Full Name: Andrew Human

Position: CEO of the Loeries

Main Activity of the Company: The Loeries recognise and reward creativity in the brand communication industry

Date and Place of Birth: Johannesburg, 1966

Education: BSc (engineering), MSc (engineering), the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits); Dr-Ing, Darmstadt, Germany

First Job: Research scientist

Career History Prior to Current Position: Scientist at De Beers; partner in Grey Matter, a Web development agency; director at Logitech Internet Solutions; and strategy director at Marchfirst, New York City

Size of First Pay Packet: I cannot recall, but it was less than my stipend as a doctoral researcher in Germany

First Job with Present Group: MD

Value of Assets under Your Control: R30-million

Number of People under Your Leadership: We have a small permanent team of about ten people, but the total production team comprises more than 600 people

Management Style: I try to afford people independence to manage themselves and their own time, but I insist that they be accountable for their actions

Personal Best Achievement: Pivoting from a potential career in materials engineering and applying it to engineering a different part of the economy that is not the built environment – the economy of ideas

Professional Best Achievement: Growing the Loeries into the largest celebration of creativity across Africa and the Middle East, and Loeries Creative Week into the largest gathering in the region for the brand communication industry

Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Life: Professor Silvana Luyckx, my supervisor at Wits

Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: Not stated

Person You Would Most Like to Meet: Jim Simons

Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: Jim Simons, founder of Renaissance Technologies and the Flatiron Institute

Philosophy of Life: I try not to treat anyone in a way that I would not like to be treated

Biggest Ever Opportunity: Offer to start a production facility in China in the 1990s – at the beginning of the Chinese boom

Biggest Ever Disappointment: Not starting a production facility in China

Hope for the Future: Not stated

Favourite Reading: Book: The Fly Trap, by Fredrik Sjoberg; weekly magazine: The New Scientist

Favourite TV Programme: Foyle’s War

Favourite Food/Drink: Italian country food, accompanied by a good rosé wine

Favourite Music: Franz Liszt, Consolation No 3

Favourite Sport: Cycling and cricket

Favourite Website: The New York Times

Hobbies: Cycling, hiking, reading

Car: No particular brand loyalty – it must function

Pets: Not stated

Miscellaneous Dislikes: Queues and crowded places

Favourite Other South African Company: Discovery

Favourite Foreign Company: Apple

Married: Not stated

Children: Joseph, 7; Benjamin 6

Clubs: Not stated