 Welcome back to Why In The Morning and the theme of the day is entrepreneurship. So as I promised at the beginning of the year, we have captured so many industries in this country and I promised that this year, 2020, we are going to try to get to know the different industries that we haven't covered so far. So today I bring you security. And in studio with me is Mr Julius, who is the CEO of SGA and is here to demystify some of the things that we know about Kareb Usana. Good morning. Good morning to you. All right, your camera is number four. I always like to give people an opportunity to introduce themselves just in case I miss anything in their credentials. Yes, so my name is Julius De La Hay. I am the CEO and chairman of SGA Security. We are operating in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania with more than 20,000 employees. And basically we cover the full scope of security services from man-guarding, dog handling, response and alarms, but also cash-in-transit, event security, tracking, tracing, logistics, and basically security scans, basically the full range of security. Anything we can think of when it comes to security. Including installation of equipment and supplies and sale as well. All right, so how old is SGA? SGA actually this year we are celebrating our 50th anniversary. It started 50 years ago actually here in Kenya. SGA was founded by a Dutchman who lived actually all his life in East Africa. He passed away unfortunately about three years ago, just a year after I took over the helm. So we are celebrating the 50th anniversary. So we are not the newcomer. We are going to be having a party somewhere. Yes, exactly throughout the year we will have all kinds of festive activities in each of the countries, but of course mainly in Kenya, because that's where it all started as a small company. And if you look at the history of security over time, it has changed dramatically. Small is relative because the list of the things you do is picturesque. Anyway, I'd like to know what does it take to be CEO? Everybody wants to be CEO. Everybody sees the CEOs on TV and everybody wants to be CEO. I'd like to know what did it take you to get to where you are today? What is your background? My background, I started at school, like most of the people went at the end to university, studied actually business economics and taxation law. People would say, oh what boring, but you can see even with that you can still become CEO. So over time through hard work actually I was very eager to learn a lot about corporate life. So I started originally at Philips International, the electronics giant. Then I went to AT&T, which is an even bigger giant telecommunications. That's how I ended up in the ICT environment. Then later on I was the fifth employee of a company called Unisource, which was a joint venture between major telcos of the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain and Switzerland. And there as a fifth employee that company started from scratch from zero and in five years time that company was grown from zero to two. Were you part of this group? Yeah, I was part of that and I became CEO of that company after six years actually. And that company started from scratch from zero to a two billion dollars revenue company operating in more than 50 countries. So if this was a league, how many titles would you be? Yeah, I started as a manager at the tax department in those days. Then I became a senior manager, then an assistant director. And then when I moved to the other companies I became a director. Gradually I followed the way through finance. And then when I became in the ICT arena I went into general management. So got more and more engaged with technology. And basically before I entered let's say the physical security industry I was in ICT security running data centers, top class data centers in Central and Eastern Europe. And a top class data center for me is top class security because the data center is not only about physical security but also technical security, IT security, connectivity and even cyber security. And I think that is if you look at security throughout the history it has changed really from physical security, you know, basically the manpower. Having a guard at your gate? Exactly, a guard at the gate, muscles. What muscle? That is the way, a lot of people look at it. But I think security nowadays is more about intelligence, is using the brains, being preventive, proactive instead of reactive. And we need technology for that. So prevention is always better than cure when it comes to screening? Absolutely, absolutely. And you can do a lot to prevent, you know. If you take your proper measures at home, you use, you apply technology and it's much easier to prevent or to identify if something is going wrong. Right, before we get back to security, it's claimed that the corporate world is full of power hungry people and it's very hard to get to the top. Did you have to rub shoulders and did you have some very bad experiences on your way to the top? No, actually overall I guess not. I was very determined, I knew I wanted to be a leader in the corporate environment. But actually I think the main principle is that you have to like your job. Whatever you do, be engaged. Because if it's fun, if your job is fun, usually time is running without noticing it. And if you feel like, oh I have to make money or I have to do this or I have to be there, then in general it's not going to work. I think it's important to have fun, to like your job because if you like it, usually you're good at it. You're going to perform. You're going to perform. And then if you perform good, you like it even more. And then you get into a positive vibe, exactly. You get recognized. If you only do the job for the money, then usually it becomes too stressed. But if you do it because you're good at it and you have fun, as you said, one day it will be recognized. And if you feel it's not recognized, raise the flag. Don't be too modest. So we have a saying, children that ask for something, they will be left alone. But children that don't ask will never get anything. Alright, so ask and you shall be given. So when you talk about raising the flag, you should always know your worth. You should always know how far you've come and what you bring to the table. That's what you're trying to say. Be realistic about it. Look into the mirror. A lot of young people. And I work a lot with young people. I like to work with young people and like to mentor them. But I think it's finding the right balance. Being eager, being ambitious, which is a very good thing. But also where am I today? What can I learn still? Because we're learning every day. Even I, I'm still learning. If I would not learn, I would not be suitable for my job. So that curve is a constant process. And I think it's very important to understand what are the learning gaps. What is it still? Where are you good at? That's good to know and accelerate on that. But even more important, what are the things I'm not so good at? Or what I don't like. Because that's where you can develop. And actually, you should develop. And if you're open-minded for that, if you're really open-minded to learn, to be eager, not only to look at your best topics, but also your weak spots, then I think you make huge steps. So the drive is very important. Why is it so? It's very, very right there. Remember, we're on social media and we're celebrating the life of the former President Moye. So on Facebook, we asked, is it that you remember about President Moye? So talk to us so we can sample your feedback towards the end of the show. But right about now, it's all about security, security, security. So being somebody who has traveled, being somebody who has worked in different aspects of security and in different countries, do you think that the needs of East Africa are different from the rest of the places you were when it comes to security? No, I don't think so. Actually, as we all know, the world is becoming smaller when it comes to traveling. You can travel in 24 hours to the other part of the world. We have the internet. We have the communication. And basically, the major threat when it comes to security, if we look at terrorism, it's not something about East Africa. It's a worldwide threat that we are facing. And when it comes to, I would say, maybe basic security, the day-to-day thefts, the robberies, that is everywhere. And in some countries and areas, it might be more violent. It might be more. But at the end, I think we are dealing with human beings. Human beings? Are we all human beings? I think all the same, they behave the same. We tend to say, well, this is a cultural thing and that is a cultural thing. Which, of course, cultures are different. Therefore, countries are different. But human beings in general behave the same throughout. Human beings in general behave the same, whether from East Africa, South Africa or Europe. Exactly. Talking about the evolution of the security, as you were talking about, it has moved from muscle. I'm pretty sure 50 years back when you were starting, it was more of muscle and the waypoints that we know about. But right now, it's more of technology. It has transitioned. It has evolved. So when the youth of the health security, they imagine being security guards. But I'd like you to demystify that and just tell them the opportunities that lie in that space right now, which is not necessarily being a guard at the gate somewhere. No, it has evolved over time. As you rightfully said in the beginning, physical security was the most important part. Putting a guard in front of the gate or in front of the house. And actually, guarding was particular for specific spots. This company started originally as a construction company. The founder, he was a constructor and he felt like in those days, where was theft usually, was at construction sites, at logistics. Because if you transport valuable goods, that is interesting for thieves. People in general at home, it was not such a big thing. That evolved over time. And nowadays, we are looking at all kinds of devices. Look at your phone. Exactly. We have all kinds of apps. We have connectivity to the internet. Today, security without connectivity is actually almost impossible. Because if you can't communicate in a proper way, it's very difficult. So in the past, we used only radio technology. That was the way to communicate. You had big machines, people, you know. I'm sitting there. Even, you know, you had to... You had to take a light to dial. Exactly. And people nowadays, if you ask your kids, what does this mean, they say, no clue, what are you talking about? They don't only know this. And think about security and technology. Look at, for instance, we all know, at the airport, you have to put your fingerprints on. Access controls, face recognition. You could not dream of it. Ten years, twenty years ago. Only in a James Bond movie. Exactly. And you would think, oh my God. This is impossible. Look at, indeed those James Bond movies. Look them back. I like them a lot. But if you look it back, technology is today more advanced than you could dream of twenty years ago. So face recognition, software applications. If you use digital cameras, you know, you can program. I can program the camera in such a way to identify objects, faces, colors. And that means that I can use it proactively. So if the objects would show a gun on you, then the system would give an alarm or an alert at the control room. Instead of having somebody to search me. Exactly. And invade my privacy. Exactly. And sometimes you still need to do both of them because the point is if people are not aware of the technology and the applications there, then it doesn't work preventive as well. Because if I know there is a guard who has the right tools and the proper equipment, then I'm more careful to deal with that. But at home, for instance, there is another way, not everybody can afford to put a physical guard at your home. But usually we can afford a relatively small security alarm system with response. And if the response time is in a few minutes, you know, if something happens, keep the thieves and thugs outside. Have proper locks on your door, you know, and not just the... SGA, I mean, it's going to be there in a few minutes. So out of all these things you're mentioning, I can tell there's space for software engineers. There's space for coders there. There's space for guys who deal with hardware when it comes to technology. So there's a lot of technological space in this industry right now. And opportunities that people can explore. All right, so I'd like to know, what is one thing that you'd like to achieve with SGA or incorporate in this security system that you are working with that is futuristic? Yeah, I think, as I mentioned, the security industry needs to change from being reactive to proactive. And it means, you know, we have to work with clear protocols and applied technology. And technology much more, as I mentioned, some of the devices. But I think what is going to happen is control rooms are actually, I think, the brain of the security, connectivity, so communication is very important. And through internet, we have all means to communicate and apply technology at your home, feel safe in a way. And security is not only static, meaning guarding a building or the people inside, we tend to forget. But it's also dynamic, you know, on the move. I think that's where the security is going to, is that wherever you are, you should be able to feel safe with your family, with your kids. If you have somebody babysitting your kids, then wouldn't it be nice to keep an eye on what's going on while you're gone? You know, nowadays, I have an app, I can use, I can see all the cameras at my home or at my office, and I can look what's going on. Are the people there? Are they doing what they're supposed to do? Or are they doing something else? And I think that, so that is a key thing. Another thing that will change dramatically is cyber security. You know, we used to look at security in terms of, as I said, physical objects, money. That is the most protective. Yeah, we do cash and transit, so money is important. But we forget sometimes that the people are more important. The people are more important. Exactly. Thank you very much for saying that. So that is something to be alert on. But there is another tendency that we had forgotten, is data. We're producing, all the technology produces much more data than ever before. So, and data need to be protected. There's a lot of sensitive information on that. Exactly. Think about banks, you know, transactions, hacking. It's happening much more than we are aware of. So that requires very specific knowledge and technology to look at. But also privately, you know, people go on social media. You know, your kids are, you know, using the internet. Do you really know what they're checking on the internet? Exactly what they're checking, what they are doing. So I think that is something that we need to pay much more attention to. Because data protection and privacy becomes more and more important. If they hack your system, if they know your password, they can have access to anything. And that's where the world is going to the internet of things. Meaning, you know, any device, actually, that is available, you can remotely activate or deactivate. So thousands are moving from the streets to their laptops. Exactly, exactly. And don't underestimate that is very well organized. You cannot imagine there is big organizations running from even another place of the world. You would think, oh, they're here. They're not here. They might be here. But then, you know, doing the crimes somewhere else in the world. So because of the internet connectivity, you don't have to be physically present at the place where you commit the crime. So cyber security is a future of security. Is an emerging trend in security? Absolutely. And it's in combination with the other elements. But also here being, you know, proactive, prevent, understanding what's going on. This basically means we still, as a human being, we need to be alert of what's going around in our environment and be aware of what's going on. If you look at your own base environment at home, you know your place. If you look critically around, you know, hey, that's uncommon, that's unusual. It was never like this. Why is the car standing there? Why are people looking at me this way? If you take that alertness and basically use our instinct, we have forgotten. I think too much to listen to our instinct. You don't know phones too much to trust our instinct. Exactly. We trust the data on the phones of what we use. We trust Google that our instinct. Exactly. And people are saying, oh, but Big Brother is watching me. I'm safe. Well, I wouldn't say so. Trust your own gut feel and be and stay alert. Because if you do, you know, it's small things, but the human nature is much stronger than we think. All right. This one is opinion-based. So while you are growing up right now, do you think the world is less safer? Yeah. I would say it's different, to be honest. It's difficult. Of course, you know, people look at me as a muse. They would say, ah, but you always say, you know, it was better. Back in our day, back in our day. It's cliche. It's cliche. Now, I don't believe it, to be honest. I think every time and every age has its challenges and you have to deal with that. I think, yeah, in some areas, indeed, it was safer. You could play on the street. Why? There were no cars. Hardly any cars. So you would nowadays, most people get killed in traffic. You know? So was it safer? Yeah, from that perspective, yes. But, you know, there is so many elements to it. I think it's difficult to judge. I'm convinced that every, as you said, every generation of every age has its own challenges. Yeah, absolutely. All right. As I said earlier, everybody wants to be CEO, but they don't know what comes with it. So before you tell me one thing that you don't like so much about being CEO. Tell me one thing that you love so much about being CEO. Well, what I love is engaging with people in all levels, all ranks. I like to engage with people and work with people very closely. What I like most is actually working with young people. Young people that are eager, that are bright, have still the future. You see yourself in bright young people. Exactly. I look at succession. One of the challenges is to look at succession, identify talent, work with them, coach them, mentor them, bring them from this level to the same level. And that is very rewarding. If I see the eagerness and the talent that is running around in East Africa, it's magnificent. So for me, that is a great blessing that I'm allowed to work with it. So that is one of the things I like most. And of course then you'll go to ask... What don't you like? That is what we've been waiting for. What don't you like most? Well, of course being CEO of a security firm, meaning we are, as I mentioned, as EA is working and employing with 20,000 employees. And employees are human beings. Human beings do make mistakes. Including myself. Including myself. I'm not less innocent than others. So we do make mistakes. And the issue of course, particular insecurity, is to identify those mistakes, recognizes and learn from it. To improve and make sure you don't make the same mistake all over again. And of course, in an environment like us, we have incidents from time to time. If security... Things can go south or left very fast. Absolutely. And sometimes we have casualties. And that is very difficult to deal with. It's very hard to watch. It's very hard to see. Exactly. And sometimes it is very unfortunate events. But you have to deal with it. And I'm responsible for it. Whoever makes that mistake. The media is going to look for a CEO. Exactly. Whether it's the guard at the gate who messed up or an alarm messed up or whatever incident is happening, they look at the CEO. Which they should. That is my job. So I'm not running away from it. But as I said... Something you have to deal with. Exactly. In particular, when it affects people one way or the other, then you have very sad events. Then there is of course not the pleasant part of the job. But somebody has to do it. Okay, thank you very much for sharing that with us. I hope that doesn't scare you if you wanted to be CEO. But this is where we head to Facebook. And there's somebody on our Facebook asking... Is there space for innovators? Absolutely. At your place? I think innovation, that is actually key. Before actually most of the industries. Innovation is very key. As I mentioned, there is a really transformation going on. Insecurity. You know, there's efforts from government to regulate the industry. Which I think is very important. To have clear regulations that everybody knows we put certain standards in. But you need technology and innovation to get there. And people think innovation is applying things that we know already in different industries. Apply it to another industry or in a different way. And innovation in my view is very key. That is what needs to be done. So innovators, and that's where in general I see at least, you know, it's the young people that are working with innovation. A lot of the older generation and I have to be careful now. They tend to be happy with the things they were in the past. And I think innovation is really key. And coming back to the statement of elder people. You know, old is not being age. Age doesn't say, you know, how old you are. It's your mentality that tells you how old you are. Age is just, I see it as experience. You know, the more years have passed you should have gained more experience in whatever you do. But being old is a state of mind. Exactly. It has nothing to do with your age. With age, you know. We have to pass the condolences to the people of Kenya today. But, you know, if you become so old, you know, those are very wise men, very engaged. And indeed, you know, it's the mindset. Very important. Thank you very much for sharing all that with us and thank you very much for coming. We appreciate that. Do you know your social media level? To be honest, personally I am not good at social media. I follow it. But do you have a website? I'm pretty sure you have a website. I have, of course, WhatsApp. I use that a lot. Because basically at SDA we use it for our security messages. So we are informing our clients anywhere something happens in the region. I get immediately, you know, the messages. So I follow that very clearly. But that's business-wise. I'm not really personally in the social media. There is a LinkedIn profile that I use. It's had to be LinkedIn. Exactly. But again, I apply it usually in favor of the business. Because I don't have so much time. Just share with us the company website so that if anybody would like to interact with you guys or work with you, I'm pretty sure that Facebook and the Twitter buttons are somewhere in the website. No, they are there. SDA is absolutely on the social media. It's www.sgasecurity.com. And that's where you find everything. I think if you go to SDA security on Google you will find us in many places and occasions. And as I said, we are throughout the region, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda with more than 35 branches all over the place. Cross East Africa. Thank you very much for coming through to us in the morning. Thank you. So the innovators can hit you up at the website, through the website as well. Absolutely. Alright. So we have come to the end of our first interview of the day. And we had Mr. Julius, the CEO of SGA Security and he had a lot to share with us. If you have any questions, you can head straight to their website at www.sgasecurity.com. Alright. And www.sgasecurity.com, sorry. Alright, www.sgasecurity.com. We are celebrating the life of the former president, Moe. And we asked you a question. What is it that you remember about him? So head straight to our Facebook and Twitter and answer that. And we'll be very willing to share that with the rest of the viewers to us. The end of the show. My name is Barry Mossers. It's very morning. It's a social media platform. Don't go nowhere. Val is coming up next.