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Bilal is an EdTech entrepreneur, and is the founder of IT varsity, he is a multi award-winning app developer. He also runs Xander, a company that develops educational apps for kids. The Xandr apps have been downloaded more than a 1 million times from the app stores. He is a software engineer by profession, and is also an author, keynote speaker, newspaper columnist, strategic business and education digital transformation advisor. He has lectured at a number of notable institutes, such as the University of KwaZulu Natal, the Durban University of Technology, and the University of Johannesburg. He was featured in the book. “Developer, Advocate!” by Geertjan Willenga for his work in promoting software development as a career in South Africa.

Bilal is a columnist for the Cape Argus, the Star and the Daily News. He writes about technology trends and education. He has a podcast entitled “Tech Watch” which covers the latest developments in technology and the social implications. The podcast is available on a number of local and international platforms. Bilal is a regular speaker at a number of notable events, such as GovTech, he also consults a number of educational institutes and businesses on transformation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He believes that education is the key to ending South Africa’s crippling youth unemployment problem. His approach is to make learning accessible to all South Africans via e-learning.

To this end, he has established two companies: IT varsity: a fully-online technology institute accredited by the MICT SETA. IT varsity aims to prepare students for the highly lucrative and ever-growing global IT services sector and Xander: EdTech app company dedicated to teaching school kids key subjects like maths and languages.


Innovating to Win – talk by Bilal Kathrada 


Our world is changing, and fast. New tech innovations, AI, Internet of Things and, not the least, Covid, are making an uncertain future a whole lot more unpredictable.


Businesses are struggling to stay alive.  The big question is, what is the future going to look like, and how will it affect our lives, work, businesses and projects? 

In this presentation, Bilal Kathrada, founder and CEO of award-winning ed-tech companies, IT varsity and Xander, describes how innovation is a part of life at his companies.


For Bilal and his team, they don’t talk innovation, they live it. Daily.

Bilal shares his formula for how innovation became such an integral part of his companies, and how to establish a culture of innovation at any organisation, not just to survive, but to win.


Main points covered

The presentation will cover the following points:

  • Disruption: how our world is being disrupted by technology
  • Innovation: where is this disruption coming from?
  • Opportunity: contrary to what the naysayers and technophobes claim, the new status quo will present countless opportunities for careers and business. We look at some of these from a historical perspective
  • Preparation: how we can ready ourselves to tap into the opportunities provided 

Innovating to Win – talk by Bilal Kathrada 


Our world is changing, and fast. New tech innovations, AI, Internet of Things and, not the least, Covid, are making an uncertain future a whole lot more unpredictable.


Businesses are struggling to stay alive.  The big question is, what is the future going to look like, and how will it affect our lives, work, businesses and projects? 

In this presentation, Bilal Kathrada, founder and CEO of award-winning ed-tech companies, IT varsity and Xander, describes how innovation is a part of life at his companies.


For Bilal and his team, they don’t talk innovation, they live it. Daily.

Bilal shares his formula for how innovation became such an integral part of his companies, and how to establish a culture of innovation at any organisation, not just to survive, but to win.


Main points covered

The presentation will cover the following points:

  • Disruption: how our world is being disrupted by technology
  • Innovation: where is this disruption coming from?
  • Opportunity: contrary to what the naysayers and technophobes claim, the new status quo will present countless opportunities for careers and business. We look at some of these from a historical perspective
  • Preparation: how we can ready ourselves to tap into the opportunities provided 

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