Nation Media’s Power Move: Russell Akuom As CIO

Nation Media Group is playing its trump card, Russell Akuom. He joins NMG as its Chief Information Officer (CIO) effective 1 August 2024.

Akuom’s role is weighty. He will provide digital transformation leadership, accelerating the execution of the giant media house’s digital initiatives. He will divine the attainment of the Group’s North Star and transition the company into its ultimate dream of becoming a digital-first media house. A strategy that will elevate the user experience on their digital platforms by putting the customer at the front and centre. KPMG ranks the latter as the most critical area for technological investment by 62 per cent of media companies. This is all happening alongside driving innovation whilst embedding a culture of digital excellence in the company.

That won’t be all.

Akuom is responsible for aligning technology and data strategies with NMG’s long-term goals of harnessing the pair to enable success.

Akuom, who is coming in fresh off a sabbatical, can execute and dream simultaneously, describing himself on his LinkedIn thus: “When not productive, I let my mind curiously explore exciting ideas and new creations around Strategy, Product Management, Payments, Digital Transformation, Innovation and Entrepreneurship.”

The decision to hire a CIO might seem curious for a media house. However, with AI making its way into the newsroom as a co-journalist cum researcher, and the rich data and real-time analytics content generates, it makes sense that cloud, mobile phone optimisation, IoT, automation and other digital transformation technologies would inspire the appointment of a chief information officer.

Media, like any other transformative industry, needs to pounce at digital transformation and adopt “technologies to reimagine content creation and distribution. It’s about using data, automation, and innovations like AI to deliver personalised consumer experiences. All to deliver compelling experiences that keep the audience coming back.” Not only that, but digital transformation does the dirty work of breaking down silos and processes, unlocking a more wondrous future. One that rejigs everything from production to post. The result is that every part of the content lifecycle “becomes more agile and aligned with audience needs.”

As the world grows increasingly familiar with the declining fate of legacy media, so, too, are media houses incorporating technology. Royal Media Services Ltd once had an award-winning CIO, Engineer Wainaina Mungai, CIO of The Year, 2013. International media houses such as Telegraph Media Group, News UK, Daily Mail – MailOnline, Global Radio, and yes, even Meta, are embracing tech gurus.

CIOs play strategists, leaning into technology to support business goals while holding a clear picture of the business pain points and how IT can contribute towards soothing them with much-needed balm. CEOs hire CIOs when they sense they are not accessing strategic guidance, are experiencing security incidents, struggling to keep up with technology or growing and in need of more technology.

A review of Fortune 500 companies also indicates that CIOs are the most common external hires in the C-suite with almost half of them drawn from a different industry, signalling the need for including external perspectives.

With an AI project under his belt, Akuom’s previous roles include Head of Group Payments at Letshego, Head of Innovation and Head of Digital Banking Experience at Co-operative Bank of Kenya, and a little over six years spent in various roles including Principal Officer – Innovation, at Safaricom. Responses to his appointment have attracted a sea of congratulatory messages on LinkedIn, the occasional 10-point Nation Media Group resurrection plan, down to a warning not to hedge his bets with the beleaguered media house.

He holds a Master of Science – MSc, Entrepreneurship. and Innovation Management and a Bachelor of Science – BSc, Electrical and Electronics Engineering.