Digital dreams come true

GROWING: CODER NOW WORKS IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT AT ABSA

After going to Wits and the Digital Academy, this youngster finds his niche.

Gopolang Lekoto is among the young people who have all come through the Digital Academy and today are involved in forward-thinking technology, innovations and product development teams.

Lekoto is featured in the local film, Coding A Better Future, the latest film in Absa’s Prosper series and it’s goosebump stuff. In partnership with Digital Academy a learning institute that works with corporates to recruit and upskill motivated young people with a raw talent for web and software development.

Not only because these youths are passionate, not only because they’re already making their mark in the world, but because above all this, they’re empowered, visionary, and are proactively building South Africa’s future.

Gopolang Lekoto, software developer in Absa’s artificial intelligence department: Age: 24 Home town: Born in Krugersdorp and raised in Kagiso on the awesome West Rand. Tell us more about yourself?

I am the first born son of two children and have a sister who is two years younger than me. My father has worked as a taxi operator (apparently ‘driver’ is not the correct term any more) for most of his life, and my mother did odd jobs from time to time.

We lived for about three years on a farm in Hekpoort, just outside Magaliesburg, before settling in Kagiso with my maternal grandparents who are pensioners. I was raised by both my parents and grandparents before my mother died when I was 17 years old. Even though I would classify my family as low-income, they prioritised our education, health and wellbeing. I give them the Family of The Century Award! What motivated you to approach Digital Academy?

A university friend told me about it. He would always find me coding and programming in my res room at Wits University, and said he knew a place where ‘someone like you belongs’. I checked out the academy’s website and asked people about it, and soon felt it really was the best place for me. Tell us more about your Digital Academy experience?

It was surprising, to say the least. I knew that hard work was expected (as it is at any serious job), but the level of work at the academy challenged both my physical and emotional fortitude. Five teams comprising six members each competed against each other for the opportunity to join one of the world’s most recognised banks. This naturally gave rise to some very interesting team dynamics, not unlike the type you see on the Survivor TV series.

I worked on developing a crowdsourcing platform with three members of my team. I was involved in the entire planning phase of the platform we had to build, and was predominantly tasked with designing the database and connecting it to the front-end. I also dabbled in building the user interface for our application. Each week, we had a one-hour soft skills talk from one of the academy directors, team leaders or an entrepreneur/professional outside the academy. These sessions were big eye-openers for me as I learnt how to con- duct myself in a big corporate and to consider the business impact of my work.

What did you gain from the academy?

Experience, contacts and a cool job at Absa! Attending university doesn’t prepare you for the real world. What I gained from the academy was the realisation that one must always keep learning and be willing to collaborate with others. I have also gained friends with whom I believe I will maintain strong relationships throughout my life, as well as mentors with tremendous experience and insight.

How has your involvement with the academy changed your life?

I have grown tremendously, as a person and as a software developer. In my three months there, I learnt more about software development than I learnt in a year of coding on my own. It helped develop a framework in my head of thinking about applications and software as a professional. My life is light years better than a few years ago, because I now have a stable source of income and I have been able to address issues at home that have troubled my family for a long time, like the condition of our house, improving security and my sister’s schooling.

What happened a er you graduated from the academy?

I joined Absa as an intern on a four-month contract in May 2016. During this time I was essentially a graphics and media designer, marketing specialist (maybe I’m exaggerating there) and a software developer. I was tasked with ensuring the organisation was aware of the events the chief technology office was staging, and its achievements. At the end of the four months I was ecstatic to be promoted to permanent staff to work in the department I had been pining for – artificial intelligence.

I’ve believed for a long time that robots and AI will play a massive role in the future, and being given the opportunity to work in this field now is unbelievable. This has been my dream job since joining. Yes, dreams do come true.