Yanesh Naidoo

Speaker profile

Yanesh Naidoo is the Executive Innovations Director, Owner, and Board Member at Jendamark Automation, where he leads the development of advanced Industry 4.0 manufacturing technologies. With a background in mechatronics engineering and early experience at Volkswagen South Africa, he joined Jendamark in 2004 and played a key role in expanding the company into global markets. Today, over 95% of Jendamark’s turnover comes from international technology exports, with more than 3,000 assembly lines deployed worldwide. Yanesh is passionate about using digital transformation to drive both productivity and inclusion. He is the originator of “digital ubuntu,” an approach that applies advanced manufacturing technologies to create scalable, human-centred solutions for developing economies. In 2019, he was invited to speak at the United Nations on Industry 4.0 and inequality, sharing an African perspective on global industrial transformation. Under his leadership, Jendamark has been recognized with multiple industry awards, including Technology Company of the Year and Tech Innovation of the Year at Africa Tech Week.