Poppy Tshabalala is a highly accomplished Chartered CIO and digital transformation leader with more than 25 years of experience across the public and private ICT sectors. She currently serves as Chief Information Officer at the National Lotteries Commission.

Throughout her career, Poppy has held senior executive positions at organisations including Accenture, Eskom, Microsoft, University of South Africa, and Vodacom South Africa. At UNISA, she successfully led the institution’s digital transformation into a fully online university, ensuring uninterrupted operations and online examinations during the COVID-19 lockdown period.

She has also served on several boards and advisory committees, including the ICT Advisory Committee at the University of the Witwatersrand and the ICT Committee of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa Board. Her contributions to the ICT sector have earned her recognition as a finalist in the ICT Visionary Awards and recipient of the 2022 GovTech Digital Woman Award from the State Information Technology Agency.