Craig Holmes

Growth through partnerships

Craig is an accomplished business leader with extensive experience in industry thought leadership, business strategy, solutions and business development, organization design, ecosystem partnerships, emerging technologies, and people management. With over 35 years of experience, he has held key leadership roles at IBM for 20 years, 5 years at PwC Consulting, and 10 years building ventures after qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Deloittes in 1987.

During his 12 years back in South Africa, Craig held several senior roles at IBM, including running IBM Middle East & Africa Cognitive Solutions (IBM Watson / Data AI) practice, leading the MEA Industry Solutions & Business Development team (9 Industries / 50 members), and later leading IBM Partner Ecosystem and then Technology Leader for IBM Southern Africa. In Europe, he played a significant role in establishing IBM's Telco, Media & Entertainment practice as one of the founding members. In this role, he delivered large complex transformation programs, developed Telco Industry Solutions, and led IBM Industry teams in Europe and IBM Growth Markets Units. He was also recognized for his contributions with membership in IBM's Industry Academy.

Craig's leadership success can be attributed to his strength in people coaching and management, along with his deep understanding of how to leverage technology to achieve business outcomes. He has a technology focus on Industry 4.0, Web 3.0, with a keen interest in Digital Identity, Security, Customer Experience Management, Digital Commerce, and Blockchain.

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