What’s Next — Aliyah Allie on how Dis-Chem’s innovation hub is driving the future of healthcare in South Africa
In this What’s Next with Aki Anastasiou interview, Aliyah Allie discusses how Dis-Chem is transforming from a traditional pharmacy retailer into an integrated health authority.
Allie is the Executive Head at X, bigly labs — Dis-Chem’s innovation hub focused on rethinking how South Africans experience healthcare.
In her role as the innovation hub’s executive head, she leads a team that works across digital innovation, data and AI, decision intelligence, human-centred design, and customer experience.
This role fits Allie excellently as she has a strong interest in how complex systems shape human lives, and is passionate about building these systems to drive meaningful change.
Before working in her current role, Allie was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company.
Allie received a BComm in Accounting and a BA Honours degree in Economic History from the University of Cape Town, before earning her Master’s Degree in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution from Columbia University.
The interview
In this What’s Next interview, Allie discusses the role of X, bigly labs as Dis-Chem’s innovation hub.
She explains how innovation can improve access to healthcare in South Africa, before highlighting the major structural barriers that the sector faces.
Allie then discusses the work X, bigly labs is doing to make healthcare more affordable and accessible in South Africa, providing examples of the projects her team is working on to improve user experiences.
She also highlights the important role partnerships will play in improving the South African healthcare sector.
Allie then touches on the role of data and AI in the healthcare sector – highlighting that these technologies must be used to make impactful solutions available to as many South Africans as possible.
She talks about the importance of trust in the healthcare sector, particularly in the context of increased data collection and the risk of data breaches.
Allie concludes the interview by discussing the future of Dis-Chem and its evolution from a traditional pharmacy retailer into an integrated health authority.
Watch the full interview with Aliyah Allie, below.
Loading ...