Swati Safeda, 31

Swati Safeda is a young leader who brings optimism, enthusiasm and passion to everything she does. Her role requires her to learn fast and to keep up with ever-changing disruptive technologies.

She is the youngest C-Suite leader in her company and the youngest board member of Nimble Collection Services. Her role at Nimble is a fairly new one, as there was a need to have a strategy for the digital age. She focuses primarily on providing alternative platforms for debt collection to ensure that Nimble makes the process a respectful one and provides their customers with the financial literacy and debt relief relevant to them. She believes it is imperative that leaders understand how to diversify their businesses to cater for digital solutions and focus on customer centricity. Having women of colour in a position of leadership is a powerful statement, not just for her but also for others.

Being a board member enables structural change and transformation, as such diversity encourages broader strategic decision-making.
As a female in a male-driven tech environment, Swati is facing many challenges, but her constant drive to learn more and accomplish new heights is what sets her apart. Being Chief Digital Officer at Nimble allows Swati to dream up unique solutions and find ways to develop them so the end user receives maximum benefit.

Swati is also passionate about education and the impact it makes. Through her role as co-creator and head tutor of South Africa’s first online fintech course, she is able to help individuals further their education in order to pivot to an innovative career in fintech. She is passionate about the fintech industry and is always finding ways to share her knowledge to encourage others.

Swati grew up in an entrepreneurial family focused on property development, and this passion was passed on to her. She and her husband are passionate about property, an area in which she could combine her love for design with the freedom to run her own business. She also enjoys cooking for her family, using them to test out new recipes, and is an avid traveller, always dreaming of the next destination.

Swati is a firm believer that being a CA(SA) has enabled her to surpass her career goals. ‘Being a CA encourages a mind-set of approaching problems with dynamic, innovative solutions.’ She is passionate about her mission − to progress the CA (SA) qualification into the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

‘As a CA(SA), I believe I am more than my qualification and more than just finance,’ she says. ‘I have been able to diversify my unique CA skills into a digital fintech role.’ As the qualification progresses, roles are being redefined and Swati is keen to pave the way for the progression of the CA(SA) qualification to new frontiers.

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