I trained as an industrial designer in South Africa, freelancing the whole way through and lecturing while I finished my Masters. Then a move to Austria, a software job I had no formal training for, and years spent teaching myself the tech. From UX design to product management, with a focus on AI for the last three years.

The short version: industrial design in 🇿🇦 South Africa, most of it spent freelancing and lecturing my way to a Masters, then a move to 🇦🇹 Austria and a software job I had no formal business taking. UX, then product, with the last three years deep in AI. The long version’s below.

Dynatrace

Austria · 2018–present

Senior Product Manager

Nov 2023 – present

I own product strategy for agentic AI – deciding what AI can be trusted with, how it behaves in production, and where useful automation ends and the expensive kind begins. I took Davis CoPilot from concept to general availability, then led its evolution into Dynatrace Intelligence: from a generative-AI chatbot into a thinking partner backed by agents that investigate, diagnose, and act on observability data with decreasing human intervention. I’m responsible for incremental delivery across three engineering teams, and the work spans strategy, licensing, customers, and public speaking – including Dynatrace’s annual Perform conference in Las Vegas.

Product Manager

Jan 2022 – Oct 2023

On the AppEngine team, which owns Dynatrace’s core platform. I led global Platform Search and in-product education, designed the Guided Interaction framework for inline help, and started the work that became Dynatrace Intelligence. Presented at Dynatrace Innovate EMEA 2023 in Barcelona.

Product Manager

Jan 2020 – Dec 2021

My first PM role, moving from UX into product. I owned self-service support across the platform – relaunched the Support Center, replaced the enterprise search vendor, built and launched SeaOtter (internal URL redirection), and co-founded the Dynatrace Style Council for product-copy consistency.

UX Designer

Sep 2018 – Dec 2019

My shift from designing physical products to digital ones. I led SCOUT – a support-centre redesign organised around user intentions rather than content categories – and introduced Content Design as a discipline in the department.

Before Dynatrace

South Africa · 2010–2018

PENCYL Co. – Founder

2018

Founded to develop and distribute the educational toy from my Master’s dissertation.

E-Dek Manufacturing – Freelance Draftsperson

2010 – 2017

A decade of freelance CAD and technical drawing alongside my studies – 3D models, engineering and patent drawings, renders, and written material for a steel-hybrid pallet manufacturer.

University of Johannesburg – Lecturer, Industrial Design

2014 – 2017

Part-time lecturer while completing my Master’s; ran the first-year drawing module end to end and led a cross-departmental final-year project.

Curious Rabbit Design – Founder

2014 – 2015

A small ceramics business started during my BTech – designed, made, and sold through Johannesburg shops and markets.

Mezzanine Interiors – Industrial Design Intern

2013

Furniture design and technical drawing at a Johannesburg studio.

  • MTech, Industrial & Product Design

    Cum Laude · 2017

    University of Johannesburg, South Africa

    Dissertation: The user-centred design of an educational toy for Foundation Phase learners to support the learning of an additional language, within the South African context.

  • BTech, Industrial & Product Design

    2013

    University of Johannesburg, South Africa

    Mini-dissertation: Exposing the potential that design has in the manufacture of environmentally sustainable furniture by socially responsible organisations.

  • National Diploma, Industrial & Product Design

    Cum Laude · 2012

    University of Johannesburg, South Africa

  • BSc, Mechanical Engineering

    Incomplete · 2009

    University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa