Smart data utilization has become a strategic imperative for organizations. The South African entrepreneur offers a technological solution that is redefining decision-making in the age of artificial intelligence.

Matimba Julian Nkuna, a South African entrepreneur and artificial intelligence specialist, is the founder and CEO of Timbuk2, a startup that develops custom AI-based data solutions.

Founded in 2023, Timbuk2 positions itself as a company specializing in enterprise-scale generative artificial intelligence solutions. Its primary offering is an Insights Engine, an analytics platform designed to extract and transform data into actionable strategic information. The goal is to help businesses guide their decisions using relevant analyses tailored to their operational needs.

Timbuk2 targets organizations seeking to base their strategic choices on data. The firm provides large-scale market analyses and offers decision-making support. Its solutions are designed for professional use and produce measurable, directly applicable results.

Before Timbuk2, Nkuna founded Bantubyte in 2020, a startup specializing in artificial intelligence, data science, and the development of digital solutions for African and international companies. That initiative addressed the data science skills gap on the continent by combining advanced technologies with an understanding of the local context.

His first venture, Grikwa, founded in 2012, was an online notice board platform for universities. Nkuna holds a bachelor's degree in Geomatics and a master's degree in Computer Science from the University of Cape Town. He began his career between 2012 and 2015 as a trainee geospatial analyst at South Africa's National Geo-Spatial Information.

In 2016, he joined the retail group Pick n Pay as a research scientist. Two years later, he became a data scientist at Sensor Networks, a startup specializing in smart technology for home energy and risk management. In 2019, he moved to the e-commerce sector as a data scientist at Takealot.com before joining The Shoprite Group of Companies between 2021 and 2023, where he served successively as a data scientist and then a technical product manager.

Melchior Koba