Celia Mantshiyane, CISO, MTN SA

I like to be led the same way I lead people, using influential situational leadership, co-creating with my team of security operations, defence, security architecture and IT risk and governance professionals,” says Mantshiyane. “I firmly believe in leading by example. I saw myself as an IT leader and have put the effort and education into my self-development for leadership roles.”

Starting her career as a financial accountant, it was an IT project while she was working at the SABC that piqued her interest in this arena. She also attributes the rise in her career to having phenomenal mentors and coaches.

“Success always starts with you,” says Mantshiyane. “No one is going to make you into a someone, but speak to the significant leaders around you, be they male or female. Mentorship can help your career and take you further faster than just going it alone. Women mentors have the experience of climbing challenging corporate ladders and have garnered the self-confidence to ground you.”

Asked her sentiments around the still lacking but definitely strengthening number of women holding senior positions in ICT, Mantshiyane says that transformation in the workplace has to be implemented with executive buy-in and that it is deliberate process.

“In addition, women still tend not to pursue their careers as they should because of the discrimination they have seen. As executives, we need to lead by example, with an action plan to encourage and mentor, to duplicate what we do because any woman can have a successful career at any level.

“What gets me up in the morning is the desire to be remembered for making a certain contribution to the world. I believe we are all here for some purpose.”

Mantshiyane’s strategy and priorities are around data governance, identity and access management, embedding DevSecOps and ensuring that MTN can prevent, withstand and recover from cybersecurity incidents. It’s also supporting MTN Ambition 2025 – a programme to lead digital solutions for Africa’s progress, advancing its security capabilities.

“Cloud has exposed us to face the same threats both locally and globally, among them ransomware, third- and fourth-party risk, including insider threats. With the ongoing enabling of increased levels of machine learning, artificial intelligence and behavioural analytics, we can counter hackers attempting to gain access to our networks.

“While I wear different hats at times, my role requires me to have foresight for both the internal and external environments. I’m also an advisor to stakeholders and the MTN SA leadership, through effective communication and continuous alignment.

“There is no question that the world is digital and for any career you need to be digitally savvy and enabled. I believe the most exciting time of the current decade lies with the technology and, for women, a successful STEM career is within their grasp – especially as cybersecurity professionals.

“As a CISO, you literally learn and unlearn every day. You need to be constantly innovative in thinking while also listening to the internal environment. I’m proud of cybersecurity professionals. It takes commitment to do what we do on a daily basis,” she concludes.