In this episode of Leaders Unscripted – an EY Transformative Podcast Series – Absa Group Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer Punki Modise discusses the importance of a customer-centric growth strategy.
Modise is responsible for integrating business strategy and sustainability measures at Absa Group – including overseeing the implementation and effectiveness of the Group’s ESG agenda.
She is also a member of the Absa Group Executive Committee and sits on various internal governance structures.
Before her current position, Modise served in several important roles at Absa – including CFO of the Retail Business Bank, Head of Transactional Banking, Chief of Staff in Retail Banking, CFO of Distribution Channels, and CFO of Card and Consumer Finance.
Modise holds a BCom degree from Wits University, a master’s degree in Financial Management from the University of Johannesburg, and has completed the Stanford Executive Program (SEP) at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
The interview
In this interview, Modise explains what a customer-centric growth strategy looks like in the modern business climate.
She explains how growth strategies must balance short-term customer acquisition with long-term customer value creation – all while leveraging digital transformation.
Modise then unpacks the biggest mistakes South African businesses make in terms of how they treat their customers, before revealing how local organisations can remain customer-centric even in such a diverse nation.
She also talks about AI – highlighting where it can drive customer happiness, and where organisations must be careful to ensure the technology doesn’t disenfranchise these clients.
Modise concludes the discussion by providing her biggest pieces of advice to South African strategy professionals.
Watch the full interview with Punki Modise, below.
