Our Team - Cognician

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Head of Customer Experience
Hayley Slater

Customer Experience Support Intern
Laura Thompson

Customer Experience Support Intern
Maahirah Waggie

Senior User Experience Designer
Maryna Smit

Senior User Experience Designer
Werner Vos

Senior Learning Experience Designer
Chris Hill

Senior Learning Experience Designer
Ivan Sadler

Senior Learning Experience Designer
Gabriella Garnett

Senior Learning Experience Designer
Robyn Ford

Senior Learning Experience Designer
Laura Germishuys

Learning Experience Designer
Alexandra Findlay

Learning Experience Designer
Nell Hofmeyr

Learning Experience Designer
Andre van Vollenstee

Senior Software Engineer
Francois du Toit

CEO (USA)

Barry Kayton

As an instructional designer, Barry found the secret to great learning: make it meaningful. Make it learner-centered. Make personalized, practical, powerful questions the key tools. And always make the mental model stand out. Barry co-founded Cognician with Patrick to make this kind of great learning possible at scale.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Intellection
Relator
Maximizer
Strategic
Learner

CEO (UK)

Patrick Kayton

Patrick has a lifelong passion for understanding what makes people tick. He co-founded Cognician with Barry to create a platform and a company with the mission of making learning and behavior change more effective by changing the way people think.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Strategic
Futuristic
Learner
Individualization
Achiever

CFO

Michael Leeman

Michael is a serial entrepreneur, politics enthusiast, and lapsed actuary. After 15 years in investment banking, he found the prospect of improving learning for all irresistible and joined Cognician.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Achiever
Analytical
Context
Strategic
Learner

CTO

Robert Stuttaford

Robert has been writing code for 24 years and is still not dead. He is as passionate about the craft of software development as he is about learning about the mind and how to operate one effectively.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Intellection
Learner
Relator
Consistency
Harmony

GM / Talent Manager

Cali Coetzee

Cali loves the purpose that work brings and is insatiable for the challenge of new, better, right, and beautiful. She loves to write and develop reading materials and learning experiences that make a difference. Although she probably uses far more exclamation marks than would make a grammarist comfortable!

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Input
Learner
Empathy
Strategic
Achiever

Operational Support

Jeff Kayton

Jeff is never bored – he always has books to read, movies to watch, lists of things to do, and places to visit. If something is broken or not working properly, he feels compelled to fix it. Similarly, if he decides that he’s going to do something, only bullets will stop him.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Learner
Relator
Analytical
Arranger
Strategic

Head of Infosec Compliance

Gerrit Ellis

Gerrit has over 15 years’ experience in Information Technology, of which 10 years were spent within global financial institutions. He is passionate about all things cybersecurity with a keen interest in global politics and international relations.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Relator
Learner
Individualization
Responsibility
Focus

Head of Customer Experience

Hayley Slater

Hayley has a background in customer service, project management, and operational change. Her purpose is to build a customer-success-focused organization that empowers people to create market-winning value. She loves books, craft beer, and her family.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Learner
Analytical
Communication
Arranger
Input

Account Manager

Jann Acutt

Jann is on her fifth career (more or less). She started as a Social Sciences Researcher. Realising that she wasn’t cut out for an ivory tower, she traveled the world. Since returning, Jann worked in media in various incarnations before finding her home at Cognician. She cares deeply about empowering people.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Input
Intellection
Strategic
Restorative
Individualisation

Account Manager

Rhodé Odendaal

There is nothing more thrilling than seeing a team or an individual recognize the value of digital, and how it can transform lives and businesses for the greater good. Rhodé is an ardent supporter of the digital technology that helps us to live, work, and learn better as citizens.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Learner
Achiever
Input
Responsibility
Strategic

Account Manager

Carolynne Lengfeld

Carolynne is an educator and learner and believes that a good sense of humour is a life necessity. She loves people, new experiences and beefy challenges.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Communication
Strategic
Woo
Self-Assurance
Responsibility

Project Manager

Nicole Petersen

Nicole got her Bachelor’s degree as well as a taste for ‘The Bachelor’ and other ridiculous reality television in 2015. She started as an intern at Cognician in the same year and has grown to love (and live by) standard project documentation.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Harmony
Empathy
Input
Analytical
Developer

Project Manager

Lou Mardon

Although she’s a Business Analyst at heart, Lou is an experienced project manager who is passionate about business systems design and change management. She loves working on challenging or unusual projects that need strategic, creative, and thinking-outside-the-box solutions.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Strategic
Relator
Belief
Achiever
Positivity

Senior Project Manager

Tara de Beer

Tara studied Fine Arts, teaching and packaging development before settling into project management. In her spare time, she loves crafting handmade goodies for babies. She believes that you should do all things to the best of your abilities.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Relator
Achiever
Developer
Learner
Strategic

Project Manager

Hurshelee Jacobs

Hurshelee is a ‘plaasmeisie’ – Afrikaans for ‘farm girl’ – and a German shepherd lover. (She’s the proud parent of three pups! Maybe it’s time to buy a farm.) She can easily be persuaded or bribed with a good book – a psychological thriller in particular.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Input
Relator
Individualisation
Developer
Strategic

CX Support Co-ordinator

Zoë Thomas

Zoe is the single point of contact between Cognician’s services and users. While managing incidents and service requests, she’s always participating in the many various tasks at hand. She likes to spend her free time crafting, writing music, or watching random documentaries. She is a lover of art and chocolate.

Gallup StrengthFinder rersults:

Restorative
Relator
Individualization
Analytical
Deliberative

Customer Experience Support Intern

Laura Thompson

Laura’s a Project Manager intern at Cognician. Before learning lots of new skills at the company, she was in quite a different world, studying mechanical engineering. Her greatest passion lies in music, and she loves to sing and play the guitar.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Restorative
Learner
Developer
Responsibility
Discipline

Customer Experience Support Intern

Maahirah Waggie

Maahirah is optimistic, fun-loving and hard-working. She enjoys being outdoors and finds baking very therapeutic when she’s stressed. She believes that if you believe in yourself and your capabilities, you can achieve anything that you set your mind to.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Restorative
Developer
Responsibility
Futuristic
Learner

Senior User Experience Designer

Maryna Smit

Maryna specializes in creating intuitive user journeys and designing pixel-perfect interfaces. When she’s not busy applying design thinking (which she does to everything), she likes to read about how the human mind works and how that impacts people’s behavior.

Gallup StrengthFinder Results:

Individualization
Input
Learner
Connectedness
Intellection

Senior User Experience Designer

Werner Vos

Werner is a UX/UI Designer with a huge interest in cognitive ergonomics. He loves learning how things work and just so happens to also know how to develop everything that he designs.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Responsibility
Belief
Restorative
Strategic
Developer

Designer

Cassidy Procter

Cassidy likes to go by ‘Cass’. She’s proficient in Graphic/Digital Design and Illustration and is an old-school music fanatic, enjoying everything from Queen to Fleetwood Mac. Cass is an old soul with a young heart. She loves exploring nature and enjoying life to its fullest.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Restorative
Self-assurance
Input
Responsibility
Achiever

Designer

Bastien Desfontaines

Known as ‘Bash’ to his friends, Bastien’s a passionate creative who loves illustration and design. He appreciates thought-provoking conversations and engaging concepts. A sucker for funky, alternative music, he plays guitar for fun. If he’s not designing, he’s in the kitchen cooking … and eating.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Adaptability
Strategic
Input
Ideation
Developer

Senior Editor

Careena Koch

Careena is a molecular biologist turned editor, and a fancier of apostrophes, en-dashes and bacteria. She also likes tea.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Harmony
Consistency
Context
Learner
Analytical

Editor

Refiloe Metsing

Refiloe is a self-proclaimed finicky nitpicker and language enthusiast. She studied English literature, French, and psychology at UCT. A total podcast junkie, she’s got at least two going at any one time – one of which is likely to be true crime.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Harmony
Consistency
Context
Maximizer
Intellection

Head of Research

Justin Germishuys

In an attempt to remedy his life-long struggle with confusion and uncertainty, Justin studied Psychology and Philosophy at Stellenbosch University. It made his condition much worse. He also enjoys reading PG Wodehouse while eating chocolate biscuits.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Ideation
Strategic
Learner
Restorative
Individualization

Head of Development

Christopher Garratt

When he’s not daydreaming or people watching over a good cappuccino, Chris dabbles in just about everything. Languages, tennis, writing, meditating, motorsports, theatre, birdwatching … you name it, he’ll try it! (Well, just about. He’s not too keen on extreme sports.)

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Input
Intellection
Ideation
Empathy
Adaptability

Senior Learning Experience Designer

Chris Hill

Chris has almost 20 years’ experience in training, the bulk of which is in online learning, as well as experience in the Finance sector. He has a Social Science Honours degree along with additional qualifications in management, marketing, and accounting.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Learner
Intellection
Ideation
Analytical
Strategic

Senior Learning Experience Designer

Ivan Sadler

Ivan studied Fine Arts at UCT and runs a microscopic T-shirt printing concern in his spare time. He has previously worked as a technical writer, instructional designer, graphic designer, illustrator, and freelance film critic. He also plays guitar, loves beer, heavy metal, and keeps a pet rabbit that lives inside a couch.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Context
Ideation
Empathy
Input
Intellection

Senior Learning Experience Designer

Gabriella Garnett

Gabriella is passionate about human experiences, possibilities, and potential. With a Masters in Organisational Psychology (focusing on the employee experience of emergent change from an Applied Neurosciences perspective), she works to integrate what she learns into all spheres of life. Gabriella loves tea, hiking, and forests.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Strategic
Learner
Ideation
Responsibility
Connectedness

Senior Learning Experience Designer

Robyn Ford

During her studies in Psychology, Robyn was disappointed to learn that they would not teach her telepathy. Her other skills and talents include shrinking heads, tattooing, and reading and writing real good like. She has a passion for learning, life coaching, and community and individual development. Her Staffordshire Terrier, Poebie, is the master of her universe.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Strategic
Individualization
Intellection
Ideation
Context

Senior Learning Experience Designer

Laura Germishuys

Hoping to save the world, Laura did a Master’s in Sociology, only to realize that knowledge isn’t a magic wand. She didn’t lose her belief in education though. In her free time, perfection is a cat, a fire, and a good book.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Learner
Intellection
Input
Achiever
Ideation

Learning Experience Designer

Alexandra Findlay

Alexandra – known as Ali by most – studied Journalism and Media. After working as a freelance writer and editor, she settled at Cognician and found Learning Experience Design. A lover of words, cake, traveling, and dogs, she is a people person who enjoys working in a team and learning from others.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Communication
Empathy
Arranger
Positivity
Maximizer

OTS Development Lead

Gary Fensham

As a psychology graduate, Gary’s lifelong quest is to gain an understanding of what drives and motivates people. During his downtime, Gary enjoys the outdoors while mountain biking, hiking, or playing water polo. A braai (with a beer in hand) must follow these activities.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Learner
Relator
Intellection
Restorative
Achiever

Learning Experience Designer

Nell Hofmeyr

After a brief stint in copywriting, Nell answered the call to a career in education. On weekends, you can find her at the cinema, on a mountain or raiding the pastry counter at a bakery near you. She never says no to coffee and a chinwag!

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Intellection
Input
Learner
Connectedness
Relator

Learning Experience Designer

Andre van Vollenstee

Following his Master’s degree on graphic narratives, Andre can be found learning random facts, watching films, playing boardgames, and listening to a plethora of music. His passion for learning is rivalled only by his insatiable need for pizza.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Intellection
Learner
Context
Input
Woo

Learning Experience Designer

Freda Swan

Freda is wildly curious. Officially, she has indulged her curiosity by studying Psychology, Philosophy, and Neuroscience. Unofficially, she’s always exploring a new learning area. From coding and creative writing to sewing and baking, there’s barely a moment to spare! That said, Freda appreciates downtime too, and is an expert couch-dweller who loves feline company.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Strategic
Learner
Activator
Individualization
Focus

Content Marketing Manager

Betty Kayton

Betty is a communications specialist with extensive experience in education, public relations, corporate finance, local government, newspapers and other media.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Harmony
Communication
Activator
Positivity
Consistency

Senior Software Engineer

Francois du Toit

I would prefer writing a description-generating program over writing a description of myself. Wait, I just wrote one didn’t I …

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Empathy
Adaptability
Relator
Learner
Connectedness

Software Engineer

Mark McFadyen

Mark studied software development at CTU Stellenbosch, where he completed his MCSD. Mark has an undying thirst for knowledge and believes that there’s nothing in the world one cannot learn and master, as long as the will to learn exists. He has a love for all things Internet- and software-related.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Restorative
Learner
Ideation
Strategic
Futuristic

Senior Software Engineer

Mike Hewitson

Mike has been captured by IT since the late 1970s and hasn’t managed to escape since. He is a maker in all aspects of his life – from computer systems to food, furniture, charcuterie, and tonic … he really struggles to do things in half measures.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Strategic
Learner
Achiever
Responsibility
Input

Software Engineer

Chris Etheridge

Chris is a nerd at heart. He loves everything about technology and the Internet. He has a huge interest in software development and is thus studying software development at Varsity College while interning as a software developer. He’s beyond addicted to coffee.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Futuristic
Empathy
Positivity
Input
Restorative

Infrastructure Engineer

Geoff Kruss

Geoff is a long-standing member of the EFF (no, not that one) with a passion for mastering his two lifelong careers: blowing up Internet spaceships in Eve Online and software automation. o7

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Ideation
Restorative
Intellection
Connectedness
Relator

Infrastructure Engineer

Erwee de Kock

Erwee is an infrastructure engineer whose passion for technology started at an early age; the first operating system he used was Windows 3.1! Skip forward to today, and you’ll most likely find him coding, reading or playing games.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Learner
Achiever
Focus
Analytical
Intellection

Senior Software Engineer

Ryan White

Ryan makes things. He thought Mechanical Engineering would be a good course of study. Then he discovered the Internet, and now, when undoing mistakes, uses Cmd-Z instead of a blowtorch or an angle grinder.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Achiever
Positivity
Learner
Individualization
Responsibility

Data Engineer

Nkosinathi Masetlwa

Whether Nkosinathi is getting his hands dirty with data, deriving the Einstein field equations, or hitting double-touches on the piste, he does it with grace and an open mind.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Positivity
Learner
Analytical
Achiever
Innovator

Data Intern

Herbert Hill

Herbert is an aspiring Business Intelligence Analyst who studied Chemical Engineering while trying to stay focused and extra sparkly. He’s a numbers guy; if it doesn’t add up, then it doesn’t make sense. In data we trust!

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Strategic
Responsibility
Futuristic
Analytical
Restorative

Data Intern

Petro van Tonder

A nerd at heart, Petro is curious about everything. Solving problems creatively through technology and science excites her.

Gallup StrengthFinder results:

Responsibility
Arranger
Adaptibility
Connectedness
Input