Full Name: Yugasen Naidoo
Position: CEO of Praxis
Main Activity of the Company: Praxis provides a range of information technology (IT) services for the private and public sectors
Date and Place of Birth: Pietermaritzburg, November 25, 1969
Education: BSc (computer science), University of the Witwatersrand, 1992; MCSE, Microsoft Corporation, 1997; OCP (BDA 8i), Oracle Corporation. I am also an IBM-certified security professional and a Prince 2 practitioner (Ilxgroup)
First Job: Developer at South African Breweries
Career History Prior to Current Position: Programmer, South African Breweries, 1993 to 1994; senior software engineer, Praxis Computing, 1994 to 1996; engineer/NT consultant, Electronic Data Services, 1996 to 1998; business analyst/software specialist, Prestasi Financial Services, 1998 to 2001; founding member, Definite Solutions Personnel, 2001 to 2007; IT consultant, Exponant, 2001 to 2004; executive account manager, Exponant, 2004 to 2007; CEO, Praxis, 2007 to date
Size of First Pay Packet: R2 500 a month, 1993
First Job with Present Group: Developer
Value of Assets under Your Control: Not stated
Number of People under Your Leadership: 80
Management Style: Mostly relaxed – I am lucky to have a very competent management team
Personal Best Achievement: Not stated
Professional Best Achievement: Turning Praxis around. When I rejoined Praxis in 2007, over 35% of the staff had left in the year before and the company was experiencing difficulties
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Life: Nelson Mandela
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: People like Warren Buffett, Jack Welch and Steve Jobs have all contributed to how I manage my career
Person You Would Most Like to Meet: Barack Obama – he has done amazing things during his Presidency
Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: Elon Musk for his vision and ability to navigate great risks while successfully changing entire industries
Philosophy of Life: Work hard, stay healthy and be kind
Biggest Ever Opportunity: Buying a stake in Praxis, which enabled me to try new ideas and grow personally and professionally
Biggest Ever Disappointment: Nothing comes to mind – life throws mishaps at you and you have to be prepared for them
Hope for the Future: That we solve the problems South Africa is facing. It is sad to see the number of people who are jobless and the appalling state of our education system which, together, contribute to many of our current issues
Favourite Reading: Mainly Bloomberg News or the New York Times. I also love reading books by Jeffrey Deaver, Michael Lewis, Malcolm Gladwell, Frederick Forsyth
Favourite TV Programme: House of Cards
Favourite Food/Drink: Curry, of course/wine or whiskey
Favourite Music: Mostly hip hop, R&B (Rihanna), rap (Eminem) and pop (Sting) and some classical music
Favourite Sport: Snooker and tennis
Favourite Website: Google. I can never get over the fact that we have a large portion of the world’s information at our fingertips. Also it’s really amazing that Google in effect constantly makes several copies of the Internet around the world (which is what we are accessing, as opposed to the actual Internet)
Hobbies: Playing (albeit badly) the classical guitar, scuba diving, bridge
Car: A C180 Mercedes-Benz
Pets: Two chow dogs
Miscellaneous Dislikes: Pessimists
Favourite Other South African Company: Bidvest and SAB
Favourite Foreign Company: Apple
Married: Single
Children: None
Clubs: PADI