakeholders with real-time decision-making tools. His work significantly reduced manual intervention in critical processes and improved system efficiency through automation and optimization.

Sifiso holds a BCom Information System degree from the University of Pretoria where he consistently excelled academically, earning multiple distinctions. He also holds a professional certification in Linux Essentials, AWS Cloud, Power BI, and Python development.
Beyond the technical side, he is driven by the goal of helping organizations leverage data as a strategic asset to improve decision-making and drive growth.

Nikki Chirwa is a Strategy Analyst at Craft Intelligence, driven by a passion for transforming data into actionable business insights. She specialises in market research, business optimisation, and strategic problem-solving, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to deliver innovative solutions that help businesses achieve their goals.

Before joining Craft Intelligence, Nikki gained valuable experience in financial analysis, research, and operations, sharpening her ability to thrive in dynamic industries. She holds a BCom in Business Management from the University of Cape Town and a Data Analysis certification from UCT Online. Nikki’s strengths remain her adaptability, analytical mindset, and commitment to continuous improvement.

Karen manages Craft Intelligence’s programme office. With more than 20 years in corporate Karen brings with the structure and discipline required to manage this role. Accounting, Business Strategy, and Programme Management remain her core skills. Her strengths are her analytical ability, attention to detail, and perseverance to improve. – quality and timely delivery are embedded values. Karen’s life motto-One’s success is determined by one’s willingness to learn from past mistakes and build on your shortcomings.

Samia Naciri is a data analysis, business intelligence and data visualisation expert. With over 18 years of experience working with various business owners and operational teams, Samia has honed her ability to meet expectations and drive insights with agile teams. She has managed various projects of implementation, integration, and deployment on digital and decision support systems.

Samia has a Ph.D. in decision support systems, and is expanding her research area to uncover insights that answer critical business questions.

Passion, purpose, and progress fuel the journey of understanding people and driving impactful change for Rakhi. With extensive global experience guiding teams through diverse challenges, she delivers a practical, innovative approach rooted in systems thinking and behaviour change.

Specializing in human-centred change as a Change Management Consultant, Rakhi believes success lies in nurturing the essence of organizations, acting as the adhesive for initiatives. Through stakeholder engagement and targeted solutions, she empowers organizations to leverage their potential for sustainable success.

With a diverse background spanning EMEA, The Americas, and APAC, Rakhi's journey is enriched by cultural insights. Her qualifications, including an Honours Degree in Industrial Psychology and MSc in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology as well as certifications in Organizational Change Management, equip her to guide individuals and organizations toward solid results.