At Discovery we are obsessed with doing things differently
Our business is about changing people’s lives for the better. To be better for our clients, we are encouraged to always look for new ideas and ways to make those ideas real.
WE’RE ONE OF THE TOP INNOVATORS IN SOUTH AFRICA
Our ambition is to be the best insurance organisation in the world, and a powerful force for social good. Our company was started by two forward-thinking actuaries, Adrian Gore and Barry Swartzberg, who are still at the helm of the business. They started an early tradition in our business of always looking for clever ideas and solutions where others see problems.
Since then, we have become known as innovator and challenger; a business with people who transform what is ordinary into something extraordinary.
WE HAVE THE DATA. YOU BRING THE IDEAS
This year, we will host a virtual Discovery Graduate Hackathon for IT students from South African universities. 50 students will get a chance to be part of an immersive work experience solving real challenges through technology opportunities in the Discovery environment. The top 3 teams will be invited to present their ideas to our judging panel at 1 Discovery Place, Sandton on the 19 July 2024. Members of the winning team will each receive a cash prize to the value of R12 500, with the winning university receiving a cash prize of R50 000. Participating Gradhackers stand a chance to be permanently employed at Discovery.
50 students will get to experience our exciting environment
Our 2024 Virtual Gradhack runs from 5 to 7 July 2024. Please submit your application by 12 May 2024 and be one of the students to take part in this event.
Open to all final year IT-related students studying at a South African university
Create moments of delight for our clients
As a leading financial services company with millions of clients worldwide, Discovery strives to dazzle clients at every interaction. We’d like you to develop new ideas using the latest technology to make interacting with Discovery easier for our clients. Think AI, RPA, Big data, IOT, cognitive cloud computing, VR and AR. As a starting point, have a look at our product offering on www.discovery.co.za for some inspiration.
THE CHALLENGE
Develop an idea to create moments of delight for Discovery Clients using the latest in AI, RPA. Blockchain, AR, location-based services and more...
Enhance Discovery products and services
Discovery has an important goal – to encourage people to change their lifestyle to become healthier, fitter, both physically and financially and to become safer drivers. Our products and services across all our businesses are aimed at enhancing and protecting people’s lives, we’re looking at ways to enhance our offering, think IOT, activity, driving and sleep tracking, gamification, VR and AR, and mass-personalisation. As a starting point, have a look at our product offering on www.discovery.co.za for some inspiration.
THE CHALLENGE
Develop an idea to enhance Discovery’s products using IOT, activity tracking, mass-personalisation and more...
Using tech to solve South African challenges
One of our stated goals is to be a powerful force for social good. South Africa is a complex place with many challenges. How can we use technology and data to solve some of the challenges that South Africans face on a daily basis? Think IOT, Cloud Computing, Big Data, Immersive Experience, and Artificial Intelligence.
THE CHALLENGE
Develop an idea to use technology as a force for social good.
Great Prizes up for grabs
- The winning team members will each receive a cash prize of R12 500
- Participating Gradhackers stand a chance to be permanently employed at Discovery
- Should the winning team choose to accept our offer of employment, they will each receive a sign-on bonus in addition to the R12 500 cash prize
- The winning team's university will receive R50 000
Important to note: Employment offers are subject to candidates having successfully completed their qualification by January 2025.
Submit your idea
You can enter more than one idea for the same challenge, or enter more than one challenge.
A day in the life of a Gradhacker at Discovery
Meet some of the Discovery IT Leaders that you will interact with...
Derek Wilcocks
Group CIO
Derek joined Discovery in 2018. He is responsible for Group Information Systems which includes all infrastructure, security, data governance, member and intermediary digital servicing channels, technology innovation and corporate systems. As the chair of the Discovery CIO forum he is also responsible for joint technology initiatives and governance across the Discovery Group worldwide.
Nadira Naidoo
Vitality CIO
Nadira joined Discovery in 2006 as a Business Analyst for the Vitality International Markets. In 2010, she moved over to Vitality RSA and headed up the systems implementation of the projects. Nadira is currently responsible for the IT governance, project delivery, support and finance within the Vitality RSA environment.
Jamie Whittaker
Systems of Engagement CIO
Before joining Discovery, Jamie worked across the EMEA region for Johnson & Johnson. He cut his teeth on any and all projects that came his way during the .com bubble, working as general lackey and web monkey for a number of successful and not so successful dotcoms.
His background is primarily in the design, user champion and web development space. He describes himself as a "part-time thinker, full-time enthusiast, herder of cats" and truly believes that a sense of humour and enthusiasm are the best assets to have on your CV.
Kevin Dreyer
Systems of Engagement Chief Enterprise Architect
After graduating with a B.Sc. in Com Sci and IS in the early 2000s he joined a startup as the tech lead and architect, creating innovative mobile technology for consumers in the telecoms industry and travelling globally to build and expand operations. After 7 years and a short consulting engagement he had the opportunity to work in yet another startup, this time for Discovery in the UK market.
Over the course of the last 10 years he has had the opportunity to lead architecture, technology and delivery teams to build one of the best companies in the UK and has recently moved to Discovery SA as the Enterprise Architect responsible for Systems of Engagement. He is passionate about people, technology, making the most of life and endurance sports: tech, mountain biking and gaming.
Johan Marais
Technology Services Platform Services Manager
Johan has been in the IT industry for more than 20 years and has work in several verticals ranging from Point of Sales Solutions, Customer Support, Enterprise Storage and for the last 9 years focusing on various forms of Virtualization and more recently in the role as Snr Platform Services manager where the focus is on Infrastructure DevOps practices across Private, Hybrid and Public cloud services.
Johan has been running the VMUG (VMware User Group) in South Africa for the past 7 years and has achieved the “vExpert” accreditation issued by VMware for the past 8 years. He also serves on the VMware Customer Technical Advisory Board (CTAB) as well as the CloudHealth Customer Advisory Board which has international representation and influences the future of virtualization, cost management, governance, automation, security, and performance management.
Zaid Parak
Group Chief Information Security Officer
Zaid has over 20 years of IT experience across a wide range of disciplines, including Networking, Infrastructure, Development, IT Operations, Enterprise Architecture, Security and working knowledge of Risk management with audit exposure.
Zaid joined Discovery in April 2017 and as the Group Chief Information Security Officer, he is accountable for Information Governance and Security at a group level and is responsible for setting the strategy and vision by developing and implementing group-wide programs. He is known for having a bias for action and has laid out a clear strategic path for the information governance security journey in Discovery. He has, since joining, successfully provided distinct strategic and technical leadership for the Information Governance and Security business function across the Discovery Group and knitted together a team under him who are dedicated and focused on preventing and detecting Cyber Crime.