As engineering design and advisory services company Zutari emerges from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic stronger, it has ended the joint-CEO leadership structure that enabled the company to bounce back, with Teddy Daka set to continue transforming and growing the business as the sole CEO.

During the joint-CEO tenure over the past year, with former joint-CEO Dr Gustav Rohde focused on the external aspects of the company and Daka on the internal aspects, the company grew and defended its capabilities to deliver, while examining routes to transform the business and what markets it should go into beyond the South African market.

The appointment of Daka and Rohde as co-CEOs addressed the shifting market conditions faced by consulting engineers and ensured that the company continued to thrive as it navigated through the difficulties of the pandemic, which had weighed heavily on the firm.

Rohde, a seasoned engineer and executive, has since assumed the role of deputy CEO, responsible for culture, strategy and new business ventures, continuing to provide operational and technical leadership.

Taking into account the kind of shifts that have been seen in the markets, Daka will drive Zutari’s growth initiatives, its focused client management programme, strategic partnerships and digital transformation and technology journey.

“Every business, from time to time, is confronted with different challenges. When I joined as co-CEO, we were in the middle of the pandemic,” Daka says.

“We did well under the circumstances. We have managed to come out of the difficult part of the pandemic with a much stronger business,” he told Engineering News & Mining Weekly, highlighting that the company went beyond expectations, exceeding growth targets not only in South Africa, but also in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.

The group retained talent in an industry that is losing capabilities and skills, reorganised and fine-tuned its delivery capabilities and expanded its order book significantly.

Daka recently initiated some structural changes in the organisation, positioning the company for growth.

“Zutari’s new market-focused structure will strengthen our commitment to provide value to our clients – focusing on what our clients need, rather than what we offer,” he comments.

“The changes we have made will enable us to be more fit for the future, support our growth strategy and allow us to leverage our footprint even further. We remain committed to working with our partners in delivering solutions to some of the world’s challenging problems today,” Daka continues.

Core to the vision of Zutari is seeking out solutions and leveraging its engineering capabilities to bring about the impact that society needs, he says of the company’s ability to mathematically and scientifically solve complex social challenges.

“It is all about that impact that we leave in our communities. That vision has not changed; it makes us who we are.”

Economic and demographic shifts, such as rapid urbanisation and the increasing number of young people entering the market, require engineering companies to think differently as to how to respond to these developments.

“Now, all these are shifts in the market that we do not have control over, but we can control how we respond to them as a company. We are working on transforming this business to respond to this.

“We also cannot ignore the issue of sustainability and climate change. Climate change requires a review of how systems are designed to withstand the kind of risks we are starting to see,” Daka adds.

“Further, with the technological changes that are taking place, the next level is to begin to digitalise the process and to take advantage of the technological advances that we are seeing.

“Anything that we do that is done repeatedly will be automated. Amid the digital transformation, our processes, our competencies, our tools and everything that we do has been moved into the digital environment,” he concludes.